Stylistic Easter eggs confound and delight. [Oct 2023, p.86]

It's the emotional, cathartic journey of the chief protagonist that captivates the most. [Oct 2023, p.86]

Organic, evergreen loveliness. [Oct 2023, p.88]

A "rumination on life and death," which suitably chimed with earth's current 'end times' vibe, from sorrow to rage, elevated by post-rock's most luminescent guitars. [Oct 2023, p.88]

The music, which is characterised by extraordinary switches in style, reflects the diversity of the archive, morphing from bleepy electronic and futuristic R&B to churning garage rock with distorted megaphone vocals. [Oct 2023, p.81]

With these songs, though, Cilker is building a beautiful place of her own. [Oct 2023, p.86]

Fairbairn's side-of-mouth playing is extraordinary bucking the universal post-millennial effort to out-blast Coltrane, in favour of beautifully gentle explorations which are both intrepid and sublimely calming. [Oct 2023, p.85]

Accompanied by electronic and acoustic instruments, Brett's baritone sounds less sombre on this album, more rich, relaxed, even crooning on Strawberry Moon - a perfect foil ro Rennie's vision of a world full of blood and ghosts. [Oct 2023, p.83]

Mitski has long stared at happiness and wondered what comes next; here, she spies it, smiles and then shrugs, the smart band beneath glowing like some warmth hearth on a cold Los Angeles Night. [Oct 2023, p.85]

While Linkous’s tendencies to smudge and collapse his songs are apparent – not least the atmospheric disturbance of antique hymn O Child – so too is his generosity of songwriting spirit, positioning the bleakest sentiments in dynamic, questioning music.

This album is as artistically varied as can be. Best of the faithful versions are Margo Price's rousing Stranger In A Strange Land and Monica Martin's intimate A Song For You. [Oct 2023, p.83]

Sea Of Mirrors stands up without the set dressing. It ends with a brief reprise of the opening track, gently lighting the aisles to the exits; you might well find yourself staying put in the dark, ready to let it run back to the start and play out again. [Oct 2023, p.76]

Hard-won optimism, as ever, from this troubled heroine. [Oct 2023, p.78]

Ultimately, Mid Air is an ecstatic love letter to love, but also the queer clubs where Romy found validation and her soundtrack to liberation. [Oct 2023, p.88]

Fade is a tease that she could do out-and-out pop if the mood were ever to take her, but there are too many strange and good ideas for anything quite so prosaic. [Oct 2023, p.81]

In places it verges on doodling, as if Barnett is endlessly tuning her guitar, but tracks such as Intro or Tiver sound darkly majestic, like deep, drifting hollowed-out Americana. [Oct 2023, p.78]

Hearing this in its entirety 45 years on, it really is up there with Young's greats. [Oct 2023, p.97]

Top-drawer tunes throughout. [Oct 2023, p.78]

Empire State Bastard make you feel like you've been in a cage fight with Mike Tyson. [Oct 2023, p.82]

Deliver[s] more surreal, neon-psych country rock, in sweet harmonies and super-crunchy six-string riffs. [Oct 2023, p.89]

All told: here's blues, raw'n'alive. [Sep 2023, p.83]

Finds her super-brassy, minimally-tooled groove machine in peak form. [Oct 2023, p.97]

Evocative rather than vivid in a way that evokes Faith-era Cure's greyscale atmospheres, Everything IS Alive is the sound of Slowdive still holding their impressive earthly form. [Oct 2023, p.85]

Surely Relentless is how Chrissie Hynde always wanted the Pretenders to sound. [Oct 2023, p.79]

A slinky, soulful, witty, mid-paced affair. [Oct 2023, p.81]

Georgas's blend of vintage new wave with quirky ethereality includes touching haikus and lullabies, but it's the pissed-off frankness that wins out. .... Gorgeously cathartic. [Oct 2023, p.81]

A sobering adventure close o something like home. [Oct 2023, p.86]

Road is a hugely enjoyable hoot. [Oct 2023, p.82]