This is a generous, curious and commendably weird LP. [Jul 2022, p.26]

Reggae Film Star is a luminous beauty. [Aug 2022, p.29]

“Mr Bojangles”, sung with cornpone syrup by Dylan, here earthily returns to the drunk-tank cell where Walker met its subject, a broken-down, alcoholic tap-dancer his song invests with heel-clicking magic. The tune defiantly climbs, strings waltz and Earle stores sentiment ’til the end.

Mixing classic covers (Big Joe Williams’ “Crawling King Snake”, Charlie Patton’s “Pea Vine Blues”) with his ‘new’ compositions, lyrical advances into commonplace blues melodies like “When The Frisco Left the Shed”, there’s timelessness in every note here, every expression. [Jul 2022, p.29]

Throughout Taylor and Ralston draw from astral jazz, Alice Coltrane's meditation music and the expansive orchestral funk of David Axelrod to create something uniquely emotive over four lengthy and very different tracks. [Aug 2022, p.31]

With its combination of Goodman's ache-filled vocals and Crazy Horse clamour, "Keeper Of The Time" is an even more striking demonstration of what she can do. [Aug 2022, p.26]

She’s made another very good album, her first in six years. [Jul 2022, p.33]

Whether in the propulsive “The Fall” or the more delicate “Desire”, she’s rarely sounded so commanding. [Jun 2022, p.34]

With a '70s/'80s-inspired disco-pop feel, creating a Eurovision-like mood that you probably wouldn't expect to find on a Sub pop release. The lack of top-line sheen, though, ensures this album retains a rough edge without sacrificing any intrinsic appeal. [Aug 2022, p.33]

Their unfussy but subtle playing embellishes the simplicity of Nash’s melodies, while experience brings renewed pathos to songs like “I Used To Be A King”, “Man In The Mirror” and even something as straightforward as “You’ll Never Be The Same”. [Jul 2022, p.30]

There’s plenty for prog loyalists to appreciate in the knotty polyrhythms, hopscotching bass and divebombing guitar excursions of tracks such as “Harridan” and “Chimera’s Wreck”, but genre agnostics may find more inviting access points in the sumptuous stripes of rueful melody, nuggety riffs and widescreen pomp-rock dynamics that Wilson and friends create. [Jul 2022, p.31]

All the writers who share Lund's love of droll wordplay, and all their works are illuminated by Lund's signature laconic twinkle, and the Hurtin' Alberans' deadpan virtuosity. [Aug 2022, p.29]

Behind their heavily stylised surface, these are fairly standard heartbreak ballads, but Li's voluptuous gothic gloom is still intoxicating. [Aug 2022, p.29]

Halvorson's string arrangements admit complexity without overwhelming, and the Mivos String Quartet play gracefully and authoritatively. [Aug 2022, p.26]

You're left wishing these jazz quintet pieces breathed more. [Aug 2022, p.26]

White Jesus Black Problems fizzes with indignation and exults in contradictions. [Aug 2022, p.25]

Works best when it diverts furthest from the originals. [Aug 2022, p.25]

By far the most compelling persona on Mr Morale & The Big Steppers is the Kendrick who is trying to make sense of his own family. ... ["Mother I Sober" is] a tour de force, almost but not quite as revelatory as "DUCKWORTH", a similar family saga off 2017's DAMN. And the best moment is when the strings swell and Lamar's voice changes. [Aug 2022, p.24]

It’s just five tracks, barely half an hour of music, but worth the wait in gold. ... Particularly on the radiant “Make Lovely The Day”, where she’s accompanied simply by Steve Hackett’s fluttering acoustic guitar, it’s like hearing the greatest British singer of her generation for the very first time. [Jul 2022, p.33]

Sophie Allison's ascent from teenage bedroom-pop savant to incisive chronicler of Gen Z angst hits a crescendo on Sometimes, Forever, an improbable but rewarding collaboration with Oneohtrix Point Never's Daniel Lopatin. [Aug 2022, p.33]

This pleasing mix of exploratory guitar tones and ever-shifting rhythms that switch between the kinetic and flowing makes for an arresting debut. [Jun 2022, p.25]

Reflective of our era of political polarisation, the likes of “Contempt For You” can make for bruising listening experiences. Yet there’s still plenty of solace to be found in performances by Iceland’s Elin Ey and the ever-remarkable Anohni. [Jul 2022, p.26]

Though some tracks really need the context of performance or visuals, on the astral fourth-world funk of “Eye In The Wall”, Hadreas sets sail on his own Arthur Russell-style “African Night Flight”. [Jul 2022, p.31]

Ultraviolet... demonstrates both purpose and renewed vigour. [Jul 2022, p.25]

Deliluh are more economical on their third album, even if they regularly expand on its mix of Kyle Knapp’s intimidatingly recited, enigmatic lyrics and angular post-punk. [Jul 2022, p.25]

An album of skippy, infectious, electronics-soaked disco rock. [Jul 2022, p.26]

Love and hope stay preciously rare yet infinitely possible, and this album’s guttering, guiding light. [Jul 2022, p.33]

Les Racines is ultimately a full and fierce showcase for Vieux’s own prowess, and his restatement of desert blues. [Jul 2022, p.27]