★★★★★
Ol' Saint Nick, playful pop alchemy, and the retro-reinvention of the Christmas album... "It's an enormous amount of work to make a song sound like you've just knocked it off," Nick Lowe announced in a recent interview, but that's just what he's been achieving regularly in his second life (third? fourth?), which began--post-Brinsleys, post-Rockpile--with 1994's Impossible Bird...
- www.uncut.co.uk
2013-12-17
★★★★★
Nick Lowe titled his U.K. solo debut Jesus of Cool 35 years ago, and now, he's offered his first Christmas album. While Lowe's recent critically acclaimed CDs have mined a mellow, melancholic mood, Quality Street sparkles with holiday cheer. A rousing, rockabilly/gospel-style "Children Go Where I Send Thee," which opens the disc, recalls Lowe's Rockpile days. This jolly St...
- www.relix.com
2013-11-26
★★★★★
The laidback charm andsmooth country-pop of Lowe'smost recent releases, At MyAge and The Old Magic, madethem the warmest and mostwelcoming albums of hislengthy career. That samesense of comfort prevailsagain on his Christmas record,a set of songs that deserve tobe as cherished as the festivework of The Beach Boys orPhil Spector.
- recordcollectormag.com
2013-11-07
★★★★★
Quality Street - A Seasonal Selection For All The Family At Music News we have waited as long as we can but now it is time to cast an ear across the first Christmas record of 2013 - and the first ever from Lowe. Apparently when he was approached by his record label about the idea, his reaction was an instant knee jerk 'No!'. But Lowe says after less a minute he thought the project could be really good fun...
- www.music-news.com
2013-10-22
★★★★★
1979's Labour of Lust had the misfortune of following Nick Lowe's breakout debut disc, Pure Pop For Now People. Lust has labored in its predecessor's shadow over the years, having been out-of-print for around 20 years. This lack of recognition, however, is quite unjustified. While Pure Pop was a splashy tour de force, Lust is a stronger overall album. This reissue combines the tracks used in the U.S. and U.K...
- www.americansongwriter.com
2013-04-25
★★★★★
Once upon a time, Nick Lowe was a creative multi-tasker who bounced between twisting knobs for a number of artists (The Damned, The Pretenders) and pounding out jangly pub-rock alongside his drinking buddies in Brinsley Schwarz and Rockpile. During this time, Lowe was embraced by music aficionados while being overlooked as a commercial artist save for his sole Top 40 hit, 1979's "Cruel to Be Kind...
- www.americansongwriter.com
2013-04-25
★★★★★
It has been four years since Lowe's last studio album, At My Age, but this album reaffirms he still has that old magic. The former luminary of the British pub rock and new wave scenes has mellowed into a relaxed crooner of rare excellence (Willie Nelson might be an apt comparison). His style now fuses classic easy-listening pop and country strains with gentle ease...
- exclaim.ca
2011-10-17
★★★★★
Yep Roc Nick Lowe has certainly been reflective of late: His previous album, At My Age, made it clear that, unlike some of his contemporaries, this is one aging singer/songwriter who doesn't have use for pretending he's the same man that he was in his twenties and thirties. On The Old Magic, Lowe confronts mortality, wanderlust, loneliness and broken relationships ("You left me high and dry in a loveless land with nothing but time on my hands," he sings in "I Read a Lot")...
- www.relix.com
2011-10-03
★★★★★
It's been a pleasure over the past two decades to see Nick Lowe settle into his late-career role as a grizzled, puckish roots-pop balladeer. Every few years, Lowe pops back up with another elegant, understated album full of gentle, witty songs, neatly arranged and performed with reassuring calm. The Old Magic continues the streak. Opening with "Stoplight Roses"--a stately, Roy Orbison-style ballad, barely adorned--The Old Magic sticks to basics throughout its 35-minute running time...
- www.avclub.com
2011-10-03
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