Headphones and a quiet room are essential for capturing the full depth, but the payoff is a sound-world of uncanny resonance. [Dec 2019, p.106]

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

This is a record of real substance. [Dec 2019, p.111]

Four Of Arrows is proof the band can turn on a dime--perhaps they needn't worry about their best songs being ahead of them. [Dec 2019, p.110]

The personal trauma behind pony was evidently tough, but hope has rarely sounded so fresh. [Dec 2019, p.110]

Anicca's luminous take on electronica shows Mandowa still prioritises quality over quantity and features some stellar collaborators. [Dec 2019, p.114]

At times, things feel in danger of being middle of the road, but that's made up for by heavenly moments and voice-of-a-generation lyrcs already drawing comparisons with Lorde. [Dec 2019, p.110]

It's frequently unsettling listen, but never a joyless one. [Dec 2019, p.110]

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

Where other ambient artists can veer dangerously close to musak, Frahm always brims with invention. [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]

Playing almost everything himself, his command of sounds and styles feels masterful, seamlessly gliding between MOR-ish pop funk, stacks of gothic choral harmonies and the dreamy future-psych of Tame Impala. [Dec 2019, p.106]

It's the renewed sense of urgency and bubblegum appeal--see Live 'Til I Die--which ensures that Prof Hawkins's musical multiverse is still a thrilling place. [Dec 2019, p.109]

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

Packed with mesmerising detail yet powerful enough to dance to, the result is electronic music that radiates intelligence and emotion. [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]

Building on 2015's explosive comeback album Freedom, War Music offers further proof that the gamble paid off, with Blood Red mixing Marxist doctrine and surging riffs to stunning effect. [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]

Memory Streams is the sound of a band locked in a classy holding pattern. [Dec 2019, p.113]

More of these slinky, emotional outpourings please. [Dec 2019, p.113]

Throughout, the Horse prove their value over more polished ensembles, powering these naive constructs to a pure transcendent realm. [Dec 2019, p.113]

Gorgeous, grief-stricken LP. [Dec 2019, p.108]

A gloriously adrenalised return to form. [Dec 2019, p.106]

Magnificent. ... Kiwanuka rewards your commitment from the first second to the last. [Dec 2019, p.104]

It's addictively brilliant. [Nov 2019, p.108]

The two parts of Everything Not Saved Will be Lost aren't quite the work of radical genius that Foals probably think they are, but they're bolder and more adventurous than a lot of those million other bands could manage. [Nov 2019, p.106]