The connective sense of an on-the-hoof holiday from the day job, plus emotionally deep and humorous lyrics, make this a winner. [Summer 2020, p.98]

A masterpiece in mood setting, the apocalyptic Punisher aches with sadness, but Bridgers doesn't wallow. ... The end of the world rarely sounds this good. [Summer 2020, p.106]

Everything here sounds how Jehnny Beth is meant to sound, making To Love Is To Live a record as masterful as its creator is complicated. [Summer 2020, p.99]

While the ringtone-catchy Alive and fuzzed-up Stressy are obvious standouts, it's the reckless try-anything funk of Leader that holds best claim to being Flight's spirit guide. [Jul 2020, p.106]

Music of the mid-00s is undergoing a revival. London-based Sports Team are the fresh case. [Jun 2020, p.107]

It can occasionally cloy, but on The Prettiest Curse, Hinds are on fighting form. [Jun 2020, p.100]

A sublime tonic. [Jul 2020, p.113]

Mature, classy and a hard-earnedtriumph. [Jul 2020, p.105]

Just enough texture and colour to lift his affecting compositions above the neo-classical norm. [May 2020, p.104]

Cover Two shows no dimming of eclectic tastes or interpretive skills. [Jul 2020, p.108]

For all its characteristic lyricism and stylistic restlessness, to say there is never a dull moment on Notes on a Conditional Form would be a slight overstatment. [Jul 2020, p.103]

It's the multi-layered harmonies and busy, overlapping rhythms that stick. [Jul 2020, p.104]

Soundtracked largely by sweet, inoffensive Scandipop flavoured with R&B, EDM and acoustic indie. Occasionally, however, she complements her subject matter with notes of punk and emo ... and produces something livelier and less conventional in the process. [Jul 2020, p.104]

He's still more traditionalist than outlier, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. [Jul 2020, p.19]

No band should by rights sound as sharp, melodic and funny more than 50 years into their career, but Sparks are no ordinary band. [Jun 2020, p.113]

Mutable Set is best at its most surreal. [Jul 2020, p.110]

Viewed either as an introduction or reinvention, Williams emerges as a formidable solo artist here. [Jul 2020, p.111]

The songwriting here is just undeniably strong and direct. [Jul 2020, p.107]

Fake is rearranging his sound rather than reinventing it. [Jul 2020, p.109]

The music here is more than arresting enough. [Jul 2020, p.113]

Marling's seventh solo LP has the clarity, mastery and quiet strength of a folk-rock classic. [Jul 2020, p.110]

Here he revisits an early interest in exotica, the '50s faux-tropical lounge style, creating mood music with a global twist. [Jul 2020, p.110]

If you've ever half-enjoyed an Eels album, What's New, Tomboy? will make you swoon. [Jul 2020, p.109]

These 10 tracks sustain a brooding atmosphere. [Jul 2020, p.109]

Though their lyrical scope remains limited, they work hard to deliver the kind of catharsis you'd associate with a cherished coming-of-age movie. [Jul 2020, p.106]

Stretching his creative wings has worked for Toledo; there's a sense of him pushing outward as well as forward, even as he questions the point of it all. [Jul 2020, p.106]

Style and contentment. [Jul 2020, p.104]

The results are mixed. [Jul 2020, p.104]