Dare may share some vocal similarities with Jeff Buckley and James Blake, but the overall effect is utterly distinctive. [Apr 2020, p.106]

Both instantly appealing and dazzling inventive. [Apr 2020, p.113]

At 22 tracks - including a spoken interlude by Eminem - there's a lot to digest here. But, Crucially, a lot worth digesting. [Mar 2020, p.120]

Everywhere you turn there is something beautiful. [Apr 2020, p.114]

Cape God might be an awful place to visit, but the tunes are great. [Apr 2020, p.114]

Color Theory is a record that weighs heavy with low self-esteem and personal tragedy. [Mar 2020, p.122]

Dividing their labour between two vocalists and songwriters does much to keep this second record interesting. [Apr 2020, p.113]

This is a hugely promising debut. [Apr 2020, p.106]

Marshall sounds at peace here, and back to his best. [Apr 2020, p.110]

While taken individually each song has its merits, as a whole, Spook The Herd is disappointing musically, with nothing rising out of the politely artful haze to truly engage. [Apr 2020, p.111]

While the thumping psych-rock of Rollercoaster shines a light on the fears that still plague her, it's lead single For The First Time that makes for the most refreshing and cathartic moment. [Apr 2020, p.105]

Where the spiraling The Tide is a ringer for his old band, he's at his best when he's playing a velvet-voiced Mephistopheles on A ghost or leading a spectral New Orleans jazz band on through the low-key electronic soundscape of Lockless. [Apr 2020, p.109]

Despite the voices changing from one song to the next, Marshall never lets you forget you're listening to the same LP. Mission accomplished. [Apr 2020, p.109]

Singer Dan Hyndman's mannered voice can get a bit wearing, but once Mush have bedded in, the evidence is here for a bright future. [Mar 2020, p.118]

They nail it from the start. [Apr 2020, p.111]

Each of Stray's tracks bring with it a sense of foreboding, from the eerie short-story-style lyrics to the reveryb-y guitars, which land between Echo & The Bunnymen and Ennio Morricone. [Apr 2020, p.105]

They stand up to modern scrutiny. [Apr 2020, p.118]

Top-tier comp. ... A near-perfect musical expression of escape. [Apr 2020, p.118]

The result is an album designed for the feet as much as the head. [Mar 2020, p.106]

Rateliff is writing about his own vulnerability again, rather than telling other people;'s stories, all delivered in a hog-calling bellow that helps set him near the top of the enormous singer-songwriter pile. [Apr 2020, p.113]

Zimpel's most electronic album to date, though it's the kind of moody electronics you're more likely to find in the cinema than the club. [Apr 2020, p.114]

A little more thematic variation would be welcome, but there are worse soundtracks to the chaos of the new decade. [Apr 2020, p.114]

As an act of Catharsis, Storm Damage was clearly an important one for the singer, even if ultimately it yields mixed results. [Apr 2020, p.114]

Their second album may not pack many surprises, but vocalist Haley Shea proves engaging company. [Apr 2020, p.113]

The LP's monotonous back half leaves Jackson running to stand still. [Apr 2020, p.111]

Freighted by unflinching lyrics, Manic is a magnificent - and magnificently raw - pop confessional. [Apr 2020, p.110]

Her voice is magnetic enough to tilt the Earth's axis, the grooves so deep and plush that they could upholster a Cadillac. [Apr 2020, p.109]

Draws you in and then pulls you under. [Apr 2020, p.108]

The tension between invigorating, often exhilarating joyful music and disconcertingly bleak subject matter may be one hardwired into hip-hop tradition, but J Hus's innovative, genre-defying style and evocative, elliptical lyrics prove it can still be an intoxicating combination. [Apr 2020, p.107]

Alone again, naturally - and rather beautifully. [Apr 2020, p.106]

While not every idea feels as flesh out, Modus Vivendi teases a talented artist trying something genuinely new. [Apr 2020, p.105]

One of the chiefs pleasure to be had from The Slow Rush is the sheer depth of sonic treats packed into each song. [Apr 2020, p.102]

They make modern life's drain and strain exhilarating. [Mar 2020, p.120]

Betters his 2015 landmark, Integrity. [Mar 2020, p.119]

Their debut's wilful eccentricity is mostly unconvincing. [Mar 2020, p.119]

The result is a pitch-perfect homage to the old master, whose voice resonates as powerfully as it did a decade ago. [Mar 2020, p.120]

Complex, yet approachable rhythmic sketches. [Mar 2020, p.117]

By its very nature, Father Of All... is slight compared to a sprawling magnum opus such as 2009's 21st Century Breakdown, but it's close to impossible to emerge from its rapid-fire near-half-hour without a smile on your face. [Mar 2020, p.112]

Even when the music threatens to sag into MOR dullness, as on Slow Burn Love, Almond's unmistakable voice - equal measures of defiance and fragility - lifts it up high.[Mar 2020, p.114]

It's during the quieter moments that Fearless discovers real depth. [Mar 2020, p.117]

Aims for the middle ground, aided by Phil Ek and a sturdier indie-rock back-up that doesn't always suit them. [Mar 2020, p.120]

There's still an absence of real emotional heft, but it's hard not to be won over by Blossoms' relentless, effervescent cheeriness.

A four-part story in the record's centre is propelled by a whirligig of percussion that rapidly becomes total overwhelm[ing]. But in its final 20 minutes the album finds steadier ground, allowing space for Deacon's undaunted imagination to come into its own. [Mar 2020, p.117]

As singularly off-kilter as the time-travelling she seemingly blew in on us. [Mar 2020, p.114]

Relentlessly entertaining--a vessel for the impressive vim and vigour of an artist who is many things, but never a bore. [Mar 2020, p.115]

One of 2020 most engaging new artists. [Mar 2020, p.122]

Offsetting these slightly creepy lyrics, however, are seductive sonics. [Mar 2020, p.122]

By eerie last track 80 Ondula, all moody Vangelis synths and bad-acid vibes, there comes the realisation it's actually the sinister undertone that lurks beneath all Jenkinson's esoteric soundscapes which makes them so compelling. [Mar 2020, p.122]

Pushes the DBT envelope a little further and for a band whose catalogue boasts more double-albums than single ones--at 43 minutes it's extra punchy, and fully fit for impeachment-fuelling purpose. [Mar 2020, p.117]

At times, Leaneagh and Ryan Olson, her co-conspirator, glance off power-balladry, but when they ditch the linear, Poliça find their true form. [Mar 2020, p.119]

Like eclipse glasses, these songs are a way to see things too intense to stare at directly. Peer through them, though, and there's Bejar's world, darkness and beauty visible. [Mar 2020, p.121]

A rousing and defiantly modern revolution in sound. [Mar 2020, p.119]

The result is as dreamy and captivating as anything Nicolas Godin has ever done. [Mar 2020, p.117]

On Power they fully engage their inner Depeche Mode and LCD Soundsystem. ... Ordinarily this could point to an identity crisis, but it works. [Mar 2020, p.122]

Hotspot sounds anything but anachronistic and yet, brushing shoulders against, say, the Europop grandeur of Will-O-The-Wisp, the tender intimacies dispensed in Only The Dark or a beautiful existential audit called Burning The Heather, it's also a record on which such classics such as Left To My Own Devices or Rent wouldn't sound especially out of place. [Mar 2020, p.123]

The Neon Skyline stands up as a great collection of moodily atmospheric songs. [Mar 2020, p.120]

Surprisingly heartfelt. [Mar 2020, p.114]

A serious sustaining of quality. [Feb 2020, p.122]

Circles showed his music was reaching new heights. [Mar 2020, p.116]

The mood change from insurrection to brooding dystopia makes for a less immediate set of songs, but listen long enough and this is another powerful, affecting set. [Mar 2020, p.114]

Back on track. ... The time away has taught them that if the sings are good enough, there 's no need to chuck in the kitchen sink too. [Mar 2020, p.114]

Sometimes his curious fusion works. ... Sometimes it doesn't. [Feb 2020, p.115]

There's a new-found clarity and sense of purpose here. [Feb 2020, p.113]

This deeply melancholic brand of haunting, sparse folk is as intoxicating as it is unsettling. [Feb 2020, p.111]

Respite is offered up by the lilting Don't Go Outside, which reveals a beating heart beneath the conceptual framework. [Mar 2020, p.120]

The minimalism only focuses the listener on his searching, spiritual lyrics and lovely, time-aged voice. [Feb 2020, p.111]

Despite there being little opportunity for euphoric release, it's easy to lose yourself in Deleter's darker, more brutal moments. [Mar 2020, p.119]

Another rewarding helping of tuneful art-rock that moves their initial Sonic Youth fixations into far more expansive fields. [Feb 2020, p.108]

Her crystalline, sparse voice shines on melancholic but dreamy break-up songs and dark, cinematic tracks. [Feb 2020, p.115]

More expansive, darker and that much more intriguing. [Feb 2020, p.109]

Making A New World resonates with hidden meaning and lost connections. [Feb 2020, p.111]

Seeking Thrills is an artfully constructed yet instantly enjoyable tribute to dancefloor deliverance in all its forms. [Feb 2020, p.117]

This compilation of remixes doesn't find too many revelatory portals in St. Vincent's fifth album Masseducation, but there are moments that know just how to push open the wormholes in Annie Clark's flexible, fluid music. [Feb 2020, p.116]

A lovely, soothing aural balm. [Jan 2020, p.113]

Faithful singers could learn a secular trick or two. [Dec 2019, p.117]

Tremendous fun while it lasts, but hard to recall once the tracer lines have faded away. [Feb 2020, p.110]

The envelope-pushing gets a bit much at times. [Feb 2020, p.116]

There's a pleasing mundanity to their lyrical scope. [Feb 2020, p.115]

Previous music shine through while new material inevitable has the scrappiness of work assembled posthumously with Peep's childlike drawl sprawling over markedly lighter beats than the dark pop-punk rap he coined. [Feb 2020, p.112]

It's a raucous, righteous performance, one that underscores IDLES' current status as Britain's most vital band. [Feb 2020, p.112]

Furiously innovative first offering. [Feb 2020, p.112]

This LP shows fierce songwriting strength. [Feb 2020, p.108]

A work very much bigger than the sum of its parts. [Feb 2020, p.108]

Free Nationals say less about the band's identity than it does their taste, skill and curatorial clout--but that's still more than plenty. [Feb 2020, p.112]

Free of the shackles that hobbled his debut, Styles manages to show more of his personality here, especially on the Vampire Weekend-style Sunflower, Vol. 6. It's just a shame he can't quite keep up with his ambition. [Feb 2020, p.110]

Yet another display of his banter and brains. [Feb 2020, p.106]

28 [demos] are included in all their fascinating what-if promise, some heralds of later solo recording. ... This collection catches the band at their peak of their powers, the space between the tension and the tenderness still full of revelation. [Jan 2020, p.116]

A thrilling joyride through reggae's golden era and beyond. [Jan 2020, p.117]

A masterclass in mixology. [Jan 2020, p.113]

It's a surprise to have him back, but on the strength of After You, a more than welcome one. [Jan 2020, p.113]

Entering his maze of influences can initially prove a challenge. ... But over 13 tracks clarity slowly emerges. [Jan 2020, p.109]

This six-disc "Super Deluxe" edition rescues the treasure, including alternative mixes, a complete live concert and nearly two discs' worth of unheard brilliance. [Jan 2020, p.117]

More familiar than freaky. [Jan 2019, p.114]

Reflections proves Diamond is so much more than a two-dimensional pop project. [Jan 2020, p.111]

Electrifying, again. [Jan 2020, p.109]

Confidence seeps through Coldplay's eighth album. It's a thrilling new start, a daring way to kick off their second chapter. [Jan 2020, p.104]

Even three decade on, the era's best moments resonate with invention and imagination. [Sep 2019, p.118]

Beauty made for basking in. [Dec 2019, p.114]