When they do get it right, as when highlighting the acerbic lyrics of "That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" or cleverly flexing the groove of "Coming Around Again," you can see why it semed a good idea. [Apr 2010, p.98]

Still groovy, but these voyagers might want to plot a new course. [Feb 2022, p.37]

Downey has the chops to convince as an alt.country diva if she can step beyond this pleasant ambling contentment into more trenchant and ambitious songwriting territory. [Nov 2025, p.31]

Unabashedly emphatic songs that nod to Robyn (notably on skyscraping opener "Good Intentions"), Cyndi Lauper ("Every Ounce Of Me") and Kate Bush ("Appetite"), though the settings are largely those of a US mainstream, '90s grunge-pop band. They flatten the resonance of Hollingworth's lyrics. [Feb 2026, p.35]

Like the five LPs preceding it, Last Light is dominated by autumnal mood pieces--but it rocks harder, making for a pleasing contrast with Pond's poignant lyrics and vocals.

British Sea Power are still without a 'Wake Up' or a 'Float On' but Do You Like Rock Music? is exhilarating in its ambition, full of songs that will warm the cockles at whichever National Heritage site they choose to play next.

McCarthy's catharsis is often gripping. [Apr 2012, p.88]

Brodsky shows himself to be a sensitive oil, shadowing Nadler's mournful keening with desolate country licks on "Dead West," or wreathing a straight-faced cover of Guns N Roses' "Estranged" in banks of dreamy fuzz. [Jun 2019, p.32]

Banjos, xylophones and 12-string guitars sound oddly unfolky in this context, instead taking an almost symphonic dimension on tracks like the lead single "SDP." [Apr 2010, p.88]

Williams frustrates and delights in equal measure. [Aug 2015, p.83]

The problem comes when you delve beneath the sonic experimentation and listen to Marela's whimpering lyrics--a litany of drippy, desperate neediness. [Sep 2015, p.77]

On this outing it sounds more like step-by-step calculation than natural evolution. [Apr 2026, p.36]

His fourth album is unlikely to convert the legions of naysayers, but some sparks of invention penetrate the blanket of aural blandness and vapidly anthemic pop. [Dec 2013, p.66]

If nothing else, [his] accountant will be pleased with Maths & English's broad appeal. [Jul 2007, p.99]

Despite their monotone and their monoxide fuming, it's hard not to warm to Monotonix, especially when they catch fire. [Apr 2011, p.86]

The results is something scrappier, but loveable than Deerhunter's billowing drone. Less sonic cathedrals, more tripping at chapel. [Apr 2009, p.91]

Stone's impeccable vocal ensures that her past glories thrive on this new frontier. [Mar 2010, p.96]

Insular, claustrophobic, projecting a brittle vulnerability, Peace & Love requires some listner patience. [Mar 2010, p.86]

Production-wise, his hallmark arrhythmic snares are now sounding a little rote nearly a decade after their inception. [Aug 2011, p.104]

If a few concessions are made to mainstream mores here, it still works on its own idiosyncratic terms. [Mar 2022, p.25]

Smilewound finds the woolly jumpered collective coasting through another set of impressionistic glitch-pop and clockwork exotica. [Sep 2013, p.92]

Ranaldo's spoken-word ambles can feel a bit precious, and at times the material doesn't cohere--a natural risk with experimentations. But when it falls together, it's beguiling. [Mar 2020, p.35]

The best song is Terrence Trwnt D'Arby's Sign Your Name." Slightly damning, that. [Sep 2010, p.91]

It's generally a thoughtful collection: stripped back so as to not stamp on the originals. [Mar 2019, p.27]

Jemina Pearl's voice is compelling, ensuring Be Your Own Pet sound like a candy-coloured, pocket-sized Yeah Yeah Yeahs. [may 2008, p.87]

The London quartet signpost the album with handsome literary and academic allusions in anticipation of an edifying dance direction, but end up trotting out the kind of meek synthfunk once propagated by the likes of Hot Chip and Metronomy. [Feb 2014, p.73]

If Black Ice has a weakness, it’s that it betrays an anxiety. As if AC/DC really might be uncharacteristically worried that their grasp on the planet is in danger of slipping. As if they’ve tried to discreetly update their sound, while hoping that their rebarbative old fans won’t notice what they’ve done. Invincibility suits AC/DC. Self-doubt, even a microscopic hint of it, does not.

Silver Lining finds her on top form as guitarist, writer and interpreter. [May 2002, p.108]