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10.0
60982
10.0 |
The Independent
Shangri La depicts an artist expanding exponentially beyond the rudimentary rockabilly diatribes of last year's eponymous debut
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9.0
61024
9.0 |
The Digital Fix
He is deftly exploring new music while still managing to create a work that is a cohesive whole; familiar and excitingly new at the same time
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9.0
60968
9.0 |
Clash
A mature and remarkable album
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8.0
61034
8.0 |
musicOMH
The sound of a young man who doesn’t give one single toss about mortgage rates or other metropolitan concerns
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8.0
60983
8.0 |
Independent on Sunday
As an exercise in expanded range, Shangri La is too diverse and distinct to dismiss
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8.0
60970
8.0 |
Evening Standard
The electric guitar that permeates some of the songs has a West Coast/Neil Young flavour and certain tunes reveal a trace memory of a punk scene that he could not have experienced first-hand
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8.0
60971
8.0 |
Mojo
The diversity and quality of his songwriting should be even harder to ignore on this second, Rick Rubin-produced outing. Print edition only
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8.0
60972
8.0 |
Q
It confirms the suspicion that Bugg really could go all the way to the top. Print edition only
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8.0
61196
8.0 |
State
An album filled with emotion and experience beyond his years, Bugg may be the product of clever marketing and although his image is one that could be easily mocked, his talent and song-writing prowess shouldn’t be
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7.0
61043
7.0 |
Rolling Stone
Rick Rubin oversees an expanding sonic palette and a tougher sound
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6.0
60967
6.0 |
Time Out
In contrast to his debut, a summing-up of his teenage years, ‘Shangri La’ was written within the space of a single year on the road. Bugg’s voice is stronger and his lyrics have the authority of experience
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6.0
60980
6.0 |
NME
Basically more of the same, and for many fans, that'll be more than enough
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6.0
60986
6.0 |
The Observer
He sounds like a newly humanoid cat, plaintive and struggling to shape its vowels ("you" becomes "yawowrhr")
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5.0
61011
5.0 |
Drowned In Sound
A solidly built celebration of interchangeable ordinariness
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5.0
61080
5.0 |
The Fly
Though ‘Shangri La’ is at least entertaining, it’s without that lasting, killer incision that will guarantee longevity
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4.0
60969
4.0 |
The Guardian
Shangri-La bears out Bugg's insistence that he's "just a lad who writes tunes" a little too clearly: it sounds as ordinary as he claims to be
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4.0
61048
4.0 |
The Arts Desk
Despite Bugg publicly styling himself as the “authentic” antidote to the manufactured pop of One Direction et al, there is little here to capture the imagination
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4.0
61069
4.0 |
All Music
A songwriter who can cobble together melody but not meaning, a singer whose severely limited skills cripple whatever chance he has in communicating
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4.0
62290
4.0 |
PopMatters
While Bugg’s debut album felt genuine, Shangri La feels forced and awkward
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