Despite Hippies, Thugs and Heroes being a good and often great album, one may yearn for Richard Thompson to go outside his comfort zone, rather than match his output of the last 50 years

The Brit folk legend's latest fits comfortably into his catalogue, all fiery Stratocaster riffs, doomy ballads and stories of vagabonds and ne'er-do-wells

British folk-rock legend Richard Thompson sneeringly releases another album that reveals the complex nature of the human condition

Continues a powerful run of modern classics from an artist who shows no sign of slowing down

A latter-day classic. Print edition only

A dozen tracks confirm Thompson favours quality over quantity. Print edition only

A bit of a downer, but those who have found their way to Thompson's songs - via Fairport, or fellow travellers like Robyn Hitchcock, Tom Verlaine, Bob Mould, Pere Ubu, R.E.M. and now The Tubs - will know how intoxicating his kind of gloom can be. Print edition only