Often feels more afterthought than addition. On form, however, few write or sing human frailty with Neil Finn’s poise. [Jul 2021, p.25]

Inventively produced by Jacknife Lee, All The Colours Of You is a winning synthesis of James’ anthemic tendencies and their more instinctive weirdness. [Jul 2021, p.27]

It’s an album that’s constantly shifting, almost restless at times, yet it also remains poised and coherent. [Jul 2021, p.27]

Songs like “Spanish Steps” and the title track recall the lo-fi sound of her critically lauded ’90s albums, while “Ba Ba Ba” and “Good Side” embrace the polish of her critically denounced 2000s albums. [Jul 2021, p.33]

More often wispy and whispery in her earlier work, her voice assumes new strength and vividness here as Trappes dives deep into torch-song mode for “Red Yellow” and multitracks herself into a celestial choir for “Blood Moon”. [Jul 2021, p.34]

These are smart, confident and mostly fine-boned songs, though epic closer “Posing For Cars” leans on a lachrymose, slow-mo, alt.rock guitar passage. [Jul 2021, p.27]

Against hard-edged rhythms – Danielle Haim’s clattering drumming enlivens “These Kids We Knew” – and Solomon’s wordless reveries, Rostam sings in a creamy tenor tailormade for sharing the intimate feelings of his lyrics. [Jul 2021, p.33]

Familiar, but still freaky. [Jul 2021, p.34]

Divided into meditation, lamentation, revelation, celebration, incantation, it is by turns curious, brittle, exquisite, and surely among the most accomplished and beautiful records of Stevens’ career. [Jul 2021, p.34]

The songs are often guilty of bloated bombast, but Numan retains an impressive command of cinematic melodrama and richly layered sonic detail. [Jul 2021, p.33]

Marten’s stripped-back early work drew comparisons to Lucy Rose and Nick Drake, and while her voice is as gentle as ever, a wider sonic palette adds both brightness and depth. [Jul 2021, p.31]

Kurt Wagner’s appetite for change hasn’t dwindled, and Lambchop’s succinct 16th is, thanks to his MIDI piano experiments, particularly tempting. [Jul 2021, p.30]

From the hypnotic opener “Kasai Munene” to the upbeat closer “Allstars All Around” with its spiralling soukous guitars, this is celebratory music-making at its most joyously instinctual. [Jul 2021, p.27]

The people in these songs are losing their listeners, memory or love, suffering partial erasures. And yet this melodic music holds them close with familial warmth. [Jul 2021, p.27]

Fellow Pretender James Walbourne provides deft guitar and keyboard accompaniment, but it’s the personality and allure of a distinctive voice that keeps you in the parlour. [Jul 2021, p.27]

“The Shame Of Love”, “Splinter” and “Mouthful Of Blood” successfully concealing Black Flag-worthy spleen behind a comforting veneer of distorted guitars, sunny Mellotron and Carpenters-compatible melodies. [Jul 2021, p.27]

It's a warm and slightly rickety set, with folk-ish elements and faint echoes of Sentridoh. [Jul 2021, p.23]

Here she uses soft synths to emulate an organ, lute and pipes, which combine on the likes of “Vanity” and “Qasmuna (Dreaming)” to cast an alluring spell, evoking the likes of vintage Boards Of Canada and Catarina Barbieri’s superb Ecstatic Computation. [Jul 2021, p.21]

At 68, Hiatt is producing some of the best work of his career, mapping his inner life with an eloquence that most can only aspire to. [Jun 2021, p.24]

When it’s good, she nails squiggly G-funk (“Boom Bap Is My Homegirl”, “Action Groove”) and late-night power-cruising (“Ghostride 21716”). But with no real focus, the whole thing tends to drag. [Jul 2021,p.31]

72 minutes of creeping contemplation and subdued drama. [Jul 2021, p.31]

Not all essential but a generally rich and respectable package. [Jul 2021, p.43]

The new takes largely work well, underscoring the compositional strength of the original songs. [Jul 2021, p.31]

What soon unfolds proves to be a profound evolution via the almost operatic crescendo that follows. Over the remaining five tracks, improvisational noise-rock gives way to more considered and structured songwriting, lush melodies and singer Geordie Greep’s new vocal style – which he croons with stirring tenderness. ... There’s not a single predictable second to be found on Cavalcade. [Jun 2021, p.23]

The band hits an altogether richer seam on the Fleet Foxes-like “Mine Forever” and the vast sweep of the string-laden title track, rooted in the lost highway myth but sounding more akin to classic Walker Brothers. [Jul 2021, p.30]

Composed for the 10-strong Montreal modern dance troupe Animals Of Distinction, in ways it conforms to the template of Canadian post-rock – extended instrumentals characterised by gradual builds and ecstatic climaxes. But “Scanner” and “Grid-Wall” explore a sleek, synthetic sound palette, all glitching electronics and halogen synths. [Jun 2021, p.25]

They immediately settle back into a familiar dynamic on the aptly titled opener “Let’s Do It Again”, with the band providing a lively and sympathetic soundtrack to Cartwright’s tale of loneliness and longing. They’ve learned more than a few new tricks over the years, as evidenced on the lovely psychedelic chamber-pop saga “Just Say When”, a duet with Coco Hames. [Jun 2021, p.31]

Here are nine songs that confidently mix Station To Station piano, Beach Boys harmonies, Kosmische guitar and even free jazz. [Jun 2021, p.31]