To some, their experimentalism may verge on grating and their pessimism may become tired, but Sorry’s sophomore effort proves that the band’s got dynamism and ambition, and plenty of it.

Hakim has a knack for crafting songs that burn slowly and steadily, and while they lack the depth and development needed to reach a full fire on COMETA, fans of Hakim’s previous work may still find the gentle glow of his latest effort enjoyable.

While it may be a long way from their grungier origins, their knack for a neat hook and graceful harmony remain intact.

While his technical dexterity, theoretical expertise, and inventive spirit shine on Please Have a Seat, ultimately, they aren’t enough to stop many of its songs from unraveling.

Inessential but pretty darned good. [Oct - Dec 2022, p.86]

Given [Ian Broudie is] one of the guiding forces for the British pop sound of the ’90s, a sensibility from that era has always lingered in his Seeds work. Here, it lends these 10 songs a brightness even when the subject matter turns melancholy.

SAP proves once again that the enigma of Okay Kaya’s work remains enticing, in spite of—or perhaps precisely because of—its often unfathomable quality.

A Swollen River, A Well Overflowing is chaotic and messy as hell, but equally beautiful for the joyful and unbridled moments it creates.

Like its predecessor it doesn’t waste much time on pleasing arrangements, layered instrumentation, or careful craft. That’s not to say it’s slap-dash, more that it’s alive, wired, and sometimes inspired.

Musically, In the Darkness is perhaps her grandest, most elegant work to date—a perfect culmination of her past experimentalism and deep devotion to graceful melodies that lift from the deepest parts of the soul up to the heavens.

Although Most Normal is every bit as obtuse as one has come to expect from Gilla Band, it represents more of a short sharp shock than either 2019’s The Talkies or 2015’s Holding Hands With Jamie, yet remains every bit as exhilarating.

It may be neither a classic Springsteen or soul album, and it may just be impossible to make a truly great album with such a familiar concept, but at the very least it stands as a passionate love letter to the sweet soul songs that helped shape both modern music and Springsteen himself.

One could argue as a long-time fan and observer that the lineup change and break may have even revitalized the group.

That The Space Between manages to broadcast a sunnier lyrical disposition than its predecessor with hardly a blip in the pulse of its delivery gives promise that Boman will continue to grace us with her minor key charmers, rain or shine.

With a kaleidoscopic sonic palette and an ear for the truly unconventional, Dungen have made an absorbing, endlessly interesting record; one that challenges even as it envelops the listener. It’s an experimental exploration bordering on the divine.

While Palomino represents a slight shift in First Aid Kit’s sound, its evolution, not revolution and there’s plenty to admire in terms of the Söderberg’s unerring ability to craft beautiful celestial harmonies and conjure a sense of the mystical and magical out of the ether.

While the more reserved instrumentation of And I Have Been is a comfort, the tracks tend to lose the magnitude that Clementine is so known for. But there’s a deeper comfort in witnessing Clementine find himself in the sparse piano and direct lyricism.

Loose Future invites us into a place of delight and reminds us that “These Are the Good Old Days,” that it’s okay to eschew the five-year plan and greet the future with open hands, that a gratuitous smile or warm song can be truly life-giving.

The band’s attempts to diversify their sound often fall short of growing out of their repetitive riffs, leading many of the tracks to blend together in a pleasant but rather predictable experience. However, the storytelling displays Kline’s openness to vulnerability.

It’s clear that the duo found catharsis in not just paying homage to their influences but versing alongside them through darker times.

Taken at face value it’s undoubtedly a beautifully crafted album of minimalist ambient electronic pop imbued with subtle elegance, replete with remarkably frank lyrics. ... Whilst lyrically Midnights doesn’t quite match the poetic grandeur of folklore and evermore, there’s plenty of fun to be had, even Swift’s less elegant rhymes don’t jar, served up as they are, with a knowing wink and delivered in an engaging, relatable conversational tone.

As fun as this record is (I mean, it’s a Carly Rae Jepsen record, which is basically the definition of “fun”), the loneliness and weight of the last three years definitely seem to be holding Jepsen back from reaching the euphoria of, say, “Cut to the Feeling” or “I Really Like You.” ... The Loneliest Time finds Jepsen taking a much needed (if small) step inward from the periphery she’s walked for a decade.

While FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE sounds more like spa music, which, after three or four tracks, makes the listener want to get horizontal, it is a welcome break from the structure and form of contemporary music. Eno is attempting to make you pause, and think, and feel.

It’s a tough, heartfelt record that marries hard-edged, emotionally complex lyrics to skyscraping sounds and delivers a thrilling, vital whole. These feel like the perfect anthems for our times, the past be damned.

Dry Cleaning may not get mentioned in the same breath as other young London art-rock groups like black midi or Squid, but they should. Stumpwork proves that this band’s style has legs.

The Car is a deftly constructed, lavishly produced, smooth runner of an album that undoubtedly reaffirms Turner as one of the great romantic lyricists of his generation.

It’s a sweet embrace of an album that, even as it whispers to you it’s loss and longing, props you up with a caring and kindly hand.

At over an hour in length, the beauty of YTI⅃AƎЯ can drag its feet a little bit, but listeners will find no trouble in surrendering to the world Callahan lets them into.