Villagers
The Art Of Pretending To Swim
Villagers’ most assured, and daring, album
The Independent
Suede
The Blue Hour
Though their themes remain in the gutter, Suede aspire to monuments, and The Blue Hour will stand as another sordid masterwork
The Independent
Noname
Room 25
Backed by smooth yet stirring R&B melodics, Noname meditates on life, death, and the longevity of love, seeming to take comfort in the temporal limitations of being human
A.V. Club
Waxahatchee
Great Thunder
Katie Crutchfield is no stranger to DIY prolificacy
Spectrum Culture
Christine and the Queens
Chris
Chris has done a rare thing in choosing to make music that stays true to a journey rather than chasing a big-hitting, quick-passing download
The Arts Desk
Jungle
For Ever
The buzzy UK group only sometimes overcomes their style-over-substance sound that coats their glossy songs
Pitchfork
Fatherson
Sum of All Your Parts
Fatherson are a class act. Their emotive songs make them front-runners in a competitive rock scene. Poetry and sorrow meld together fantastically well on Sum Of All Your Parts
God Is In The TV
The Goon Sax
We're Not Talking
The band’s songcraft has improved immeasurably since their first release, in its powerful, succinct simplicity, in its poeticism and medglodicism
God Is In The TV
Villagers
The Art Of Pretending To Swim
Villagers' music is pleasant and easy to listen to without being simple, and has catchy melodies that don't reach the level of massive pop hooks
PopMatters
Menace Beach
Black Rainbow Sound
With Black Rainbow Sound, Menace Beach continue to explore indie rock with a slight experimental twist and a direct, pop-influenced approach.
PopMatters
Pale Waves
My Mind Makes Noise
Outsider pop has rarely seemed so glamorous
Clash
Christine and the Queens
Chris
Musically, it's like a chilled synthpop spritzer that effervesces from her remarkable debut
The Music