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]

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]

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]

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]

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

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

It's as welcome as a warm fire on an autumnal evening. [Dec 2019, p.110]

It's on the quieter moments--the lovely Wild, closer I Tried--that Champion finds its emotional sweet spot. [Jan 2020, p.106]

It's their determination to flaunt their multi-instrumental credentials that derails some songs. ... Much more effective is when HMR exercise restraint. [Jan 2020, p.109]

A vigorous, if patchy comeback. [Jan 2020, p.114]

The result is undeniably lovely, if never truly transcendent. [Jan 2020, p.114]

There's a grating tweeness that pushes the saccharine levels far into the red. [Jan 2020, p.113]

It's warmly unreal how in thrall he remains to The Beatles, from melodic progressions down to the thwack of drums, but these heartache-powered ballads retain a simple elation at the power of rock'n'roll. [Jan 2020, p.110]

While the proceedings might be more restrained than usual on the '80s hardcore-aping Husker Don't and Sabbath clatter of Halloween 3, if you think Lightning Bolt have softened you're very much mistaken. [Jan 2020, p.110]

He remains a maestro at the mixing desk, even as the album's split-down-the-middle concept undermines his genre-splicing strengths. [Jan 2020, p.106]

It won't give the Foo Fighters sleepless nights, but it's fun while it lasts. [Jan 2020, p.109]

Actual thrills are in short supply. [Dec 2019, p.114]

If this isn't Quite her own trip, she leaves intriguing tracks to follow. [Dec 2019, p.110]

A solid, if not essential, Desert Sessions return. [Dec 2019, p.109]

With the exception of I've Got Reason, the ripsnorting garage rock that enlivened his earlier work has disappeared. Instead, the likes of Shelter and Show Me veer towards ponderous MOR. [Dec 2019, p.109]

Sensual melancholy is a mood but Cry occasionally needs another one or two up its heart adorned sleeve. [Dec 2019, p.106]

Dawson's vision is exceptional; his sound is harder to follow. [Dec 2019, p.109]

He lets the currents take it where they will, from the churning tumult of The Wave to the cresting, Bon Iver-ish Broken. [Dec 2019, p.113]

Sadly much of this record is stuck in the shallows. [Dec 2019, p.114]

It resonates with the kind of high seriousness that never weighed on his father. Still, the younger Jeffes brings a winning feel for modern, post-ambient arrangements. [Dec 2019, p.113]