A decision has been made that it is time to introduce new flavors into the Morrissey sound palette, with the well-established Boz Boorer-led guitar sound taking a step back in favor of a measure of electronic tampering, instrumental variety, and sonic effects. If change was needed, this wasn’t it. ... Morrissey’s vocals remain strong, those wrought girders that with age have reinforced what was once a floral and decorative voice standing firm. He continues to have a knack for finding an elegant vocal melody too.

While Mixing Colours has some of these delights, it is a much less grandiose affair borne out of amiable melodies and dulcet tones.

As a single artistic statement, the flaws are hard to overlook. Yet, it also has intensely personal moments of revelatory beauty. If the listener is willing to look past the weaker elements, the standout tracks on Ricky Music can make it a worthwhile listen.

If evaluated on the music alone, the rating would be higher, but overall Hyacinth doesn't have enough quaint peculiarities or dynamic rhythms to be anything but a minimal draw.

If it's a call to arms then it fails to churn the necessary emotional juices to deliver it. What we do have, however, is a serviceable space for venting our contemporary anxieties, which in and of itself can be a healing experience. Ultimately, if you're struggling with the political realities of the day, Algiers are in it together with you, and that alone will be enough for some.

I Was Born Swimming tinkers around the edges of feeling without always plotting a clear way in. It's never an unpleasant experience, often moving. But the dots don't entirely connect.

Father of All... is fundamentally toothless and lacking in wit, originality, and invention. Armstrong decries "fakes" across this album without once acknowledging the irony that these songs represent exactly the sort of corporate rock he is supposedly standing against. Of course, Green Day remains a competent band to the point that this slickly produced record is not an all-out disaster. But it is certainly not worth remembering.

It does feel like she is yet to fully reach the potential of her unique style and we are perhaps still awaiting something truly impressive that "All the Things" hints at. However, it's certainly very interesting listening to her sonic journey on the way towards that goal.

Though the album's tracklist is bloated at 22 songs, the final three are worth the journey.

Too many tracks are loosely arranged with sparse instrumentation and a sunshiny, but laid back, lounge-y jazz vibe. Most rely on a start/stop, soft/loud aesthetic that wears thin quickly and makes it seem as if these are demos as opposed to fleshed out songs. [Sep-Nov 2019, p.134]

The overdone synth pop and uninspiring songwriting becomes a bit tiring, so Lost Girls as a whole is a disappointment for a band with so much talent and past successes. [Sep-Nov 2019, p.82]

Even the nimble and funny "Guns" and the nothing-you-haven't-heard-from-Coldplay-before "Champions of the World" and "Orphans" aren't enough to forgive the shortcomings of the other tracks. Over the course of the whole record, the uninspired songwriting becomes a bit tiring, so the album as a whole is a disappointment for a band with so much talent and past successes.

It's a poor album that irks and annoys at every turn, excellent musicianship and performance rendered irrelevant by the turgid material. Exhausting stuff.

You can't accuse Young of not wearing all the appropriate badges, flags, and emblems, but the message has become more than a little threadbare over the years. Fortunately, Crazy Horse sounds as reliable as it always has even if no new ideas are borne out.

Stars Are the Light is a decent album that shows Moon Duo know how to put a new spin on an old formula. And while it may not make a big splash, the ripple effects can be pleasing.

It's not a great record by any means but it's a hell of a lot of fun and should serve as a grand excuse to get them out on the road again and into a live setting where their exciting silliness excels.

There a few moments on Inflorescent where the tone changes lightly. The downbeat "Cry Wolf" still slinks along atop a funky bassline, but its minor key momentarily pivots the focus from dancing your problems away to just straight up crying about them. These mild digressions never quite cohere into anything substantial though, and for the most part it's just a lighthearted rush. Needless to say, it's an album best digested in morsels.

His devoted followers/collectors will find plenty to like here in this convergence of talents, as this group's interpretations of the murder ballads work as well as their new takes on the Oldham originals. ... Less dedicated fans who prefer to cherry-pick the best releases which float to the top of Oldham's flowing river of output may want to keep waiting, as this is more of a compelling curiosity than a cohesive album.

Overall, Adult Baby is an inconsistent album that can be a wistful and sluggish electronic experiment but also shows flashes of brilliance with a genuinely entertaining mix of dream pop and electronica brought to life with a beautiful voice.

If the listener can get used to Norrvide's alien vocals, Lust For Youth can be decadent.

The lyric writing is often exquisite. ... Bereft of the signature production of Wild Beasts, and the counterbalance of Fleming's weighty baritone, Thorpe's limited vocal range is glaring.

For big Prince fans, Originals will be an essential peek into his methods as a musical mentor. For anyone else, it's a curiosity worth checking out but certainly not recommending over any of the dozen-plus better records he released during his lifetime.

While there is nothing unpalatable on "Let's Rock", the majority of the tracks are missing that intangible ingredient from the music with only a few songs being a flawless merging of instrumental dexterity and fashionable spirit that allow these artists to explore their blues side while indulging their rock tendencies.

For the Yeasayer fans who enjoy their stranger stylings, this will fall out of rotation quicker than others; that doesn't make it bad, just not a favorite.

There's a loose swagger throughout the nine songs. ... It seems that Foxygen rolled through Seeing Other People, making new music for the sake of making music.

With so much space for the instrumentation to maneuver in, Broken Social Scene actually sounds more withdrawn and lackluster. At their best, they are so incredible at creating that illusion of a spaced-out record by actually shrinking the space, contrasting big orchestral sounds with fuzzy lo-fi recordings.

L7 always need to be given credit and respect but Scatter the Rats is not them at their best. They are a raucous, subversive, and vital voice in rock, but this album doesn't show that. It should be a footnote on a career that is more important than this.

California Son is uneven at its best, and borderline sacrilegious at its lowest points. This level of steady, maintained mediocrity will only make it harder and harder for all but his staunchest fans to continue caring.