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18 December 2024

Here's how it works: The Recent Releases chart brings together critical reaction to new albums from more than 50 sources worldwide. It's updated daily. Albums qualify with 5 reviews, and drop out after 6 weeks into the longer timespan charts.

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New

Saint EtienneThe Night

"Truly beautiful and moving ambient pop mini-triumph that's sad, nostalgic, and elegiac" (9/10 - All Music). "Conjures images of a city just before dawn rises" (7/10 - musicOMH)

New

Snoop DoggMissionary

"Snoop Dogg has a spring in his step on his relentlessly interesting Dr Dre collaboration" (10/10 - The Independent). "Missionary’ is one of rap’s most iconic voices doing what he does best" (7/10 - Clash)

New

Lauren MayberryVicious Creature

"Expectations were high, but the realisation is stratospheric" (10/10 - Dork). "An album that manages to be poignant and pointed without sacrificing any of its unabashed sparkle" (8/10 - DIY)

Highest Recent Ratings

Albums to watch

Michael KiwanukaSmall Changes

"A boundless effort that, while revelling in its musical referents stands tall, ceaselessly, beside them" (10/10 - The Skinny). "It's a record built to last" (8/10 - Record Collector)

Laura MarlingPatterns in Repeat

"Both stunningly intimate and endearingly raw" (10/10 - DIY). "A homey, quiet record. It’s one of the best of her career" (8.3/10 - Pitchfork). "Simple, graceful, moving, tender" (9/10 - Uncut)

Amyl And The SniffersCartoon Darkness

"It's a truly glorious rock’n’roll album that is forceful without being simplistic and lairy while maintaining a good sense of humour" - 10/10 - The Arts Desk).

Christopher OwensI Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair

"Potentially one of the year’s best records" (10/10 - DIY). "A must-listen for anyone who’s ever been in the type of love that doesn’t always get a light shone on it" (9/10 - Northern Transmissions)

Ezra CollectiveDance, No One's Watching

"This is truly a fresh musical experience, rather than being just another jazz record" (9/10 - Far Out). "A joyful reminder of music’s ability to bring people together, to move us, and to make us dance" (8/10 - Clash)

Poll Of Polls 2019 No1

The ultimate, definitive Best Albums Of 2019

It's the annual ADM Poll of Polls, our roundup of the critics' end-of-year best albums lists - the ultimate, definitive Best Of The Best Ofs, 2019

We've compiled the rankings from all those magazines, newspapers and websites among our sources which publish their albums of the year. The end result is a comprehensive reflection of the critical favourites of the year. It's the ultimate, definitive "Best of the Best Albums of 2019" chart.

Sources: Clash, Consequence of Sound, Crack, Evening Standard, Gigwise, God Is In The TV, Loud And Quiet, Mojo, musicOMH, NME, Northern Transmission, No Ripcord, NOW, Paste, Pitchfork, Pop Matters, Q, Quietus, Rolling Stone, Slant, Spectrum, Sputnik, The AV Club, The Independent, The Line Of Best Fit, The Guardian, The Skinny, Uncut
(50pts are awarded to the album named No.1, 49pts to the No.2 and so on).

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1079 Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell!
1006 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen
976 FKA Twigs - Magdalene
870 Angel Olsen - All Mirrors
783 Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising
715 Tyler, the Creator - IGOR
659 Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow
632 Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains
617 Solange - When I Get Home
611 Fontaines D.C. - Dogrel
609 Little Simz - GREY Area
608 Billie Eilish - When We Fall Asleep. Where Do We Go?
577 Big Thief - U.F.O.F.
570 Dave - Psychodrama
502 Michael Kiwanuka - Kiwanuka
485 Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride
461 Lizzo - Cuz I Love You
451 slowthai - Nothing Great About Britain
424 Brittany Howard - Jaime
401 Aldous Harding - Designer
358 black midi - schlagenheim
330 Jenny Hval - The Practice of Love
311 Jenny Lewis - On the Line
309 Big Thief - Two Hands
297 Bill Callahan - Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest
285 Kano - Hoodies All Summer
283 Richard Dawson - 2020
275 The National - I Am Easy to Find
272 Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Bandana
268 Julia Jacklin - Crushing
262 Jamila Woods - LEGACY! LEGACY!
253 Kim Gordon - No Home Record
236 Ariana Grande - thank u, next
236 Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars
227 Hot Chip - A Bath Full of Ecstasy
225 Cate Le Bon - Reward
224 Bon Iver - i,i
224 James Blake - Assume Form
219 Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion...
204 The Comet Is Coming - Trust in the Lifeforce...
202 (Sandy) Alex G - House of Sugar
192 Clairo - Immunity
191 Danny Brown - uknowhatimsayin¿
171 Nilüfer Yanya - Miss Universe
159 The Murder Capital - When I Have Fears
158 Taylor Swift - Lover
153 Flying Lotus - Flamagra
149 Marika Hackman - Any Human Friend
148 These New Puritans - Inside the Rose
146 Fat White Family - Serfs Up!

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SEE 2009 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2010 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2011 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2012 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2013 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2014 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2015 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2016 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2017 RESULTS HERE

SEE 2018 RESULTS HERE

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Latest Reviews

Cindy Lee Diamond Jubilee

Overall, Diamond Jubilee is a compelling diamond in a year of classics that, while hurt by some issues, strives to a level of uniqueness and brilliance that makes it one of the most needed albums to listen to this year Spill Magazine

Cindy Lee Diamond Jubilee

The record – just like the medium of music – is doomed (or blessed) to exist in this in-between state of ghost-like liminality. Some things exist only through their non-existence, in a brief flash of time, defined through the myths we attribute to them, the outlines we long to perceive within, to imagine another, to feel ourselves Beats Per Minute

Cindy Lee Diamond Jubilee

An out-of-the-blue magnum opus from the Canadian indie drag artist. Print edition only Uncut

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Fresh stuff

Fresh stuff

Mahashmashana by Father John Misty

"Unequivocally stunning" (10/10 -The Arts Desk). "Striking a compelling balance between the epic and the intimate" (9/10 - DIY). "One of his finest albums" (9/10 - musicOMH)

White Denim12
"An exciting and slightly experimental new chapter for the band and their most cohesive release in quite a while. A late-year stunner" (8/10 - Clash). "A remarkably cohesive and dynamic record" (9/10 - Uncut)

Kim DealNobody Loves You More
"The sometime Pixies star’s long-awaited and perfectly crafted debut solo album is full of surprises" (9/10 - musicOMH). "Oozes with elegance but still packs some punch" (8/10 - NME)

Primal ScreamCome Ahead
"A triumph in thematic/aural juxtaposition. Up there with Primal Scream’s best" (8/10 Mojo) OR "Not even David Holmes’s involvement can save this woefully inadequate collection" (2/10 - Irish Times)

Linkin ParkFrom Zero
"Compact and intense, the band’s first album since the death of Chester Bennington is a powerful tribute to their legacy" (8/10 - musicOMH) "An opinion-splitting return" (5/10 - Clash)

Mount EerieNight Palace
"A record of such substance that it takes a few listens to really make sense he’s produced one of his best yet" (9/10 - The Line Of Best Fit). "He’s produced one of his best yet" (8/10 - Far Out)

All-time top 10

Since we've been around, that is. So, the highest-rated albums from the past twelve years or so. Rankings are calculated to two decimal places.