The Independent (UK)'s Scores
- Music
For 2,191 reviews, this publication has graded:
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47% higher than the average critic
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4% same as the average critic
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49% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 3 points lower than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 70
Highest review score: | THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT | |
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Lowest review score: | Donda |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 1,174 out of 2191
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Mixed: 988 out of 2191
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Negative: 29 out of 2191
2191
music
reviews
- By Date
- By Critic Score
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- Critic Score
There’s brilliance here, but it’s when the album slows down that it becomes transcendent.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Feb 20, 2020
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- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Feb 14, 2020
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This fourth LP polishes that dancier sound into his slickest dancefloor-ready music yet.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Feb 14, 2020
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This isn’t so much an album that would rile you to the point of turning it off. Rather, it washes over you, with its mostly average beats (“Forever” is a rare exception) and seemingly random cluster of guest features.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Feb 13, 2020
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Big Conspiracy is Hus’s second chance – an album that proves he’s just as essential a part of UK music today as he was three years ago.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Feb 6, 2020
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Supervision is certainly not a bad album, but it’s a far cry from the bristling pop genius of Jackson’s best work.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Feb 6, 2020
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Glam, anthemic and messy Father of All… may be, but “inspired” and “baddest” it is not.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Feb 6, 2020
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The problem is, the album – so full of drawling balladry and anodyne lyrics – is deeply unremarkable. Listening to it is like wading through a quagmire of banality.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jan 30, 2020
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It’s the album equivalent of someone who can finally handle their liquor. Someone fresh out of their 20s and contemplating life via moments of late-night melancholy, as opposed to worrying implosion.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jan 29, 2020
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Hotspot teeters somewhere between their ballad-heavy album Behaviour (1990) and 1988’s shimmering dance record Introspective. ..You sense this album is intended as an expression of hope for the future, rather than a fond look back.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jan 23, 2020
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Eminem belittles the trauma of a then 26-year-old Ariana Grande for kicks on “Unaccommodating” by comparing himself to the Manchester Arena bomber. The sour taste of this track lingers well beyond the album’s centrepiece, “Darkness”, which is intended as a searing critique of America’s toxic gun culture. Instead, his use of gunfire and explosion samples feels grossly exploitative.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jan 17, 2020
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Through the album there’s a mesmerising rhythm, a kind of rocking horse motion that spurs you on to the next track. ... On Swimming he was adrift, searching for a lighthouse beam that would bring him back to “a place of comfort”. On Circles, it sounds as though – if only for the briefest of moments – he found it.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jan 17, 2020
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It’s a solid return – the sound of a band both rejuvenated and continuing the multi-layered sound of their previous releases.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jan 16, 2020
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Georgia splices the beat and twists the synths into an eerie doomscape, yet it’s strangely comforting – her reminder that while this night may have ended, there’s always tomorrow.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jan 10, 2020
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Certain songs work better than others: “Dog Eat Dog” tries to tackle social injustice but lacks real bite; “Don’t Think”, though, has all the swagger and defiance of vintage Blondie. Most impressive is how much more confident The Big Moon sound as a band.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jan 10, 2020
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There is a lot to like about Rare. But it never quite gets out from beneath the shadow of half a decade of behemothic bangers.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jan 9, 2020
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For better or worse, Duster sounds as though it was created by humans. Imperfections are packed into structures that are more comprehensible, and far less nebulous. Each crackle, echo and strained vocal makes the limitations of being human seem not only clear, but beautiful in its vulnerability.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Dec 13, 2019
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Not only is it a drastic step up from an impressive debut, but it shows an artist keen to test himself emotionally, as well as artistically.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Dec 12, 2019
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It may not reach the pinnacle of sex or sadness, but Fine Line is a fine album nonetheless.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Dec 10, 2019
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It’s all fine: shiny and efficient pop, smelling of body oil and new car upholstery. But Payne treats each track like a rental car. He gives each song a spin and hands the keys back like a good lad without leaving a trace.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Dec 6, 2019
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It feels like the throwing down of a gauntlet, Cabello determined to wear her heart on her sleeve in the studio as well as in paparazzi photos.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Dec 6, 2019
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On the surface, Who sounds like a classic Who album. ... There are moments when Townshend stops questioning his own relevancy, but to dubious effect: “Beads on a String” is a limp metaphor for human connection, while “Hero Ground Zero” is just as clumsy.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Dec 5, 2019
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Williams veers all too often from the kind of whimsy and cheese that’s acceptable at Christmastime, to a level of saccharine that actually makes your teeth hurt.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Nov 26, 2019
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There may be none of the heart-tugging vibe of octave-spanning “Without You”, or the abundant melody of “Everybody’s Talkin’”, but Losst and Founnd resurrects a treasured voice in songs full of vim.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Nov 25, 2019
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Everyday Life is a fascinating, occasionally brilliant curio, reflective of a band still very much figuring out how to respond to a world that has become meaner, dirtier and crueller since they were singing about clocks and colours. They’re not quite there, but you can admire the effort all the same.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Nov 21, 2019
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I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This is imbued with the charisma of its creator; it’s a playful and inviting album whose first half zips through the mostly vocal-led numbers with ease and sprightly energy. ... Remarkable singers give rich layers to this accomplished album.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Nov 21, 2019
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Although the fear was that Adam would be spreading his father’s legacy too thin, each track has the weight of a completed thought, not a sketch bulked out.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Nov 19, 2019
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While these are enjoyable enough tracks to soundtrack your day, there’s little of the lasting emotion or progression for which we know Beck.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Nov 19, 2019
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Courage is a force to be reckoned with. It seems unlikely that more than a few of its tracks will jostle their way onto Dion’s setlist, given the decades of power ballads they have to compete with. But those that do will make their mark.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Nov 14, 2019
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Fame may be fickle, but Vollebekk’s dedication to improving his craft is anything but.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Nov 12, 2019
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It’s one of the most considered and thought-provoking electronic albums of the year.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Nov 7, 2019
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2042 may be the work of an accomplished songwriter, tackling pressing issues, but it’s also a hodgepodge – the result of an artist struggling to find his musical voice.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Nov 7, 2019
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The follow-up to 2014’s LP1 is the sound of a woman teetering on the brink of collapse, gathering herself, and then erupting into a kind of defiance.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Nov 7, 2019
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The record is an introspective mix of psychey soul, blues, rock and funk, which skips and strolls and swaggers through its 13 tracks – but it is not simply an exercise in nostalgia. Its influences span decades; Gil Scott-Heron, Fela Kuti, Kendrick Lamar and Bobby Womack are all recalled.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Nov 4, 2019
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It’s no surprise, but still no less disappointing, that with all of West’s last-minute meddling of the album’s mixes the record lacks cohesion. Jesus is King feels more like a collection of well-produced skits than a full studio album, and fans will no doubt be wondering whether all the hype and stress that preceded its unveiling was worth it.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Oct 25, 2019
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As with their debut, this album feels as though you’re being allowed a brief but intense insight into his self-contained world. Yet the vein of humour that ran through those earlier songs has been replaced by a deeper sincerity.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Oct 24, 2019
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FIBS highlights Meredith as a much-needed creative force. Her shape-shifting genre-defiance constantly surprises and intrigues, but it’s good to get back down to Earth afterwards.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Oct 24, 2019
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Colorado shows that Young, at 73, has lost none of his outrage and passion. ... Saying so much, so beautifully, Colorado was worth the wait.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Oct 24, 2019
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The songs are just a little perfunctory. Like a popcorn disaster movie, the album is full of adrenaline, and yet doesn’t stick in the mind long after you’ve finished with it.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Oct 17, 2019
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Crush is an insight into Shepherd’s brilliant mind and – such is the sheer variety of this album – a way to inspire one’s own imagination.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Oct 17, 2019
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Two Hands is Big Thief’s best to date, and undoubtedly one of the best of the year.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Oct 10, 2019
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No Home Record’s lack of cohesion is unlikely to pull you deep into its disjointed soundworld. What does unite the tracks, though, is the restlessly questing, non-conformist spirit of their creator. It’s great to have her back.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Oct 10, 2019
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Perhaps their greatest album since their Mercury Prize-winning breakthrough The Seldom Seen Kid, released over a decade ago.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Oct 10, 2019
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- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Oct 4, 2019
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- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Oct 3, 2019
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- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Oct 3, 2019
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Tegan and Sara’s last album, 2016’s Love You To Death, was a bold stadium-pop record; this one is less polished, but just as punchy. ... Most people read their teenage diary and cringe. With Hey I’m Just Like You, Tegan and Sara have painstakingly, tenderly, written theirs out again.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Sep 26, 2019
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It’s pure rock and roll: sleazy, slick and lots of fun. Sound & Fury marks another milestone for a remarkable artist.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Sep 26, 2019
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Cause and Effect isn’t Keane breaking any new ground, but in the quieter moments it’s surprisingly good.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Sep 20, 2019
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Backed up by polished and expensive-sounding production, notably some lovely piano work on “Alright Now” and a hazy blur of strings and Kurt Vile-like chanting on “One of Us”, this is a strong, nicely workmanlike record, Gallagher never totally rocking the boat but delivering something far more personal and (for him) experimental than he easily could have done.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Sep 19, 2019
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There’s no track on Jaime that is likely to make waves – not in the same way as some of the better-known Alabama Shakes tracks, such as “Hold On” or “This Feeling” (the latter of which was recently used to remarkable effect in the final scene of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag). But what lovely ripples it makes.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Sep 19, 2019
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Overall this is Metronomy at their most ambitious and pleasurably weird.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Sep 12, 2019
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There’s an interior dialogue throughout, which is sometimes more intriguing than musically engrossing. ... But there is transcendental beauty here to get lost in.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Sep 12, 2019
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For the most part, an album of rock songs to cherish in the Pixies oeuvre, united by an eerie thread that’s hard to shake off.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Sep 12, 2019
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The artwork for Charli XCX’s third studio album finds her clad only in a steely squiggle of computer-generated ribbon. It’s a great visual metaphor for a collection of 15 pop songs that – at their most thrilling – wear their raw, metallic beats and synths on the outside, like scaffolding.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Sep 12, 2019
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Fender drew plenty of early comparisons to Bruce Springsteen – on Hypersonic Missiles they’re entirely warranted, as much for the instrumentation as the lyricism and his vignettes of working-class struggle.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Sep 11, 2019
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If there’s any justice, its follow-up, Saves the World, should see MUNA joining the ranks of those who have brazenly borrowed their sound.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Sep 6, 2019
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Valve Bone Woe is a lovingly crafted collection of covers – a surprising, successful new endeavour by an artist evidently still keen to challenge herself.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Sep 5, 2019
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Free often feels like the messiest kind of improv, full of stream-of-consciousness expressions and storytelling that doesn’t follow any particular logic. But tracks like the tense “Glow in the Dark” or the sombre “The Dawn” are also oddly irresistible, loose, thoughtful and free-wheeling.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Sep 5, 2019
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Yes, nostalgia is a fairly generic formula. But listened to as a whole, the album positively thrums with sonic invention, managing to feel both fresh and full of intrigue. Khan once again demonstrates a knack for uncanny storytelling.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Sep 5, 2019
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The album is sultry and soporific, sitting somewhere between the minimalist trip-hop of Del Rey’s early days, and the scuzzy desert rock she has toyed with over the years.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Aug 30, 2019
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Where Black America Again was notable for its sharp, observational urgency, Let Love feels far more personal, and softer in tone. Common’s optimistic nature gives it an uplifting vibe.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Aug 29, 2019
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Threads is a culmination of virtually every sound Crow has explored through her career, which began with her crafting ad jingles in the late Eighties.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Aug 29, 2019
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On her new album, Eve, she explores a lineage of black female icons in a way that is both tender and compelling. ... The overarching sound, production and instrumentation on Eve are outstanding. ... Nina Simone said an artist’s duty, “as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times”. This is precisely what Rapsody has done – in the most resonant way possible.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Aug 27, 2019
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- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Aug 27, 2019
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There is a brilliant album among the 18 songs, if only it had been pruned it a little.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Aug 22, 2019
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If the music could hold its own, No Man’s Land might make for a more tolerable listen. But the instrumentation is plodding and occasionally appropriative, while elsewhere there is unfortunate evidence of Turner’s limited vocal range.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Aug 16, 2019
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Rather than imitating 2011, Inflorescent instead brings to mind the summer of 2013, overwhelmed as it is by a neutered disco-funk sound reminiscent of Daft Punk’s inescapable “Get Lucky”. Only rarely as catchy.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Aug 16, 2019
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Sleater-Kinney are as potent now as they ever were – their music spiky and confrontational, melding the personal and political to striking effect.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Aug 15, 2019
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Drake is often best when he’s at his most brooding. ... This isn’t an artistic project as much as it is a business ploy – repackaging leftovers apparently without taking the effort to remix or remaster some of them.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Aug 12, 2019
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You can let i,i overwhelm you or sink into its currents of drift and despondency – either way, it is immersive and rich. Yet it’s hard not to anticipate certain peaks (the unimpeachable climax of “Holyfields,” the joyfully silly “Sh’Diah” chorus) as if waiting for the school bell to ring.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Aug 8, 2019
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A blunt, bold album on which Hackman’s beatific voice sits atop methodically messy instrumentals.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Aug 7, 2019
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The sheer ambition on We Are Not Your Kind is just as staggering. ... This may be one of the band’s most personal records, but the rage they capture is universally felt.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Aug 7, 2019
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The Big Day is like a lot of weddings: too long and occasionally a little dull – with one or two unforgettable moments.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jul 31, 2019
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With tracks that frequently dart from sprawling, psychedelic pop to scuzzy post-punk and rock references, the record has a superb dynamic that holds the listener’s attention, while the band navigate through a single, tumultuous relationship. By the end of all that, you feel like they deserve a pint.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jul 30, 2019
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On Everything Hits at Once, the Austin-formed indie veterans have compiled a glimmering collection of songs that date back to 2001’s Girls Can Tell, or are as recent as to come from 2017’s Hot Thoughts. There’s also a brand-new song, closer “No Bullets Spent” (built using parts from “Dracula’s Cigarette” of their Get Nice! EP), which is a low-simmering take on power and corruption.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jul 29, 2019
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No one will be celebrating Duck for breaking new ground, but long-term fans won’t much be complaining either.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jul 26, 2019
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There is no song on Fever Dream that is likely to eclipse, or even cast a shadow on the success of “Little Talks”, but this is a soothing, affable record nonetheless.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jul 25, 2019
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The Lost Tapes II sounds like an artist rediscovering his love for hip hop in the most joyous and satisfying way.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jul 19, 2019
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A thrashing, crashing metal record with brief dalliances in solemn balladry (as on the stark, compelling “Never There”) and even Imagine Dragons-style stadium pop (jarring album closer “Catching Fire”), it is a noisier, more impersonal record, and one that aspires to a thematic breakthrough that it never quite reaches.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jul 19, 2019
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12 meticulously crafted songs. ... Just as the preceding art installation invited viewers to enter its vast head of LED lights and wonder, this album does the same.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jul 19, 2019
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Though his fare is bland, it is sincere and hygienically prepared. No thrills, but all affable, affordable, family-friendly fills.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jul 12, 2019
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III is Banks’s most cohesive album to date because she’s no longer restricting herself to exploring one feeling at a time.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jul 11, 2019
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As a listener you want the artist to sound comfortable in their own skin. But by the end of Case Study 01, it’s hard to be convinced that this is really him.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jul 8, 2019
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- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jul 8, 2019
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He drifts like a spectre through a labyrinth, exploring his favourite themes of sleep, reality and the subconscious. The tones here are stark and bleak, compared to the claustrophobia of 2014’s Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes. ... By the end of ANIMA, you’re left wondering about those dreams that are just out of reach, but also what we risk losing when we look back.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jun 27, 2019
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A viscerally entertaining album that never lingers for more than four minutes per song. Rock’n’roll isn’t dead: it’s just been sleeping.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jun 27, 2019
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On False Alarm, though, they offer something that proves they’re still worth paying attention to.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jun 20, 2019
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For all its glimmering synths and the robotic pathos of Taylor’s idiosyncratic vocals, this is a record with both heart and soul.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jun 20, 2019
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This is music that sounds as fun to make as it is to listen to. The energy here is thrilling, the strong rhythm section provided by former Detroit garage band The Greenhornes’ bassist Jack Lawrence and drummer Patrick Keeler. ... Help Us Stranger has been a long time coming, but it was worth the wait.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jun 20, 2019
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The emotional cohesion the record loses in its shifting cast of singers/songwriters/genres it makes up in DJ-savvy textural variety.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jun 20, 2019
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On this album, you find yourself drifting in and out. She tackles trolls, racism, overpopulation and the internet age. You crave solutions as each track closes, or perhaps more of those sublime, witty character studies she offered on Let Them Eat Chaos.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jun 13, 2019
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Where most rock superstars sink into trad tedium by 69, Springsteen is still crafting sophisticated paeans of depth and illumination, a rock grandmaster worthy of the accolade. A must-have for anyone who has a heart.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jun 12, 2019
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- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jun 12, 2019
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This is an album that shows a band who’ve grown stronger and unafraid to flex their muscle.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jun 11, 2019
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There’s a focus on tribal percussion and a multitude of vocal techniques you don’t expect on a pop album: folky vocables, angular melodies, overdubbing, a male choir. This is more enthralling on some tracks than others.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jun 7, 2019
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The album loses some momentum around the more generic “Strangers”. But even with that song, the harmonies are hard to resist. It’s the best pop comeback – and likely one of the best pop albums – of the year.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jun 7, 2019
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Kind Heaven is an ambitious, engaging record by an artist who clearly still has plenty of fire in his belly.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted Jun 6, 2019
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It’s their most poppy and psychedelic-leaning work to date, bursting with colour and fuelled by a multicultural band featuring Elenna Canlas on keys and backing vocals, and Ish Montgomery on bass.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted May 31, 2019
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The result is a quintessentially London record, as dark and moody as it is brash and innovative.- The Independent (UK)
- Posted May 31, 2019
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