[A] set of intense and committed songs. [Jul 2017, p.25]

It's genuinely smart, intriguingly playful set that both presses all the right Big Pop buttons and sounds decidedly off-centre. [Jul 2017, p.36]

Defiantly lo-fi production rather hampers the attempts at big-budget symphonic soul, but the clubby bangers such as "It's In The Love" and "She Ran Away" work magnificently. [Jul 2017, p.26]

What these titles lack in detail, the songs themselves quickly fill with lashings of lurid prose. [Jul 2017, p.18]

Guest spots from vocalists Andrea Galaxy and Jessy Lanza make explicit the R&B influence, but the most emotive, intimate moments come when Abdel-Hamid makes her synths sing to themselves. [Jul 2017, p.32]

Motorik grooves underpin the most bracing songs on the band's second effort. [Jul 2017, p.40]

It's a beautifully judged (electronic) psych-pop record that hums with warmth, quiet eccentricity and gentle wryness, recalling Robert Wyatt, '60s French pop and Gruff Rhys' solo fare. [Jul 2017, p.39]

Stanley's "Rosewood Bitters," a slice of swampy country rock with Todd Rundgren on keyboards, is a highlight, along with Dewey Terry's "Sweet As Spring." a gnarly love song with frenetic orchestration. [Jun 2017, p.51]

Cohesive and pleasingly understated, drawing on post-punk, Afro-pop and Talking Heads-style funk-pop, and glued together by Fraiture's gauzy vocals. [May 2017, p.39]

Alt-J enter Kid A territory. The baroque synth pop of "In Cold Blood" and the kinky rockabilly of "Hit Me Like That Snare" are their only concessions to the arena. [Jul 2017, p.25]

Sombre but spellbindingly ethereal nostalgia. [Jun 2017, p.28]

Beneath the edgy smarts there's always been an undercurrent of anxiety, and now they're plunging into choppy emotional waters, minus irony's lifebelt. [Jul 2017, p.26]

As imaginative as his guitar playing can be, Auerbach's vocals can be limited. ... And yet, Auerbach's obvious affections for these touchstones, and for these performers, more than make up for such shortcomings. [Jul 2017, p.34]

A clutch of glistening electronic pop gems. [Jul 2017, p.37]

Over two decades on, in remastered form, these tracks have aged well, retaining their multi-layered, bass-heavy eclecticism, and moving back and forth between gentle melancholia and hands-in-the-air euphoria. [Jun 2017, p.49]

While much of this is somewhat sentimental, notable moments include Michael Kiwanuka and Kevin Morby's respective takes on the standards "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child" and "I Only Have Eyes For You." [Jun 2017, p.26]

It doesn't all work ... but a guest appearance on voice from singer-songwriter Barbara Manning kicks things into the next gear. [Jul 2017, p.30]

Accompanying all this is Giles Martin's newly mixed stereo version inspired by the original mono. It means everything is fuller and better balanced. ... The Beatles never worked with such unified purpose again, but what this Pepper boxset captures is the fun, intense, playful ferment; the triumph, in other words. [Jul 2017, p.42]

There's soulful opulence to "Sister Goodbye," a sultry tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the deathless country-soul of "No 5 Hurricane" reeks with old-school Southern charm, and the sweltering funk of "Sunrise" and the title track sound like lost Muscle Shoals gems. [Jun 2017, p.23]

Intriguing album. ... Lyrically, the prevailing atmosphere is reflective. [Jun 2017, p.28]

Bowlcut romantics will swoon for twinkly samba "Saveoursmiles" and "Love Me 'Til My Heart Stops" on his 10th LP, but as wistfulness gives way to despondency on "Rust" and an anguished take on West Side Story's "Somewhere," Stewart's idiosyncratic path feels like an increasingly lonely one. [Jul 2017, p.25]

Recorded partially outdoors, Resin Pockets' sometimes rough and rustic nature belies the grace and beauty in Jones' deceptively causal songs. [Jul 2017, p.26]

There's an exotic, silk-road feel to her [singer Barbora Patkova's] spectral ululations, often delivered in her native language, that work brilliantly on the seven-minute title track, but can feel samey across a full album. [Jul 2017, p.30]

The highlight is the lengthy Elvin Jones tribute that opens the album---an expansive Afro-tinged big band upgrade of a piece originally recorded with Jim Keltner. [Jun 2017, p.38]

The film and its astutely assembled soundtrack didn't just ride grunge's momentum, it pumped up the volume by capturing the scene in context. [Jun 2017, p.51]

Dion's unknown recordings are a lavish tour de force of folk-into-rock and blues-into pop. [Jul 2017, p.50]

Restraint is the key, the luminous harmonies of Rachel and Becky Unthank, backed by Adrian McNally's minimal piano and the discreet textures of violinist Niopha Keegan, spotlighting the wistful poignancy at the heart of these delicate compositions. [Jul 2017, p.40]

Weird-but-wonderful free-folk explorations. [Jul 2017, p.25]