Hits setzt es hier in lockerer Abfolge. „Don’t Be So Hard On Yourself“ entpuppt sich als muskulöser Rocker mit markantem Riff, packender Melodie und, ja wirklich, einem Saxophon-Solo zum Abschluss. Lahey studierte einst Jazz-Saxophon an der Universität, der Kreis schließt sich. Mindestens so stark: „I Don’t Get Invited To Parties Anymore“. Der Opener legt vergleichsweise langsam und unscheinbar los, nur um breitbeinige, souveräne Zwischensprints mit Power und Nachdruck einzuschieben. Dicke Gitarren und feinsinnige Synthi-Spielereien zum Schluss ergeben den nächsten Volltreffer.
(Beatblogger)

Es kommt nicht von ungefähr, dass die Kombination aus Synthies und wuchtiger Gitarre in "Am I doing it right?" an ein Liebeskind von frühen The Killers und Avril Lavigne denken lässt, ein wenig oberflächlich vielleicht, aber die Killer-Hook lässt das Herz jubeln. Es mag sich zwar bei Laheys Songs um basales Songwriting handeln, doch funktionieren sie passgenau und treffen immer den popaffinen Nerv des Hörers. Dass zum Beispiel die Abkehr von Saufen und Feiern in "I don't get invited to parties anymore" mit hedonistischem Rausch-Rock begossen wird, ist ein netter Kniff. Varianz ist übrigens trotz der "All killer no filler"-Attitüde ein wichtiger Bestandteil des Albums. Wenn "Isabella" luftig, von einem frühlingshaften Klavier motiviert, durch die Gegend hopst, könnte sich Ben Folds ein Lächeln sicher nicht verkneifen. Auch die filigrane Balladen-Kleinigkeit "Unspoken history" überzeugt durch luftige Instrumentierung, die durch ein Cello jedoch dezent dunkler geschminkt wird. Immer im Gepäck ist aber auf jeden Fall eine selbstbewusste Hook, darauf kann man zählen.
(Plattentests)

Wy sound like what we want alternative rock’s next iteration to sound like: As catchy as HAIM but with their own raw, dark and vulnerable flavor, the pair make music so mesmerizingly special that you have to hear it to believe it. (…)
“Softie” follows the release of Wy’s lead single “Pavements” at the top of the year, and while the latter has its share of infectious excitement, “Softie” is the sort of track that will steal our hearts forevermore. (…)
Ebba Ågren sings her heart out in a profound assertion of vulnerability and desire, growing out of a faraway whisper in the verses to a close roar in the chorus. “Softie” is in so many ways an expression of an individual’s inner pain and self-doubt, and the hardship that goes alongside those personal experiences. Wy evoke a stirring mix of emotions through the pre-chorus’ beautiful poetry.
(Atwood Magazine)

Just like the rest of the project, “Softie” was inspired by the turbulence of human existence and by Ebba‘s experience of being bipolar. Thematically, it’s a logical follow-up to “Pavements” as the song was dealing with depression and starting by “who the hell made me like this?”. Sonically softer around the edges, the aptly named “Softie” remains a disconcertingly raw testimony loaded with vulnerability and a willingness of trying to become a better person.
(High Clouds)

The whole album feels like a celebration of being human and allowing yourself to feel, to grow, to cope, with each individual song playing a part in this journey of self-acceptance.
The standout track for me is Twenty-two Dreaming. The twinkling guitar and atmospherical synth lend a convivial tone to the song, contrasting to the lyrics which Wy themselves say are “kind of dark”. It takes you on a journey as the guitar merges with a heavier more distorted sound as Ebba’s poignantly tender vocals gain depth as she sings “Don’t want to feel the grey of it, always”.
What I love about Softie is that however real it is, it’s not downbeat. It has a lovely sense of hopeful optimism because guys; it’s ok to feel and talk about these things. We’re all human.
(IMN)

Every song on this album is strong, starting from the compelling opener, “Satellite,” which firmly establishes the return to the classic Get Up Kids style which is as strong of an opener as “Holiday” or “Man of Conviction.” “The Problem is Me” is one of the bounciest, catchiest pop songs that The Get Up Kids have ever put out. “Lou Barlow” starts and ends as a tribute to the Dinosaur Jr. bassist, and in the middle it fills in as one of Matt Pryor’s classicly angsty emo songs. “Fairweather Friends” succeeds thanks to perhaps drummer Ryan Pope’s best performance to date, giving an absolutely electrifying performance. “The Advocate” is a welcome return to the experimental style of On a Wire rather than the over-experimentation of There are Rules. And, while the first three Get Up Kids albums were notable for their excellent closing tracks, that sort of ended with Guilt Show’s mediocre closing track, “Conversation.” On Problems, they return with another strong ballad of a closer in “Your Ghost is Gone” and, while it may not be on par with “I’ll Catch You,” it’s certainly on par with “Michele with One L” and “Hannah Hold On.”
(Punk News)

Problems opens with "Satellites," a headbanger that opens with soft acoustic guitar before kicking into an anthemic chorus that's reminiscent of '90s pop punk. Lyrics about feeling anxious and isolated even in a crowded room are instantly relatable.
 "Salina" and "Fairweather Friends" are absolute standouts; the guitar work is flawless, a fuzzy bass line is warm and inviting and pairs perfectly with the bright guitar riffs — the interlude is utterly magnificent. (…)
The Get Up Kids have a talent for writing catchy and infectious hooks and choruses and it's what has kept them on the map for over two decades. Both old and newer fans will find songs they enjoy and hopefully never stop listening to on Problems.
(Exclaim)

Most of the record jabs and punches like a heavyweight on the comeback trail with tracks like "The Problem Is Me" or "Fairweather Friends" sounding like the work of a band with lots to prove and little time to do it. They charge through the verses with purpose and blast into the verses with a feverish glow that cuts through the noise of the day and forces the listener to take notice. The songs that dial down the energy still have a tightly wound emotional core that comes through in the aching vocal harmonies, the swell of the keys, guitar solos that threaten to tear up speakers, and Pryor's intimate, everyman tone. The band at its best never relied on speed or noise alone to get the point across, and songs like the lovely midtempo melancholy ballad "Salina" or the tightly wound "The Advocate" have the same kick as the faster songs and maybe a little more emotional impact.
(All Music)

I AM EASY TO FIND bricht gewohntes Terrain auf und bedient sich dabei zweier Strategien. Zum einem versprüht die Platte jenen Geist der Kooperative, den schon das von den Dessner-Brüdern mitkuratierte „People“-Festival im Funkhaus Berlin ausstrahlte.
Die Songs erlauben sich Umwege, verlassen gängige Schemata. Sie tun das nicht so radikal wie beispielsweise die Stücke des letzten Bon-Iver-Albums 22, A MILLION: The National erlauben sich auch kleine, sehr analog inszenierte Songs wie „Not In Kansas“ (wobei auch dieser Song seine Brüche hat). Aber die Bereitschaft, andere musikalische Gebiete zu erforschen, sei es Gospel, sei es Klassik, sei es Neue Musik, sei es Elektronik, ist durchaus vergleichbar.
(musikexpress)

Not a single cut on Oh My God feels out of place. Each song is effulgent in its composition and intention, from the hymnal boogie "OMG Rock n Roll," to the wholly intimate "Seven Devils" to the bashful and bluesy "Ballad Of Faye." Despite always feeling full and fleshed-out, Oh My God is comparatively and intentionally sparse when held up Morby's earlier albums. (…)
To decree a record as an artist's "epic" is always a paradoxical accomplishment, suggesting heights that may never be reached again, and casting past works, great though they may be, into a comparative pale. But it's hard not to be awed by a record that has you saying its name to simply describe it.
(Exlaim)

There are rich variations in mood. On the opening “Oh My God,” the singer’s prayerful refrain (“Oh my lord / Come carry me home”) is a quiet, solitary plea that rises out of a rickety piano melody that sounds as if it’s emanating from your grandparents’ attic. Three songs later (“OMG Rock n Roll”), it’s a rollicking doomsday anthem, all bleating organs and grimy guitar fuzz as Morby combines the same lyrics with the ambient anxieties of the mass shooting age. And six songs after that, the singer is awed at the simple daily fact of being alive: “This life is a killer! / But oh, what a ride! / Just to wake up each morning! / Just to open your eyes!” goes the messy celebratory shuffle of “Congratulations.” Oh My God is full of lines that teeter on the brink of hippie-dippie inanity, and sometimes they cross over, but Morby delivers them with enough conviction and musical restlessness to make you rise from your couch and join him in wondering where the hell a baby bluebird goes when it dies.
(Paste Magazine)

‘Oh My God’ is a dense listen and though there are more immediate moments (the raucous ‘OMG Rock n Roll’ and the shapeshifting ‘Hail Mary’ are two examples), you can let this album wash over you and wallow in its most intense songs, for they are the ones that will linger longest. Like the twinkling ‘Sing A Glad Song’, a cut not too dissimilar to the aura of ‘Singing Saw’, or the pensive ‘I Want To Be Clean’, a song that’d nestle in nicely into the folksy spirit of second album ‘Still Life’.
This is a remarkable achievement, one that proves that Morby remains on top form. Let ‘Oh My God’ be your companion and guide. You won’t immediately learn the meaning of it all, but there’s more than enough here to spark some seismic internal reflection, wherever you’ve come from or are heading to next.
(NME)

Depending on your mood, there’ll be songs you’d happily lop off for a more streamlined listen, but by and large, all of these songs make the patchwork much more vibrant. If there’s another wait this long for album five, we trust that they’ll make use of the time.

It's a thrill to experience and one that is challenged elsewhere by the hypnotic and luscious "Buried in the Sand," which whips up a trance-like frenzy of reverie, and "Empty Skies," a throwback to '90s soul/house sounds that stretches the lead pair's vocals. Likewise, "End of the World Party" maintains the nostalgia with a classic Lyn Collins/Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock sample, connecting dancefloors across the decades through an infectious sonic wormhole. In addition to the party-starters, uplifting moments such as "So Long, Goodbye" and "Another Universe" elevate Any Random Kindness with grace, while the bluesy, piano-bar closer "Last One Out (Turn the Lights Off)" pulls everything together with a final plea for positivity and a light in the darkness. Cerebral yet soulful, Any Random Kindness strikes an ideal balance for Hælos, a significant step forward in their evolution.
(All Music)

The songs on Any Random Kindness take time to sink in, with hooks revealing themselves over time with the band clearly understanding the need to take risks to grow musically. The mix of the organic and synthetic is handled skillfully throughout with slowly rippling melodies suddenly enveloped by swarming crowds of busy electronics and charged live drums. The band's second album finds HÆLOS expanding on their core sound while reminding themselves and the listener of just why they are such an exciting and intriguing outfit.
(PopMatters)

Transform is remarkably consistent to Jones’ lush brand of synthpop. Right from the top, “The One To Love You” feels like an unearthed ‘80s artifact in the best way, maintaining a deliciously layered complexity that is as exciting to listen to through headphones as it through dance floor speakers—even if that dance floor is your living room.
With a crunchy drum line and throbbing bass, “Take Us Higher” is like a Depeche Mode’s relentlessly upbeat cousin. “Tin Man” has a similar grounding on the percussion, with the keyboard lines doing workman-like duty on a more traditional ballad. (…)
“Beating Mr. Neg” is a little heavy, with a slinky, zebra-striped backbeat that sounds like the opening titles of an arcade racing game, but the firework flourish of the chorus serves as a bridge between the eras, sounding more The 1975 than Kraftwerk. The simple piano coda is a nice touch. (…)
The bubble-pop “Be My Own Hero” is a little too light to land amongst the heavier hitters like “Take Us Higher” and “Beating Mr. Neg,” and the Windham Hill flute line on “At The Speed of Love” is a bit of a downer, even if it does conjure back to “Transform.” Every album needs a ballad, but this one falls strictly on the B-side sense of things.
And, of course, just as it opened, the album closes with a banger, “Stay With Me,” with its sharp, right-angle beats and a chorus that sounds like the gospel choir at the First Church of Robots.
It’s always a gamble for a musician to fall back into the orbit he’s known for. At worst, at sounds stale and lazy. But at it’s best, well, it sounds like Transform, a balance of what is familiar and innovative, new magic from old spells.
(Paste Magazine)

Tracks like ‘Living Things Don’t Last’ find twinkly synths clashing with forlorn lyrics sung in wistful reminiscence, and it is a measure of the strength of her writing that her full-bodied leap into the analogue synth world has seen her sacrifice none of that melancholic ecstasy.
There is nothing revolutionary about Dizzy Spells, but it would take effort to resist its charms. ‘The Girls are Chewing Gum’, produced by UK garage lynchpin Todd Edwards, is a stomping Chicago house-inspired indie disco throwdown, equipped to rub shoulders with the best of DFA or Creation. The pristine ‘Moral Damage’ sees Clifford in a bilingual duet with former Veronica Falls bandmate Marion Herbain, while Clifford’s wit shines through on album highlight ‘The Pressure’: “My friends tell me you asked for me/ The world could end before we agree”.
(Loud and Quiet)

Those singles are all present on the first Patience record, Dizzy Spells, and it says a lot about the record that they aren't necessarily the best songs there. Sessions done at home in L.A. resulted in some wonderful songs, too. The Todd Edwards collaboration "The Girls Are Chewing Gum" is an infectious slice of lo-fi house, "No Roses" is a yearning ballad that sounds like baby Yaz, "Aerosol" is wonderfully melancholy '80s pop, and "Moral Damage" is a stately Europop tune that features a vocal turn by Clifford's Veronica Falls bandmate Marion Herbain. She does bring in guitars once or twice, most notably on the New Order-esque "Living Things Don’t Last." Throughout, Clifford proves as adept at pressing keys and programming synths as she was at strumming a guitar, and the different setting gives her a chance to stretch vocally in ways she might not have been able to if buried in reverb and live drums. (…)
Fans of Veronica Falls can still lament that the band is gone for good, but Patience is a fine substitute that delivers the same great songs and deep feelings only in a different package.
(All Music)

White of An Eye is propelled by a bouncy undercurrent and a jangly guitar refrain, but Clifford intones: 'I haven’t seen it in a while / The light that comes from a smile'.
Much of the album follows suit, but the likes of dextrous bilingual powerhouse Moral Damage, where Clifford is joined by fellow former Veronica Falls member Marion Herbain, and closer Silent House, with its warped choral opening and almost baroque keys, break the mould. Such moments help prevent Dizzy Spells from becoming one-note by putting a different spin on the happy-sad formula, keeping it a bright yet bittersweet full-length exploration of Clifford’s new sonic world.
(The Skinny)

De starkaste spåren är lätta att fastna för direkt, likt ”Cambion” som är en riktig fullträff och innehåller allt det som Agent blå är bäst på. Nämligen ett kraftfullt intro som följs av fina verser och tempoväxlingar. Likaså ”You’ll Get It When Your’re Older” med sina gitarrslingor och ”Defenestration” med sitt djup.
Samtidigt finns det spår som kräver mer tid och kommer ur sitt skal först efter ett par lyssningar. Agent blå:s främsta styrka sitter inte i texterna, stundtals hör man nämligen inte riktigt vilka ord som sjungs. Styrkan ligger snarare i Alatalos röst i sig själv, och därtill den fängslande ljudbilden som på denna fullängdare också bjuder på en del nya rytmer.
(Hymn)
Übersetzung: Die stärksten Tracks sind leicht sofort zu finden, wie "Cambion", ein echter Hit, der alles enthält, was Agent blå am besten kann. Ein kraftvolles Intro, gefolgt von feinen Versen und Tempowechseln. Ebenso "You Get It When Your Older" mit seinen Gitarrenloops und "Defestation" mit seiner Tiefe.
Gleichzeitig gibt es Tracks, die mehr Zeit benötigen und erst nach ein paar Hörversuchen aus ihrer Hülle kommen. Die Hauptstärke von Agent blå liegt nicht in den Texten, manchmal hört man nicht wirklich, welche Wörter gesungen werden. Die Stärke liegt vielmehr in Alatalos Stimme an sich und darüber hinaus in dem fesselnden Klangbild, das auf diesem Album in voller Länge auch einige neue Rhythmen bietet.

Detta är nämligen den starkaste platta som Weeping Willows släppt ifrån sig sedan debuten för drygt 20 år sedan. Kanske någonsin. Aldrig har väl miljöpanik och klimatångest skildrats så här vackert.
(Göteborgs-Posten)
Übersetzung:Dies ist die stärkste Platte, die Weeping Willows seit ihrem Debüt vor etwas mehr als 20 Jahren herausgebracht hat. Vielleicht jemals. Noch nie wurden Umweltpanik und Klimaangst so schön dargestellt.

Die vielleicht erstaunlichste Erkenntnis an diesem Debütalbum und zugleich ein Beleg für das enorme Selbstbewusstsein von ViVii: In allen anderen Songs der Platte singt Caroline Jonsson mit Kopfstimme, die deutlich weniger nach LDR klingt und insgesamt sogar besser zur Ästhetik passt, die das Trio hier zu bieten hat. So drängt sich schon im Opener Pick Me Up eine ganz andere Parallele auf: Er beginnt wie ein Sirup aus Sounds, darüber legt sich dann Emils Helium-Stimme, bevor das Lied mit dem Refrain eine klarere Form findet, die ziemlich sehr einem Seidenschal ähnelt, der sich auf die Haut legt. „You can come and pick me up / you can come and save the day“, singt Caroline, und man muss zwangsläufig an Stars aus Kanada denken, nicht nur wegen der Sanftheit und Eleganz, sondern auch wegen des herrlichen Zusammenspiels der Stimmen.
Die Strophe von Love Love Love scheint eine hochmoderne Version von Country zu sein, der Refrain steht hingegen für zeitlose Schönheit. Emils Stimme klingt in Wanna Fly wie eine Glaskugel, die zersplittert ist und dann wieder zusammengesetzt wurde. End Of June ist zunächst akustisch, am Ende gibt es Call and Response. Der Anfang von Siv (You And I) lässt an Supertramps Give A Little Bit denken, dann setzen leichtfüßige Rhythmen à la Vampire Weekend ein, schließlich ein Refrain mit großer Geste, wie er zu Kate Bush oder Lorde passen würde.
(shitesite)

Melodieverliebt und allem Anschein nach weit zurückgelehnt, schrammelt sich das Quartett ein kurzweiliges, vielversprechendes Erstlingswerk zusammen. (…) Das Genre-Pendel schlägt mal in Richtung Country, mal in Richtung Blues oder auch unschuldigen Pops aus. "Reject" und "Always" fallen in letzte Kategorie. "VCR" lehnt sich ganz in die verträumten Gefilde und schlurft in einen wunderbar eingängigen Refrain. (…)
Das düstere, bluesige "Stalker", getragen von einem Synthie-Motiv und dank knalligen Drums zum Mitnicken animierend, ist ein starker Abschlusstrack. "I'm not too weak to tell the ruth / And you're not as nice as your green eyes" heißt es, während der Bass unablässig nach vorne drängt. "Stress", komplett in der Muttersprache gesungen, ist allerdings das Album-Highlight. Anfangs schleppend, offenbart der Song nach und nach seine Schönheit, die sich sogar dem des Schwedischen unmächtigen Rezensenten erschließt.
(Plattentests)