New Musical Express (NME)'s Scores
- Music
For 6,014 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: 4,234 out of 6014
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Mixed: 1,627 out of 6014
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Negative: 153 out of 6014
6014
music
reviews
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- By Critic Score
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- Critic Score
Here are 13 songs of dire cod-reggae, OK stoner rock and quite-good-'80s AOR, which makes them the thinking man's Tenacious D, for what that's worth.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Round the back nine (‘Golden Fire’, ‘Kilmore’s End’, ‘Overnight’), the attention to detail slips, and they end up with a load of meat patties of twee that just come across as Owl City in fashionable shoes, a whiny inner-child deserving of a smacked botty-bot.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted May 29, 2014
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So swathed in electronic trickery, space-age swoops and super-produced vocals is My Electric Family, though, that it ends up a little soulless; individually the tracks have a removed piquancy, but an hour’s solid exposure leaves you yearning for a crackle, some fuzz, or any human intervention.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Not sure-footed enough in its subversion, its artificiality feels fake rather than carefully plotted.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Apr 30, 2012
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Rivas’ voice isn’t enormously distinctive, either, meaning Sky Swimming rarely eclipses the dreaded adjective ''pleasant''.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Apr 29, 2014
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Ultimately, it’s sketchy and uneven, ridiculous in as many of the wrong ways as the right, but not quite the disaster its tracklisting would suggest.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jul 25, 2013
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Throw in the tinny synth on 'Fish In The Sky' and this album couldn't get any more late-'70s if it tried. If it was a TV programme, it'd be Starsky & Hutch--a dubious honour to say the least.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Almost every sound here is precision-tooled for maximum obnoxious effect.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Feb 19, 2013
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Korn's eighth is actually an interesting listen; as diverse as the witless art of nu-metal gets. That doesn't mean it's good. It merely leaves us with a numbing dilemma: we want to hate it, but we can't.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Dios (Malos) are clearly capable of breezily mordant psychedelia nd thumpingly pie-eyed pop... Sadly, they're not so hot on tunes you can't help whistling. [4 Mar 2006, p.31]- New Musical Express (NME)
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Its bluster and sheen ends up burying the barbed poetry of frontman Mike Duce.- New Musical Express (NME)
Posted Oct 19, 2012 -
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These country-blues laments are seriously sleepy-eyed. [10 Sep 2005, p.66]- New Musical Express (NME)
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The former Sylvia Young alumnis’ latest solo offering is a mixed bag of soulfully gritty D’Angelo-influenced vocals and Busta Rhymes-esque rants.- New Musical Express (NME)
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His considerable production chops can't disguise that his songwriting too often feels half-formed.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Oct 11, 2011
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It’s hard to knock stompers like ‘Roaring Waters’ either, but the vanilla title track and the plodding ‘Hammer & Tongs’, come off as cheesy, even for this lot.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jun 10, 2015
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The reality is Free Energy sound like ’90s rock berks Terrorvision. It’s not all woe--‘Bad Stuff’ is like an FM rock Pavement--but it makes us worry that Murphy might be losing his edge.- New Musical Express (NME)
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A mildly diverting collection of the good (DJ Cam, Model 500), bad (Beth Orton, Mary Margaret O'Hara) and pleasantly forgettable (Dubtribe Sound System, Ananda Project).- New Musical Express (NME)
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Their sixth album is also as pretentious as you would expect a record named after a novel by Austrian feminist author Elfriede Jelinek to be.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Wiz proclaims that his "life is like a movie". Maybe so, but he needs to delete some scenes.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Apr 4, 2011
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'Sad' is an Adele-apeing weepie, 'Payphone' has a guest rap from Wiz Khalifa, and both 'Lucky Strike' and 'Fortune Teller' feature cod-dubstep breakdowns.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jun 25, 2012
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Where this album tries for a harder, more adventurous sound, they’re still stuck with one leg in leather trousers.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Apr 8, 2013
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Her choice of collaborators is piss-poor, and as every vocal snarl and heartfelt croon is wilfully blanded-out by the musos and their sterile embellishments, we might as well be listening to The Corrs.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Things are less enjoyable when musical boundaries are pushed--and at 25 songs long, albeit with nine of them shorter than a minute, it’s a joke that wears thin.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Apr 8, 2013
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They’ve possibly succeeded in alienating the casual fan with the brief moments of nastiness that are here.- New Musical Express (NME)
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But while Gray's voice is still beguiling and unique, The Id is basically Brit-award winning, corporate soul with little identity, too cosy and calculated to have any genuine depth.- New Musical Express (NME)
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The musical results feel more like a touristy package holiday through Jamaican dub history.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Apr 29, 2013
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Clearly Damon is pleased to be carving a niche in the world of high art, but perhaps 'Dr Dre The Opera: Nuthin' But An ENO Thang' might have served his legend better.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted May 9, 2012
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A mammoth indulgence, an 80-minute justification of his own ill-defined status.- New Musical Express (NME)
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It’s spunkier than 2008’s ‘Sebastian Grainger & The Mountains’, but still meek in comparison to DFA 1979.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Nov 18, 2013
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Both musically and lyrically, Daughter ain’t half as clever as they clearly think they are (people get serious and clever mixed up a lot, weirdly).- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Mar 19, 2013
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Original it is not--there's little here that couldn't have come straight off a Shara Nelson album--but she does write some fine tunes- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Apr 16, 2012
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Rather than evolution, Listen offers questionable overindulgence in funk, soul and chopped beats.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Sep 8, 2014
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Inevitably, when the Prozac finally wears off the more 'thoughtful' numbers fall flat on their faces. [20 Aug 2005, p.58]- New Musical Express (NME)
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Away from his day job, White is less creatively liberated, and surrounding The Dead Weather there's a very strong whiff of conventional, rather clumpy Middle-America jock rock.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Despite this early start, she oozes a smoky maturity that bodes well for her debut, but unfortunately then shanks it off the fairways by prattling on about Air Max 90s and hanging on the District Line.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Mar 26, 2014
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Individually the tracks have a removed piquancy, but an hour's solid exposure leaves you yearning for a crackle, some fuzz, or any human intervention.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jun 3, 2011
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Weirdest of all, though, is that no matter how much Jessie J sings about being herself, we don't really ever get a sense of who, or what, that is.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Mar 28, 2011
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All 13 of the tracks here sound nothing like their much parodied clip. It’s just that sadly, branching out isn’t a good thing for them.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Imagine if your diary was published in a national newspaper two years after writing it. Now consider what dull and repetitive reading it would make, and welcome to 'Return To Saturn'.- New Musical Express (NME)
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All this greedy grasping means the London newcomers can’t really get a firm grip on anything, meaning Bad Blood comes out with about as much identity as a Facebook commenter without a profile picture.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Mar 4, 2013
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Mainly, Halcyon sees Goulding's quirky-as-usual vocals lazily spliced into factory-standard chart dance.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Oct 8, 2012
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While it's sometimes hateful and sometimes hate-filled, "At Your Inconvenience" is rarely boring.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Nov 16, 2011
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It's a shame Mr Pain needs these cameos as much as his instrument of choice--without them, the temptation for the listener would be to simply Auto-Tune out.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Dec 5, 2011
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Fly Yellow Moon sounds like Guillemots with all the wonky bits weeded out.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Nine of the ten songs are named after friends, and they’re samey and indulgent.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Sep 9, 2013
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As is the case with twee-pop even at its best, there are moments when Allo Darlin' can get carried away with its cutesy sensibilities, when smiles can turn into winces- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Feb 17, 2011
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If only the rest of the album was as inventive [as 'Spend Some Money'], instead of a derivative box-ticking exercise that features Dizzee going on about his "willy" a lot.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Oct 1, 2013
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This perpetual desire to show off is Hawkins' weakness and 'One Way Ticket..."s ultimate downfall. [26 Nov 2005, p.44]- New Musical Express (NME)
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The 11 tracks trundle along in a generally inoffensive slipstream of occasionally admirable but mainly dull AOR silliness.- New Musical Express (NME)
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It's accomplished but occasionally overbearingly earnest and calls to mind the Foos' acoustic alter-ego, bolstered by Sufjan Stevens-ish banjo plucks and, in 'Hard Sun', the kind of play-it-again chorus made for credits rolling over a stunning landscape.- New Musical Express (NME)
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While most of Matinée will fade away into your brain faster than a pair of his danced-out Nikes, there is a shadow of a hint of a suggestion that there’s something more to Jack Peñate than rapidly-dissolving indie-pop sugar.- New Musical Express (NME)
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The gulf between Barrie's obvious talent and the quality of his recorded output is disappointingly huge. [27 Jan 2007, p.29]- New Musical Express (NME)
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Where Black's muse was once shrieked and otherworldly, it's now distinctly earth-bound. [17 Jun 2006, p.37]- New Musical Express (NME)
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There's something a little too ‘phone advert’ about it all to properly excite.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Sep 4, 2014
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Unfortunately, this rarities compilation focuses on OM's 2008-until-now phase, and it grates heavily.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Oct 22, 2012
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- Posted May 15, 2012
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There’s melody and slick production throughout, but all the life and soul of an accountancy website.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jun 2, 2014
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- Posted Dec 22, 2010
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What disappoints, though, is how numbingly comfortable he is within these nostalgic boundaries.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Apr 4, 2011
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It’s lyrically weak, however, (sample: “The moon falls in your doorway”) and although there’s sparkle in the production, Johns reveals himself to be a far from charismatic singer.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jun 2, 2014
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Ultimately Deerhoof Vs Evil isn't going to bring about any revolutions by itself. And while the people who love Deerhoof for being Deerhoof will certainly like this, it's no place to start for anyone else.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jan 25, 2011
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Far from bad... but so much of it sounds like a museum piece, the glum-pop self-harmings of another time. [12 Nov 2005, p.45]- New Musical Express (NME)
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On the balancing strength of those two songs [Dangerous & Much Too Soon], Michael manages to dodge the bullet enough to be kind of enjoyable. But it's worth remembering that both songs date back to the 1980s.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Dec 22, 2010
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There’s enough sonic meat here to gain him fans, but not enough depth to build a fanbase that will remember him once he’s off the airwaves.- New Musical Express (NME)
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The beat pulses seductively on ‘Staring At The Moon’. ‘Flags & Crosses’ sounds like a nasty Bee Gees. But then it all goes a bit wrong.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Dec 18, 2013
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Mostly, though, The Dodos’ little quirks--the lack of bass, the blustery drumming, the lyrics that threaten to say something profound but never do--irritate rather than intrigue.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Equatorial Ultravox is undeniably lovely, and the title describes the vaguely early '80s Mediterranean synth vibe pretty well. It's just not exactly essential listening.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jun 27, 2011
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So yes, a solid enough album by the standards of most pop tarts, but from the mistress of innovation? Pretty mediocre.- New Musical Express (NME)
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the promised sense of youth and experimentation rarely surfaces. If anything, Feel Good goes too far the other way, sounding insipid and polished in comparison to The Internet’s debut.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Oct 7, 2013
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Mvula’s keenly awaited debut record is ornate, gentle and clearly composed by someone with vast musical training. So it’s a shame that so much of it sounds lightweight and shallow.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Apr 29, 2013
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‘Blameless’ and ‘Little Moments’ marshal some nice glimmering synths, but Alec Ounsworth’s mewling vocal--while unquestionably distinctive--remains a bit of an odd proposition to achieve the requisite Everyman appeal.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jun 2, 2014
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The overriding feel is of an album just too jaded, too joyless to truly count as a return to form.- New Musical Express (NME)
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- Posted Mar 30, 2012
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Yes, they write pretty and moving songs, but it’s reasonable to expect more from a band with a history of writing such sophisticated pop.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Feb 10, 2014
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III is unspectacular, yet it’s laudable that Billy Talent’s chins to remain unencumbered by the ballbags of big business.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Experimental pop that tries way too hard and yet paradoxically feels frustratingly half-hearted. [12 Jun 2004, p.49]- New Musical Express (NME)
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Welch displays little dancefloor nous. Conversely, these cheerful jumbles of loops and kickdrums aren’t the kind of ambience you can sink into.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Dec 2, 2013
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The monotone pace is lifted by the sprightly ‘3 Days’, but ultimately Woman is cloyingly pedestrian.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Mar 21, 2013
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Cranes is strong on ‘Honeymoon’ and ‘Easy’, but there’s also nigh-on-sprightly, post-Jessie Ware trip-pop on ‘I Only’ and ‘Feather Tongue’. It's just not enough, though, to struggle above years of similarly tasteful, slight efforts.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Mar 17, 2014
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A few tunes--like the Afro-flecked ‘LA Calling’ or ‘Everywhere’--pass muster, but the whole thing is about as cosmic as a hairdresser who’s just read in Grazia that hippies are ‘in’ this summer.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jun 3, 2013
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Not a bad choice for zoned-out afterhours sessions or long lost summer afternoons, but it's just too indifferent to recommend with any real conviction.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jun 21, 2012
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To be fair, this is easily the best thing they’ve done since the mid-’80s and ‘Rockets’ and ‘Moscow Underground’ have some of that epic post-punk/new-wave disco spirit of yore, but it’s still not enough.- New Musical Express (NME)
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What's curious here is how, for all the Kid's ludicrous victory laps, 'Cocky' is so soft in the middle.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Nothing here comes close to the claustrophobic, urgent brilliance of the early work. [26 Feb 2005, p.66]- New Musical Express (NME)
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If they want to be treated like adults they’ll have to release something, y’know, gooder.- New Musical Express (NME)
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So, his odd decision to make Jamiroquai-like pillow-pop adds yet another string to Oye’s heavily-laden bow, but this is one we’d happily take the wire-cutters to.- New Musical Express (NME)
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Disappointing, then, that the eight-track ‘bonus disc’ opens with a cover of a cover: a lo-fi version of ‘Valerie’. [Review of Deluxe Edition]- New Musical Express (NME)
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Daring as some of the tracks are, they overwhelmingly loop her vocal around a generic house lick that has the effect of giving her very little to do vocally.- New Musical Express (NME)
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- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Nov 21, 2014
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- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted May 27, 2014
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It's largely the usual semi-hilarious histrionica to which we've become accustomed- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jun 25, 2012
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Easy Pain proves hard to like; and with little more than aimless aggression to cling onto for eight songs, you realise it’s all muscle.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted May 15, 2014
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There’s the occasional peak, like ‘Clown’ or ‘Destroy Me’, but Candy For The Clowns feels more like an act of stubbornness than defiance.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Apr 22, 2014
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It’s difficult to share the singer's awe when the musical backdrop sounds so tired.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Aug 19, 2015
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It’s respectable enough but a stronger dose of Fink’s maverick tendencies would be welcome.- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jul 18, 2014
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Young Rebel Set are as comfortable and enjoyable as a Mumford-wool blanket, but when was the last time you got really excited by a woolly blanket?- New Musical Express (NME)
- Posted Jul 28, 2011
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