New Musical Express (NME)'s Scores
- Music
For 6,016 reviews, this publication has graded:
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55% higher than the average critic
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4% same as the average critic
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41% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.9 points lower than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 71
Highest review score: | to hell with it [Mixtape] | |
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Lowest review score: | Maroon |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 4,236 out of 6016
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Mixed: 1,627 out of 6016
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Negative: 153 out of 6016
6016
music
reviews
- By Date
- By Critic Score
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- Critic Score
For the most part, though, Diamond’s debut album sparkles. Harnessing heartbreak and combining it with wickedly odd production, ‘Reflections’ is a shimmering collection of unconventional pop songs. After all that speculation, Hannah Diamond is human after all.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Nov 22, 2019
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This is an album to be held close to your heart and revered as psych-pop scripture.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Much of this album, with its gritty street-level reportage of booze-alleviated dereliction and crooked politicians, feel so perfect for right now.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Green’s studio debut is relentlessly vibrant, an album that writhes and squirms in the eternally unpleasant truth that we are creatures of inconsistency and contradiction.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Aug 18, 2022
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While NewDad might not be as structurally inventive as the power-pop-indebted Hotline TNT or as heavy as the nu-gaze-leaning Fleshwater, they are perhaps more streamlined and together, which counts for plenty. ‘Madra’ is the sound of a band who have reckoned with where they come from and used it to map out where they’re going.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jan 24, 2024
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Ultimately ‘Flux’ feels like a record about holding clear boundaries, constantly shifting in the face of set expectations, and following your creative gut instead.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Sep 24, 2021
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Recorded with Vår’s Loke Rahbek on synth and Malthe Fischer, ex-Oh No Ono, on guitar and production, these 10 electro-pop songs truly glisten.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jun 9, 2014
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By the end this has the feel of a magnum opus, unrelentingly ambitious with just the right amount of self-indulgence.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Mar 16, 2023
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Taken whole, it’s a looping, dense, all-encompassing experience where anger and tenderness bang heads throughout. Marshall’s world is grimier than ever.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Oct 11, 2017
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No-wave krunch meets mutant disco shuffle meets snippets of global radness and, yeah, it's better than Animal Collective's new one.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Sep 24, 2012
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As intimate, beautiful and witty as ever, there’s an impassioned life in Leonard that's missing from many artists a quarter of his age.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Sep 22, 2014
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With this jumble of wordplay and hooky songwriting, they’re unmistakably on fighting form.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Apr 5, 2019
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Nothing here totally confounds the suspicion that Yancey was a brilliant producer, but merely an able rapper. Still, as a respectable cap on a great body of work, The Diary will do nicely.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Apr 14, 2016
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So there aren't any retreads of 'DARE' or 'Clint Eastwood' but it is a stunning album from start to finish.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jan 26, 2011
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This long-awaited debut album proper from the preacher-chic-touting fivesome is an intoxicating mix of apocalyptic riffs, sob-worthy singalongs and brooding blues.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Crossing boundaries of pop music and chasing transcendence, SOPHIE achieves the rare feat of making abstract, difficult electronic music that hits you straight in the heart.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jun 18, 2018
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With every step this challenging record shows how grime can respond to and inform other genres while always remaining a force unto itself.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted May 14, 2013
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It's blissful, soulful proof that although SMD might have stopped chasing the hit parade, they haven't stopped making hits.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted May 15, 2012
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A classic case of ugly and beautiful: TN&F's passive melodicism and aggressive innovation clash in a dazzling blaze of psych/sonic fireworks.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Mar 17, 2011
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Lahey’s debut is a confessional, confident and important arrival.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Oct 6, 2017
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As a collection of songs, however, Colors is by far Beck’s most upbeat and enjoyable record from front to back since the ’90s. Repeated listens will no doubt be rewarded.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Oct 11, 2017
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It's a collection of enthralling confessionals where stabs of bleakness mean that heavy bleeding dominates.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Sep 22, 2014
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Kojey Radical sells us the image of refined Renaissance man he has become, rather than merely resting on his potential.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Mar 14, 2022
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'Ringleader Of The Tormentors' sees Morrissey not only in wonderful voice, but more flamboyant and alive than at any time in his solo career.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Tune-Yards might have taken a deep breath and a step back, allowing their infectious melodies some space, but their breathless skew-whiff eclecticism remains anything but safe.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jan 18, 2018
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The choices and the arrangements on ‘The Land is Inhospitable…’ are some of Mitski’s most complex and richest, yet they translate to such simplicity, a statement that there is pain and love and that’s it. Those are the ingredients with which we make everything.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Sep 13, 2023
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Whether channelling her larger-than-life musical heroes or shrouding her music in something more subtle, Moriondo’s lyricism shines through – she’s yet another Gen Z star willing to try the pop-punk outfit on for size. The fit? Pretty damn good.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted May 7, 2021
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- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Mar 25, 2013
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This isn’t an album you can dip into; instead dive in and sink to the bottom and let it all gloriously wash over you.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Capped with Dan Devine's vocals – a scream as angry as it is distraught – this is despair with a backbeat, and punk as it should be: courageously self-destructive.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted May 2, 2012
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- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jun 2, 2015
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Only the plodding ballad ‘Hurt Yourself’ fails to earn its place on the track list, and on the whole Death Magic makes a grander statement than its more rudimentary predecessors. It sounds like Health finally know what they want.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jul 31, 2015
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It would seem from the evidence presented here that [King Of Leon] are intent on rebuilding themselves from scratch, drawing on whatever wild and wonderful influences they've tripped over in their race to live five lifetimes in every day. [30 Oct 2004, p.63]- New Musical Express (NME)
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While we may never fully understand his inspiration, when his work is as colourful and inventive as this, it's a small sacrifice.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Sep 22, 2014
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By embracing the pop orthodoxy, you might argue that Boucher has sacrificed some of what made her seem so alien when 4AD debut 'Visions' emerged from the ether back in 2012, but rest assured: she's still laughing and not being normal, only this time, it's all the way to the bank.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Nov 6, 2015
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Not ‘dance’ music by any stretch of the imagination, but beautiful all the same.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Mar 13, 2013
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The effortlessly cool beats, hooky choruses, and above all, his witty, super-fast flow indicate this skinny blond to be a genuinely talented star.- New Musical Express (NME)
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This is an album to file alongside Aphex Twin’s ‘Syro’: one-of-a-kind electronic artist returns reinvigorated and still way ahead of the game.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Apr 14, 2015
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At least two thirds of it is still comprised of head-spinning speed metal, but there are signs of genuine progression -- not to mention progressive rock -- from the off.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Certainly confirms him as one of hip-hop's most gifted wordsmiths. [8 Jan 2005, p.45]- New Musical Express (NME)
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At times, in the past, he has relied on his autotune to compensate for lacklustre lyricism, but Future is a megamind whose pioneering spirit is the very reason trap feels alive today. With ‘I NEVER LIKED YOU’, you’ll happily applaud him for that.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Apr 29, 2022
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As a record ‘The Art of Losing’ also holds up a reflection which is both painful and familiar – it captures the unpredictable, spinning chaos of grief with a searing precision that’s hard to turn away from.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Mar 12, 2021
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- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Dec 19, 2012
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If the worst of times brings out the worst in people, Viagra Boys are set to be icons of the age, and ‘Cave World’ its defining document.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jul 8, 2022
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Far from a total reinvention, but all adds up to a confident, rewarding and subtly adventurous new chapter for Interpol.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jul 14, 2022
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Any record that burrows as deep into your psyche as I Like It... should be considered essential. It’s hugely clever and wryly funny, too.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Feb 29, 2016
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The album’s inner momentum offsets any occasional wrong direction.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Mar 15, 2019
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Depending on your standpoint as regards selling out and cashing in, you'll either be baffled or delighted to discover that they've adjusted their modus operandi not one jot on the follow-up, O Shudder.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Feb 9, 2015
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'The Czar' is a microcosm of Crack The Skye: thuddingly impressive, richly textured and constantly surprising.- New Musical Express (NME)
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‘Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon’ showcases a multi-faceted artist only just discovering his potential. What makes the album truly stand out is that it serves as a testament to the strength, power and knowledge Smoke held in his ambition to go to the very top.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jul 6, 2020
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- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Mar 27, 2012
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This time there are killer hooks aplenty that immediately hit the spot. Midnight scorchio, more like.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted May 12, 2014
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The vibrant ‘Shine’ is filled with languid horns and sweet doo-wop backing vocals. Rolling ragtime piano (‘Flowers’) and hip-shaking melody (‘Better Man’) pick up the pace and there’s bluesy sass in the shape of the upbeat ‘Twistin And Groovin’.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jun 12, 2015
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While Be The Cowboy hears Mitski traverse new sounds, new voices, and the anxieties of growing older, it’s clear the wisdom was already there.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Aug 15, 2018
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It may sound a little high-concept, but its ultimate themes of empathy and diversity are subtly communicated. Glass Animals’ melodies have an immediacy that diffuses any hint of chin-strokiness.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Aug 24, 2016
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Melissa has delivered a hugely sexual, gleefully psychedelic rock record that’s so full of deliciously melancholic stadium destroyers and beautifully de-tuned melodic bombs that, at the perfectly reasonable age of 32, you get the impression that the really good stuff is only just beginning.- New Musical Express (NME)
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- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Oct 7, 2015
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Phases is a deeply autumnal album, perfectly for listening to while strolling down dimly lit side streets with crisp leaves underfoot.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Nov 9, 2017
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Whereas his 2002 solo debut shot a glance back to Michael Jackson's 'Off The Wall', this is more indebted to 'Smooth Criminal', early '80s Prince and on its ballads, Stevie Wonder. [9 Sep 2006, p.37]- New Musical Express (NME)
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For all its weird beauty, this is very much Damon's record - much more so than Gorillaz. Or indeed, Blur.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Royce’s 2018 album ‘Book of Ryan’ was always going to be a tough act to follow, but ‘The Allegory’ stands up as an accomplished body of work, packed full of poetic intricacies and life lessons, soundtracked by the sound of Detroit; it will likely end up on the majority of 2020 end-of-year rap lists.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Feb 21, 2020
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Production here is crisper and warmer than that of the original, and Swift’s vocals are, understandably, more mature.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Apr 9, 2021
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This album shows that Pearson isn’t shying away from darker themes. Instead, she guides the listener through new sonic terrains and out into the light.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jul 8, 2022
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‘In Sickness & In Flames’ is a defining work that showcases a sonic universe, rather than a structured set of songs, expertly capturing the inescapable tension of 2020.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Aug 25, 2020
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'Capricornia' and 'Europe' thicken their debut's effervescent jangle to a rich lustre, and Morris' solo uke classic 'Tallulah' makes sending postcards of sausage-eating Germans sound as romantic as dinner on the Danube.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted May 15, 2012
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Their 2011 debut album was nominated for the Polaris Prize, Canada’s equivalent of the Mercury--although UZU, its follow-up, is bolder, rangier and more ambitious than anything likely to trouble that bauble’s orbit.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted May 12, 2014
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This time around, Beam is less like some dungaree-wearing, O Brother, Where Art Thou? throwback, and more like the natural - and, frankly, wonderful - successor to the Elliott Smith and Nick Drake school of perfectly beautiful songwriting.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Kelela has crafted a cool and sensual album which feels cohesive without slipping into saminess.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Oct 6, 2017
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This fifth album of Afro-Latin rhythms, tropical chanting and brass from the former TV On The Radio (on 'Return To Cookie Mountain' and 'Dear Science') and Foals ('Antidotes') collaborators will do nicely.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Aug 31, 2012
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A debut album proper in all but name, in fact, ‘Demidevil’ shows that Ashnikko’s far more than a two-trend wonder – with a tank full of intriguing bangers that evade living under ‘Daisy’s formidable shadow.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jan 15, 2021
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By taking what worked about Lungs and amplifying those qualities to a natural, satisfying conclusion, Florence has made a near-great pop record that should afford her the creative freedom to do whatever the hell she wants next time around. She may be away with the faeries, but she knows exactly what she's doing.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Oct 31, 2011
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While this record smacks of a youth spent listening to Blur, Oasis and their baggier forbears The Charlatans and The Stone Roses, its pool of influence is bigger.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Nov 3, 2014
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There is little Beyoncé has to prove to anyone 25 years down the line, but the start of this “three act project” proves that she’s still able to push herself and delve into new sonics, styles and ethos.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jul 29, 2022
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Such confident, experimental songwriting points to a rebirth for Wild Nothing, and means ‘Life Of Pause’ can be considered alongside indie records like Tame Impala’s ‘Currents’ and Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s ‘Multi-Love’.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Mar 1, 2016
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Friendly Fires songs are all manufactured to a similar formula but there’s a whole lab shelf lined with addictive variants.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Zayn has clearly achieved his aim of making an album of sexy, credible pop-R&B.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Apr 1, 2016
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‘Suckerpunch’ is a bold sonic adventure that thrives on excess. Throughout the record’s constantly shifting 13 tracks, Moriondo proves that she’s an artist that can do it all, all while having an absolute ball.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Oct 11, 2022
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- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Sep 2, 2014
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This record offers a maelstrom of mistakes and confusion and glee and love and loneliness and hope – and the mess of it all makes for the biggest gift.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Mar 4, 2022
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- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Mar 20, 2020
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The Futureheads have defeated the machine at its own game and made a record that’s every bit as vibrant and vital as their 2004 debut.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Wire have bizarrely remained a cult concern. This ought to change with the release of their 12th record, 11 clever tracks of unrelenting and witty pop.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jan 18, 2011
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‘Use Me’ is the sound of an artist flexing her muscles, making sense of and peace with her past and, most importantly, embracing a new future.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Aug 27, 2020
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Wooden Shjips obviously aren’t interested in the same progressive spirit as the likes of fellow travellers Oneida but they’re still damn effective at what they do.- New Musical Express (NME)
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It's still wordier than a second-hand bookshop and the screwy mental tics remain. But it's also one of the most heart-lassoing '70s radio-pop records since the death of flares, its psychedelic oddness leavened with big gnarly hooks, the emotional thwack of a shattered heart and intimate and bloodied narratives.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jul 11, 2011
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- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jul 24, 2012
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'Insignificance' lays down an awesome challenge to other guitar records - it contains more great ideas than most bands have in their entire career. It's the first unequivocal classic album of the new year.- New Musical Express (NME)
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The 15 impressively arranged tracks on ‘Tracey Denim’ will only bolster Bar Italia’s discography to date, ushering them, whether they like it or not, even further into the spotlight.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted May 18, 2023
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At times, ‘Crash’ eases off the throttle slightly – the interpolation of ‘Show Me Love’ on ‘Used to Know Me’ is infectious, if slightly too straightforward, while smouldering ballads ‘Move Me’ and ‘Every Rule’ could do with more of the skewed hints of unfamiliarity found in spades elsewhere. These are minor gripes, though, and by the time those synthesised strings whirr into life on the jagged pop-funk track ‘Baby’ they’re easy enough to overlook.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Mar 17, 2022
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If the best country music has always been about storytelling, then on ‘Cruel Country’ Wilco are delivering it in its purest form.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted May 26, 2022
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Compelling from its first note to its very last, the record presents a band who, yes, are still in their infancy, but clearly know who they are and what that sounds like.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jun 1, 2022
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The Raveonettes are super-cool Scandinavian noise-rockers and they’ve shored Lust Lust Lust in that turmoil to create their most engrossing album to date.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Star-studded, shimmering, danceable and intimate, ‘A Muse In Her Feelings’ is R&B in its purest form.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Apr 21, 2020
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This is a Suede record, so there are moments of aching majesty – see the tormented ‘It’s Always The Quiet Ones’, ‘Turn Off Your Brain And Yell’ and the hopelessly devoted ‘What Am I Without You’ (which sees Anderson giving himself to his fans) – but, all in all, ‘Autofiction’ finds the indie greats getting back in the garage to make a racket.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Sep 14, 2022
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'Poker Face,' pretty much the one song 2009 will be remembered for, are included on the original album, this becomes essential for anyone who even remotely likes pop. For the rest of us, it's the moment Gaga cements herself as a real star.- New Musical Express (NME)
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‘Audio Vertigo’ is their best record in years, and one to blow the cobwebs off some sleepy arenas this summer.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Mar 21, 2024
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Aldred shares Richard Hawley's producer Colin Elliot, but also his gruff, warmhearted authority, and it's a similar hard-won wisdom that makes Herd Runners so moving.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted May 12, 2014
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