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Matthew Dear  Bunny

The Matthew Dear of Bunny is more or less Matthew Dear of before, but he’s nowhere near as interesting The 405

Colter Wall  Songs Of The Plains

An impressive, lean and mean follow-up to Wall’s self-titled breakthrough Spectrum Culture

Colter Wall  Songs Of The Plains

Tips a stetson to the neglected Western heritage of his native country, from the stark beauty of "Saskatchewan In 1881" to the deliciously luminous cover of Wilf Carter's "Calgary Round-Up". Print edition only Uncut

Colter Wall  Songs Of The Plains

Canadian alt-country guy updates the cowboy song tradition with tales of druggie drifters and shot-up Camaros Rolling Stone

Colter Wall  Songs Of The Plains

Colter Wall captures a long-forgotten time and place, keeping the cowboy folklore alive by reminding us that poignant songs sung by a superb singer will never sound outdated American Songwriter

Colter Wall  Songs Of The Plains

If he hadn't proven himself on his much-lauded debut, it's here for all to see on Songs of the Plains Exclaim

Colter Wall  Songs Of The Plains

There’s no fuss in the instrumentation, either, mostly just gentle picking or brisk, deep thrums on Wall’s acoustic guitar, which are bolstered by icy laps of pedal steel and the occasional harmonica. It’s effective in the simplest of ways – and allows the listener’s imagination to do the rest The Independent

Ella Mai  Ella Mai

The perfectly fine debut from the London R&B singer offers a grip of retro, snappy jams without sounding like a pastiche Pitchfork

Connan Mockasin  Jassbusters

It’s intermittently gorgeous but frustratingly foggy Pitchfork

Ella Mai  Ella Mai

A decent debut, then, but with Mai’s rich voice you can’t help feeling that it could have been stratospheric. Instead, it fails to innovate, and all feels a little beige The Observer

Elvis Costello & The Imposters  Look Now

Pretty but patchy The Observer

Kurt Vile  Bottle It In

Leisurely, skew-whiff melodies The Observer

Swearin’  Fall Into The Sun

Though Swearin’ are emotionally fully-grown on Fall into the Sun, there’s still ample youthful energy, making it one of the brightest, ruddiest albums you’ll hear this year Paste Magazine

Elvis Costello & The Imposters  Look Now

Follow Elvis Costello down the twisting paths of Look Now and you’ll find they lead to sublime musical destinations American Songwriter

Hop Along  Bark Your Head Off, Dog

Bark Your Head Off, Dog is a form of choral story-telling, punctuated by internal variations and thorough carving of details Gig Soup