New Musical Express (NME)'s Scores
- Music
For 6,004 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: 4,226 out of 6004
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Mixed: 1,625 out of 6004
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Negative: 153 out of 6004
6004
music
reviews
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- By Critic Score
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- Critic Score
'All Rights Reversed', the Chems' collaboration with Klaxons, saves 'We Are The Night' from sounding like it's still stuck in the mid-'90s and with Willy Mason and Midlake cropping up, Tom and Ed have again found just enough cool mates to save them from a general feeling of naffness.- New Musical Express (NME)
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What it is overall, however, is a disappointment. A few sparkling moments of invention aside, much of this album is comfortably interchangeable with "Stars Of CCTV's" less inspired tracks.- New Musical Express (NME)
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There have been dark records by Chicagoan Bill Callahan. There have been wilfully obscure ones too, but there has never been one as single-mindedly dour as this.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Damned if they do and damned if they don't, it seems, but never sounding damned enough.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jul 6, 2011
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There’s nothing complex about what Rick Ross does. ... Ross consistently portrays the ‘old Rozay’, garnering successful results more times than not. Sometimes simplicity is key: if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Dec 14, 2021
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If you can get past the earnest nostalgia and tweedy affectations, this isn't a bad album, just an average one.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Sep 24, 2012
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The urge to dislike Josh Ritter is somewhat overwhelming. But, like a diseased puppy with an adorable smile, it's just impossible to take him out back with Pa's shotgun because he still has an ear for a good tune--even if it is one of Dylan's.- New Musical Express (NME)
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In the end, Ritual is not a bad album. But neither is it the album it would like to think it is.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jan 18, 2011
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Dulli generally succeeds in keeping things as darkly hypnotic as a rain-lashed midnight motorway.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Feb 25, 2011
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With so many influences laid bare, it does take until seven-minute-long crescendoing closer ‘Saintless’ to truly showcase what they can achieve musically.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Feb 4, 2021
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Hidden under the pit floor, however, are frankly scarier prospects. Like AAF's toe-curling cover of Michael Jackson's 'Smooth Criminal' or the awful sub-Police reggae lurch of 'Flesh And Bone'. Singer Dryden Mitchell over-emotes at every turn too, further slickening 'ANThology's pomp rock gloss.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Has the pungent whiff of an album with an imminent expiry date. [12 Feb 2005, p.51]- New Musical Express (NME)
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The decision you have to make with Summer Camp is this: do you want dance music that'll stop your feet moving by throwing some thought-provoking lyrics in your direction? Or dance music that'll make you wanna, you know, dance?- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jul 16, 2012
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Yung Lean’s music has always been more interesting than it is good. ‘Starz’ features just enough captivating moments to prevent him – now an unexpected seven years into his career – from feeling played-out.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted May 18, 2020
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The irony of ‘Jump Rope Gazers’ is that as The Beths push themselves to do something different for album number two, they actually end up with the sonic sameness that the first record miraculously avoided. Only now do they sound like they could just be any other band.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jul 10, 2020
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The tunes offer a smooth enough ride, but The Vaselines aren’t really stretching themselves here.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Sep 29, 2014
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‘Zombie’ has all the swagger and pep of his previous collaborator The Weeknd, while the tempered nature of ‘Cameo’ and ‘Renegade’ allow traditional pop songwriting to coexist with bolshy, bone-crunching settings. These fleeting moments are by far ‘Reborn’s most satisfying, and offer proof that there’s plenty more creative road for Kavinsky to bomb it down in years to come.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Mar 29, 2022
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It’s a challenge to come away from ‘Death By Rock And Roll’ with much of a sense of who The Pretty Reckless really are. A pastiche of their epic rock ambitions? Something deeper? It’s that tension that frustrates and fascinates.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Feb 12, 2021
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Their mid-career crisis record full of poor-man's-Bjork wailing and dour shimmer rock, notable only for the funky mantra of 'Kali Yuga' (George Harrison exploding), and 'Point Dume' (the noises you'd hear in the night if your flat was haunted by Brian Wilson).- New Musical Express (NME)
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Cupid Deluxe is a shop window for the future sound of pop. But perhaps he should quit trying to be a Prince-like polymath and concentrate on being a nimble-fingered production wizard instead.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Nov 18, 2013
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In between, it’s a wade through thick sonic sludge, but the oncoming doom of ‘Endless Drops’ is bleakly tuneful and ‘He Looks Good In Space’ is soothing.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Nov 26, 2013
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Melodically there’s consistent bombast – the record opens with ‘Stepdad’s wonky sound, sounding like an orchestra disco epic played on a Fisher Price keyboard. ‘Miami Memory’ becomes a slipperier prospect when Cameron’s usual ironic schtick reappears.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Sep 13, 2019
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A tighter and more compact project would have elevated some of the album’s more enlightening moments, but, when taken as a whole, ‘Modern Dread’ ultimately disappoints.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jul 6, 2020
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The Divine Comedy are much more appealing in their vulnerability than they ever were in full cry.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Kane’s ante is upped, but Coup de Grace still isn’t quite the killer blow.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Aug 13, 2018
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The rootsier material is often fantastic, which shows up the goofier stuff even more. Kesha has balanced tender country songs with blinging pop throughout her career, but you may wish for ‘High Road’ to stick to one lane.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jan 31, 2020
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Overall, Interpol seems cinematic, abstract and complex, but that adds up to something interesting rather than thrilling.- New Musical Express (NME)
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It’s commendable that aespa are not resting on their laurels or churning out sound-a-likes of what’s worked before, but this project doesn’t showcase the spark that made them special in the first place.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jul 13, 2022
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An extremely mellow album, while hardly groundbreaking, it’s quietly beautiful in places.- New Musical Express (NME)
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There's still signs of the nutso techno loony who prompted NME to invent the term 'drill'n'bass' back in the mid-'90s. [14 Oct 2006, p.35]- New Musical Express (NME)
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Shangri La is basically more of the same, and for many of his fans, that’ll be more than enough. It would be a shame, however, if it was enough for Bugg, too.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Nov 18, 2013
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Despite overwhelming evidence to support the notion that he should quit vocal duties forever, he continues to labor under the delusion that his cochlea-shredding falsetto sounds like anything other than Prince with his scrotum in a vice.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Nov 8, 2010
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Uneasy and scratchy, and powered by hefty beats from producer Justin Raisen, ‘No Home Record’ is a restless listen.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Oct 9, 2019
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Cabic's alt.blues vocals sometimes sound disinterested, but they merely act as a device for the music to take over the listener. [1 Jul 2006, p.36]- New Musical Express (NME)
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Bad As Me has to rank as a disappointment, since there are no surprises to match Real Gone's sepulchral funk or Orphans'... breathtaking sweep.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Oct 31, 2011
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- Posted Nov 18, 2013
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‘True’ is the only real misstep on the record’s first half: a preachy self-love anthem that feels like it might’ve come together without Marina thinking how the lyrics sound when sang out loud, but it’s quickly passed over when ‘To Be Human’ arrives.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Apr 29, 2019
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Of course it's pretentious, but the blend of reading-group rock, goth showtunes and gold standard hamming from Willem Dafoe and Steve Buscemi is surprisingly compelling after a while.- New Musical Express (NME)
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While there’s a comforting familiarity that comes with all things Suede, it’s wonderfully shrouded on The Blue Hour by a very new, romantic and alluring strangeness. These are not hits to shake your bits to. Nor will these beats shake your meat. Rest assured, Suede remain the beautiful ones, but are just looking for beauty in ever more curious places.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Sep 19, 2018
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Here is the ultra-Keane album, with tinkling, histrionic, arena-ready piano motifs™, soaring, emotive vocals™ and songs called 'Day Will Come', 'In Your Own Time' and 'Silenced By The Night'.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted May 9, 2012
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It’s a slow-burnin’ collection that’s certainly less immediate than their debut, and often feels like a retread instead of a progression. But that doesn’t make songs like ‘Friend of Mine’ and ‘Song For Ty’ any less enjoyable, as Elrich’s and Kazacek’s songwriting bond appears stronger than ever.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Sep 4, 2019
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It might lack the raw appeal of Kendrick's 2011 mixtape 'Section.80', but it's also a big-budget reminder that the 25-year-old hasn't forgotten his roots.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Oct 22, 2012
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While it's an impressive document, it can’t quite recapture the nocturnal intimacy of ‘Nothing Else But This’ and ‘Dream’.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Nov 19, 2014
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Much as there's no getting away from the fact that this is basically one long remix, it's much better than the car crash we all predicted it would be.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Dec 20, 2011
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If soft-hearted London folkies Noah And The Whale aren’t quite as deft with savoury rice, they’ve got the knack of balancing heart-melting, pupil-dilating ditties with words of chill bleakness down pat.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Beneath their notorious humour, 11th studio album Coaster is less angry than previous political witch hunts, but Fat Mike and co still love to offend.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Fool’s Gold might mine a rich vein, but they rarely forge anything more than mere tourist trinkets.- New Musical Express (NME)
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He’s managed to morph his frustrations of the world into engaging and frantic material that packs serious spirit. Yet another album we’ll have to wait to see live.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Sep 18, 2020
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It’s the ‘meh’ shruggable moments of filler around them that dog the consistency of ‘Wallop’. There’s not the high-octane fuel or direction to take the record to the heights that it so constantly teases.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Sep 4, 2019
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So unashamedly beaming with the spirit of 1991 that it should be wearing a flannel shirt and a woozy expression. [22 Apr 2006, p.41]- New Musical Express (NME)
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It's not so much that [they] sound a bit like The Rapture so much as, occasionally, they seem to be running off Xerox copies of specific Rapture songs. [29 Jan 2005, p.58]- New Musical Express (NME)
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Don't start here before the essential LPs... But once you've fallen in love (and believe us, it's inevitable), this is a mesmerising next stop. [17 Jul 2004, p.48]- New Musical Express (NME)
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An older, wiser, more mature and more accomplished Thrills but -- to be honest -- the heart of 'Let's Bottle Bohemia' could quite easily have been made from the leftovers of 'So Much For The City.' [11 Sep 2004, p.54]- New Musical Express (NME)
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The most interesting moments on ‘Deleter’ arrive when the band embrace ’90s dance in all its euphoric, Technicolor glory. There is still plenty here for fans of the band’s more melancholic, anxiety-ridden electronica, but there’s some much-needed escapism to be derived from getting lost in Holy Fuck’s tripper soundscapes.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jan 15, 2020
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Their charm lies in the feeling that below the faintly twee, wistful, synthy exterior beats a feisty riot-grrl heart.- New Musical Express (NME)
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As things stand, it too often feels like a watered-down version of what Jack White peddles.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Whilst stylistically Nasir may well have plenty of strong moments, its contradictions make it a difficult, problematic listen: it’s the silences on here which so often deafen.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jun 16, 2018
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Somewhere beneath the unconvincing sheen of these songs there’s a great band trying to break out. Maybe next time.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Oct 7, 2013
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[The] constant sense of melodrama robs the record of its potency, the impact of that pounding sonic template diminished through its constancy. The sense of doom is familiar, the sound of the band’s new record even more so.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Feb 7, 2019
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It's all rather one-paced and sags badly after tenth track 'Lick Up Ya Foot' but, by crikey, the likes of 'Big Tings Redone' and 'Dutty Rut' provide the perfect soundtrack for out-on-the-stoop sunshine boozing.- New Musical Express (NME)
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This patchy album shows these sharp-suited Londoners on safe indie territory, but caught in several minds.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Although it can be overblown, Sean’s passion is unreserved here, the record peppered with Instagram-worthy captions that urge listeners to take inspiration from their surroundings while keeping friends and family close.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Sep 8, 2020
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Sound Mirror’s mix of jazz rhythms and psychedelic funk cuts a distinctive, if unfashionable, path.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jun 2, 2014
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Instead of an album hurtling 100mph in one of those directions, Fragrant World feels like the work of a band with stabilisers on.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Aug 21, 2012
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While it doesn’t reach the impossibly high standards of their back catalogue, there’s enough promise to suggest there are good times ahead.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Oct 7, 2013
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The record is most effective at its most gentle and sparse, his voice given room to breathe. Where the lyrics becomes too grandiose, words clash with the folky style, leading to abrupt jarrs in pace and direction. Yet, as with most of Corgan’s solo projects to date, there are still plenty of moments of beauty here.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Dec 3, 2019
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While the low-key arrangements and melancholic song choices may make Tinsel And Lights an EastEnders special of a Christmas album, if you're planning on a microwaved turkey dinner for one this year, there's probably no better soundtrack.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Oct 29, 2012
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This is a nine-song collection of modest ambition, but ‘Buoys’ undoubtedly succeeds on its own terms, that consistently understated sonic template interspersed with surprising moments – the bassy thud of electronic drums that interrupts ‘Crescendo’, the hip-hop style piano riff that marches through ‘Master’ – that makes it a rewarding repeat listen.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Mar 6, 2019
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Miike Snow’s debut is a curious affair: clad in icy, inscrutable packaging a la Sigur Ros with american singer Andrew Wyatt carefully enunciating every overwrought word, it’s also jam-packed with the kind of dazzling pop tricks you might expect from three chaps whose day job is churning out radio hits for the likes of and Jordin Sparks.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Lacking as it does the songwriting spark of Ariel Pink, the record lacks cohesion.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Apr 11, 2011
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Time Team is intergalactic, ambient, Rustie-ish drug music set to snare kicks and sturdy hip-hop beats that at its best is deliciously mind-bending.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted May 9, 2012
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Please Mr Eitzel, get to the bar and pour yourself another drink. [1 Oct 2005, p.45]- New Musical Express (NME)
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He dissects his 20-something malaise with a dry and eloquent wit like a K-Mart Morrissey. [6 May 2006, p.33]- New Musical Express (NME)
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If ‘Holy Fvck’ is a funeral for Lovato’s pop music, it also marks a new beginning, with an artist reborn. As the musician explores this ferocious sonic world and celebrating her musical roots, it’s the start of a bold new era.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Aug 18, 2022
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A decidedly strange record with flashes of beauty and brilliance, then. How utterly Yoko.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Feb 18, 2022
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While Hercules and Neon Neon took their dance nostalgia and turned it into something smart and new, Sam Sparro too often sounds like it's come straight out of an electro-funk generator--perfect reference points intact, but not developed or built upon or made unique.- New Musical Express (NME)
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The Irish duo are joined by an unnamed vocalist on a couple of tracks, but the instrumentals are the best work here.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Apr 15, 2013
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Despite the fluid interplay of the four MCs and J5's evolving musicality, 'Quality Control' lacks the singalong pop immediacy of 'Jurassic 5'.... Quality then. But it's not the old-skool classic we'd hoped for.- New Musical Express (NME)
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It's an impressive attempt to drag folk music out of the hayloft and onto the dancefloor and it marks the emergence of a smart, sincere and talented new pop star.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Bahdeni Nami isn’t a bad record, exactly, but it’s not quite the best place to crack into Souleyman’s catalogue (which, if you believe estimates, stretches to a mindboggling 500 recordings).- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jul 21, 2015
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- Posted Aug 12, 2013
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It remains to be seen whether Do Nothing can use the solid foundations of ‘Snake Sideways’ as a launching pad to ascend to the giddy heights of their initial promise.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jun 30, 2023
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The first quarter of the album is a soothing ode to an immense talent gone too soon. But soon the record starts to sprawl and spiral.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jul 13, 2020
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It’s less an album, more a collection of savvy and generally savvy collaborations which blurs traditional genre boundaries unselfconsciously and acknowledges that Latin-pop is the sound of the near-future. Most of the time, it’s a credit to Sheeran’s songwriting skills and well-honed persona.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jul 12, 2019
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‘Talk Memory’ is technically proficient but all too often the record lacks the playful spirit and brash confidence the band carried themselves with in the early days.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Oct 6, 2021
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There’s not much sugar to sweeten the pill, meaning Trap Lord is often one-note and depressing.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Sep 9, 2013
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Tracks like 'Bacaroo' and 'Sailing Bells' deploy the sort of lovely string arrangements that sweep you off your feet and have your knickers on the floor before you even notice your cold bits.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Adding interesting new textures to his playbook, it’s perhaps helpful to think of ‘The Waves Pt.1’ as a soundtrack to something bigger, the wading out to sea before the full immersive plunge. By the time ‘Part 2’ arrives, Kele will likely have found even more ways to expand his horizons.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted May 28, 2021
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- Posted Nov 20, 2023
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As prolific as he is iconic, Ride Me Back Home is Willie’s 69th (nice) album and sees him in absolute sweetheart mode.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jun 20, 2019
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Lion King: The Gift is a great example of Beyonce’s fantastic taste, and of her ability to oversee an album that doesn’t focus on her while also cementing the soundtrack as a worthy substitute to the original. Most importantly, it puts a spotlight on artists from the continent in which the movie takes place.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jul 22, 2019
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By teaming up with Godrich, McCartney has come out of his safety zone and challenged himself in a way not seen since his first solo album way back in 1970. But the feeling remains that the one person who could really inspire him to write one final classic record was tragically murdered in 1980.- New Musical Express (NME)
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While ‘Old News’ also has a light, airy quality – every note of ‘Roadrunner’ is imbued with a deep melancholy. While it might not provide the same hit as the jubilant likes of early hits ‘Boogie’ and ‘Gold’, Brockhampton are still masters of tapping into a mood, and it’s an immersive trip as a result.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Apr 9, 2021
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There’s nothing groundbreaking here, but little to be ashamed of either.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Feb 15, 2018
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There are moments when her A-Level Debating Club earnestness gets the better of her, but there's still three quarters of a great album here.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Feb 13, 2012
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