This is a vital reimagining, not a retro homage. [Dec 2011, p.81]

At 15 tracks, it outstays its welcome, but in small does this is deliciously addictive. [June 2008, p.86]

Nicholas clearly isn't finished with us yet, judging by Silent Cry's pint-in-the-air riffing, chiming playlist-pop and brooding social commentary. [Aug 2008, p.93]

Echoes of early MGMT also haunt the like of "Delete Ya", but he's at his best when he lends a touch of falsetto-sung acoustic soul to "Potion" and "Fly" floats off into wistful wanderlust. [May 2025, p.29]

The album can become a little too sweet--this, however, is a moment that never cloys. [Dec 2010, p.94]

Though his jazz instincts can still send him into incantatory live orbit, all he wants here are the boyhood comforts of his early record collection. His voice remains admirably supple, though. [Jun 2018, p.33]

Hardly revelatory, but compelling in its sustained vision. [Apr 2012, p.73]

The best moments [from The King Is Dead] are woefully unlucky not to have made the cut.

Pitched as the first part of a trilogy, this is a batch of effortlessly lovely tunes, warmly intimate and muzzy with reverb. [Nov 2010, p.81]

While too soft for the dancefloor, songs like :weak For me" don't scrimp on the songcraft. [Nov 2009, p.96]

There is the odd suggestion here of a campfire Mercury Rev, but nothing to spook former fans. [Jun 2009, p.92]

Great, if a little pointless. [Apr 2012, p.77]

Nonsensical, inventive and captivating. [Sep 2009, p.89]

These 11 new songs will do little to dispel the view that the band are fatally addicted to self-indulgent navel-gazing, but it's still beautifully recorded, and played with exquisite tact and precision. [May 2007, p.88]

It's still excruciatingly fey in places, but then you know what to expect by now. [Nov 2010, p.81]

This collaboration with Athens lo-fi specialists Elf Power isn't his most immediatly appealing set, but it's worth it just for 'Bilocating Dog,' a lovely shambles of a song with an absurd chorus. [Jan 2008, p.88]

There is splendid piano-pop, leanly recorded excursions in cosmic prog, and evidence of an occasional charming eccentricity. [Jun 2013, p.71]

While they are unlikely to blow any heads off, track like 'Graffiti Eyes' show that they haven't lost the knack of writing diverting pop songs. [Sep 2009, p.96]

It's more than a mix, pulling out lost takes and reassembling constituent parts--a snatch of Afrka Bambaataa here, a flurry of Liquid Liquid percussion there--with phantasmagorical results. [Feb 2010, p.82]

At best this sees them hold their own. [Jul 2006, p.101]

The downside of Stevens' inward journey is that it seems to have eroded his confidence, leading to a maddening tendency to sabotage his best tunes. [Nov 2010, p.82]

The eclectism is exhilarating. [Nov 2008, p.96]

The backing are stately, most elegant on the trumpet and Wurlitzer of 'Mississippi River Running Backwards.' [Oct 2009, p.108]

Living With Yourself showcases McGuire's playing with minimal adornment. [Nov 2010, p.94]

There are still enough awkwardly anthemic choruses to unsettle their detractors. [Sep 2001, p.92]

It's all rather tasteful and familiar, though, and a few jagged edges might snare passers-by. [Oct 2011, p.98]

It's more of a halfway house, with both acts' distinctive styles diluted as they server up '90s breakbeats ("Kokiri", "Fleece") and light industrial spoken-word pieces ("Nowhere"). Only the jangly promise of "passerine" sung by Emma Acs, hunts at a newish direction. [Mar 2025, p.35]

Often stunning, but arguably also a little too knowing and shallow. [Aug 2008, p.108]