While Live Laugh Love could benefit from more of the tension that builds in "Tethered" lest it all start seem too comfortably slack, Chastity Belt's blend of blissed-out effervescence and sly wit remains very appealing. [May 2024, p.32]

Its themes are plainly evident in the earworm metal stomp of "Many Doors To Hell" and gothic menace of "Fingers In The Wounds", although more subdued (but equally sombre) hues inform the portentous, piano-led power ballad "Shadow Of The Gods". [Mar 2024, p.25]

Moody shades of The National and Tunnel Of Love-era Springsteen abound, though the whole thing never quite manages to fully convince. [Mar 2024, p.25]

Moments feel somewhat bombastic, but where Scope Neglect hits, it certainly hits. [Mar 2024, p.26]

Mixes have the tracks - stacked guitars and vocals, bustling basslines, played and programmed drums - hurtling along as if crammed into a tunnel. [Mar 2024, p.25]

It's all very tasteful and refined, but ultimately feels a little bloodless. [Feb 2024, p.30]

The music is largely uninteresting, a bland hotchpotch of dub-flavoured electronic styles. [Feb 2024, p.34]

A rich saturnine, baroque-pop set full of romantic drama. Strings, piano and keyboard combine with muti-textured guitar in songs that, though engaging, tend toward the florid. [Feb 2024, p.30]

Despite a few interesting textures, New Blue Sun never really takes flight. [Jan 2024, p.25]

Her gusto is undeniable. Sadly, the abundance of karaoke-night misfires among the 30 tracks makes Rockstar such a slog. [Jan 2024, p.34]

The music is decent enough. .... The problem is Jake Duszik's vocals, which are soft and blank of affect in a way that is oddly characterless. It leaves Rat Wars feeling, if not completely without merit, a bit of an empty vessel. [Review of the Year 2023, p.29]

It's only on the lengthy, ambient, vaporous "La Sirena" and the pretty, dramatic ballad "ICU" that everything gels together. [Dec 2023, p.31]

Smith has skill and ambition galore, but too often settles for tasteful stupor. [Review of the Year 2023, p.32]

While the material is frequently just serviceable, the arrangements are inspired thanks to the virtuosic interplay of JaRon Marshall's gilded piano, Brendan Bond's percolating basslines and Quesada's sizzling solos. [Dec 2023, p.27]

Less effectively soothing than 2022's A Journey..., it's unconventionally beguiling, more ambient predecessor. [Dec 2023, p.34]

Faithful and reverential throughout, there's nonetheless clear signs of Joe's own personality shining though. [Nov 2023, p.27]

As an artistic exercise, it's interesting enough. [Nov 2023, p.33]

The eight songs of Midnight Rose range from serviceable to cringeworthy. [Oct 2023, p.33]

The diversity here is testament to the sheer scope of his [Leon Russell's] writing. [Oct 2023, p.37]

There's a tense, nervous energy o songs such as "Obsession", "Our Song" and "Oversize Sweater" and surprises aplenty. [Sep 2023, p.34]

The better tracks are ones where Lydon stops grumbling about the modern world and creates his own mythic universe, both lyrically and musically. [Sep 2023, p.22]

Here it's his "Story Of An Artist", delivered with a disarming simplicity. With contributions from regular collaborators Jim James and Neko Case, the other eight songs are striking originals. [Aug 2023, p.38]

While lyrics like "this is the hottest summer I can ever remember 'cause the world is on fire" leave little to the imagination, the final product is hard to dislike. [Aug 2023, p.26]

Even a recreation of the harmonica sound from "When The Levee Breaks" on "The Falling Sky" and the same song's famous cavernous beat on "Sacred The Thread" can't help either song stick in the memory. [Sep 2023, p.27]

Had Lofgren trusted his considerable gifts to carry these earnest songs, Mountains would've been a more satisfying album. [Aug 2023, p.34]

Finds itself caught between emulating the original's enviable qualities and overhauling its almost four-decade habits. [Aug 2023, p.36]

It's hard to begrudge the Boos this sunny, mellifluous midlife comeback. [Aug 2023, p.25]

On first hearing it's a little underwhelming, but its subtle charms certainly grows. [Jul 2023, p.30]