It's the bruised and pensive love songs, such as "Broken Thoughts" and "Ninja," and the sci-fi sleaze of "Chainsaw," that stick and make The Ascent a contrived pop product with its heart and mind intact. [May 20113, p.79]

The arrangements are bigger, the language more dense, the symbolism darker. [May 2013, p.72]

The themes are invariably dark but there's always a groove. [May 2013, p.67]

You Have Already Gone to the Other World, produced by Deerhoof's John Dieterich, is their best yet. [May 2013, p.65]

Holiday is resolutely sombre, but the arrangements make inviting drama out of Principe's impressionistic lyrical intimacies. [May 2013, p.75]

If Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix was the album that gave Phoenix everything they'd always strived for, Bankrupt! is the record that finds them trying to come to terms with it all. [May 2013, p.80]

This duo's songs are genetic pop mutations, scampering out of control. [Apr 2013, p.73]

Professor Beam has made his first art movie, and it's a stunner. [May 2013, p.70]

The Besnard Lakes' fourth album doesn't really add anything new to the heady concoction of symphonic shoegaze, doo-wop and spy stories they perfected on 2007's Are The Dark Horse, but it's always a pleasure to hear them work up a storm. [May 2013, p.67]

A couple of the more freeform screamers may be a holler too far for some ears, but there's no denying the passion and power of Bradley's formidable lungs. [Apr 2013, p.67]

Always confident in his ability, here he conjures sublime moments with "Retrograde" and ""digital Lion" before violating each with curdled klaxons, his voice throughout pitched persuasively somewhere between Antony Hegarty and Jeff Buckley. [May 2013, p.67]

Four albums in, and Cold War Kids still feel like a band trying to decide what they are. [May 2013, p.69]

There's only one possible word for this: rad. [May 2013, p.79]

Impossible Truth says more with six strings than most records manage with a thousand words. [May 2013, p.79]

It's a soul-searchingly strong set. [May 2013, p.78]

Marnia tones down the more extreme histrionics that made earlier albums and acquired taste. [May 2013, p.78]

The debut album by this French five-piece sends an icy wind cutting through their shoegaze haze. [May 2013, p.78]

Inspired song choices further deepen the spell in a beguiling instant classic from a masterful soul stylist. [May 2013, p.78]

As with most "difficult" albums, the more one listens, the more forgiving they become. [May 2013, p.77]

Even if this [air of refined sophistication] can occasionally make Women feel a little bloodless, you have to marvel at the exquisite execution. [May 2013, p.76]

Some may find it too clean, but it's still thunderously good. [May 2013, p.75]

"FBI" sounds like a comatose disco track being sung in a toilet, but the default position is a weirdly bluesy take on Krautrock. [May 2013, p.75]

The partners [Peyroux and producer Larry Klein] and arranger Vince Mendoza breathe new life into iconic songs. [May 2013, p.75]

Pearl Necklace seem to be honing their edge, not losing it. [May 2013, p.75]

These moody, brooding pieces avoid TV cliche and occasionally produce gems in their own right. [May 2013, p.74]

Afropop sparkle to jazzy bounce and shoe gaze shimmer, but too often these exotic ingredients feel like undigested dilettante dabblings. [May 2013, p.74]

Lapalux is already in the foothills of greatness. [May 2013, p.73]

Pure pleasure for lovers of deep soul music? Absolutely. [May 2013, p.73]