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28 August 2025

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

Wolf AliceThe Clearing

"Their boldest, most striking record yet" (10/10 - DIY). "Frankly, soft-rock has not sounded this grand in a long time, and only Wolf Alice could have crafted it" (8.7/10 - Northern Transmissions)

New

LaufeyA Matter Of Time

"Laufey conjures a fairytale world woven from jazz, pop and a ticking clock" (10/10 - Laufey). "It makes for the boldest chapter in her artistic story yet" (9/10 - The Line Of Best Fit)

New

Water From Your EyesIt’s A Beautiful Place

"One of indie’s most unique duos embrace sci-fi sounds, frightening existentialism and a newfound heaviness on their new album" (8/10 - NME).

Highest Recent Ratings

Albums to watch

The New EvesThe New Eve Is Rising

"Velvets-style drone rock, trad folk, anarcho-punk and hippy whimsy are all discernible in the Brighton quartet’s debut album – all played with white-knuckle intensity" (8/10 - The Guardian)

Wet Legmoisturizer

"Spikier, sleazier and sexier, the Isle of Wight duo defy second album syndrome" (9/10 - musicOMH). "The band’s propensity for catchy, danceable garage-punk remains intact" (8/10 - Slant)

LordeVirgin

"The pop star turns inward and redefines who she wants to be on her most introspective record yet" (9/10 - Rolling Stone). "Returns to pop’s fray to revel in the mess of late-20s angst" (8/10 - The Guardian)

Loyle Carnerhopefully!

"Full of love, fatherhood and feeling, the Croydon lyricist’s fourth is less a reinvention than a maturation" (7/10 - musicOMH). "As moving as it is musically satisfying" (8/10 - DIY)

carolineCaroline 2

"Each song is gloriously cinematic, intoxicatingly unexpected and truly powerful, even in its quietest moments" (9/10 - Far Out). "UK post-rock’s preeminent sentimentalists" (8/4/10 - Pitchfork)

StereolabInstant Holograms On Metal Film

"Lætitia Sadier et al pick up where they left off yet sound more timely than ever" (8/10 - The Guardian). "This is highbrow music for lowbrow times" (9/10 - Far Out)

THE CHART: THE TOP RATED NEW ALBUMS

The ADM rating is a weighted average from our survey of more than 50 sources , taking into account the number of reviews

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8.7
ADM Rating

CMAT

EURO-COUNTRY

Third full-length album from the Irish pop singer-songwriter Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson produced with Oli Deakin

Added: 27/08/2025
8.5

Deftones

Private Music

Tenth studio album from the Sacramento alt. metal band produced by Nick Raskulinecz (The Hold Steady, Korn, Alice In Chains)

Added: 21/08/2025
8.4

Dijon

Baby

Second album from the German-born Baltimore-based singer, songwriter and producer

Added: 18/08/2025
8.3

Laufey

A Matter Of Time

Third album from the Los Angeles-based Icelandic-Chinese jazz-pop artist Laufey Lín Jónsdóttir working with producers Spencer Stewart and The National’s Aaron Dessner

Added: 21/08/2025
8.3

Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band

New Threats From the Soul

Second full-length album from the Jeffersonville, Indiana Americana musician Ryan Davis

Added: 25/07/2025
8.3

Jim Legxacy

Black British Music (2025)

Fourth mixtape from the London singer, rapper, and producer James Olaloye

Added: 20/07/2025
8.3

Ethel Cain

Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You

Third album from the Florida-born dream pop artist Hayden Silas Anhedönia

Added: 07/08/2025
8.1

Nourished By Time

The Passionate Ones

Second full-length release from Baltimore alt.R&B artist Marcus Elliot featuring a guest appearance by Tony Bontana

Added: 20/08/2025
8.1

Water From Your Eyes

It’s A Beautiful Place

Latest release from the Chicago indie pop duo Rachel Brown and Nate Amos

Added: 21/08/2025
8.0

Billie Martin

Dog Eared

Fifth album from the English singer-songwriter Billie Marten recorded in Brooklyn with producer Phil Weinrobe

Added: 28/07/2025
8.0

Blood Orange

Essex Honey

Fifth album from Dev Hynes the multi-faceted singer-songwriter and producer behind Lightspeed Champion and Test Icicles

Added: 28/08/2025
7.9

Wolf Alice

The Clearing

Fourth album from the London alt.rock quartet produced by Greg Kurstin (Gorillaz, Foo Fighters, Paul McCartney)

Added: 21/08/2025
7.9

Earl Sweatshirt

Live Laugh Love

Fifth full-length album from LA-based rapper produced with Theravada includes additional contributions by Black Noise, Child Actor and Navy Blue

Added: 26/08/2025
7.9

Folk Bitch Trio

Now Would Be A Good Time

Debut full-length album from the Melbourne indie folk band recorded in New Zealand by producer Tom Healy (Tiny Ruins, the Chills)

Added: 25/07/2025
7.8

Hand Habits

Blue Reminder

Latest full-length album from the American indie rock musician Meg Duffy includes contributions from Anna Butterss, Josh Johnson, Blake Mills and Gregory Uhlmann

Added: 23/08/2025
7.8

Cass McCombs

Interior Live Oak

Eleventh studio album from the California-born singer-songwriter

Added: 15/08/2025
7.7

The New Eves

The New Eve Is Rising

Debut full-length album from the Brighton-based quartet co-produced with Joe Jones and Jack Ogborne

Added: 01/08/2025
7.5

Debby Friday

The Starrr Of The Queen Of Life

Second full-legth album from the Nigeria-born, Toronto-based experimental musician

Added: 01/08/2025
7.5

The Hives

The Hives Forever Forever The Hives

Seventh studio album from the Swedish garage rockers featuring contributions from Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) and production by Mike D and Pelle Gunnerfeldt (Beastie Boys)

Added: 27/08/2025
7.4

Conan Gray

Wishbone

Fourth full-length album from Los Angeles-based indie pop singer-songwriter working with producers Dan Nigro, Ethan Gruska, Noah Conrad, Elvira Anderfjärd and Luka Kloser

Added: 15/08/2025
7.4

Luke Haines & Peter Buck

Going Down To The River… To Blow My Mind

Second collaboration between R.E.M.'s Peter Buck and Luke Haines (The Auteurs, Baader Meinhof, Black Box Recorder)

Added: 30/07/2025
7.3

The Beths

Straight Line Was A Lie

Fourth album of indie pop from the Auckland, New Zealand four-piece

Added: 27/08/2025
7.3

The Armed

The Future Is Here and Everything Needs to Be Destroyed

Sixth full-length album from the Detroit hardcore punk collective

Added: 05/08/2025
7.3

Amaarae

Black Star

Third full-length release from the New York, based Ghanaian R&B / Afro-fusion singer Ama Serwah Genfi

Added: 08/08/2025
7.2

Royel Otis

hickey

Second album from the Sydney indie pop duo Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic

Added: 28/08/2025
7.2

Wisp

If Not Winnter

Debut album from the San Francisco shoegaze artist Natalie R. Lu working with multiple producers including Stint, Aldn, Julian Emken, Photographic Memory, Kraus, Grayskies and Elliott Kozel

Added: 01/08/2025
7.2

Lord Huron

The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1

Fifth album of indie folk from the LA-based band led by Ben Schneider and includes contributions from Kristen Stewart and Blonde Redhead's Kazu Makino

Added: 18/07/2025
7.2

Babymetal

Metal Forth

Fifth album from the Japanese kawaii metal band featuring guest appearancesfrom Bloodywood, Electric Callboy, Tom Morello, Polyphia, Poppy, Slaughter To Prevail and Spiritbox

Added: 08/08/2025
7.2

Ada Lea

When I Paint My Masterpiece

Third full-length release from the Montreal singer-songwriter Alexandra Levy produced with Luke Temple

Added: 11/08/2025
7.1

Reneé Rapp

Bite Me

Second studio album from the North Carolina-born pop artist and actress

Added: 01/08/2025

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Latest Reviews

Blood Orange Essex Honey

‘Essex Honey’ is delicately constructed – immediately, there is a whirlwind of influences at work, but it never feels like a tug of war between them Dork

Blood Orange Essex Honey

Hynes’ melodies and arranging experiments make for a replayable, effusive record whose insight comes in waves and poetry arrives in short, meaningful doses Northern Transmissions

Blood Orange Essex Honey

It takes in all the avant-garde and otherwise out-there influences Hynes has encountered along his meandering way The Arts Desk

More reviews

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Fresh stuff

I'll Always Love You by Ethel Cain

"Hayden Anhedönia closes the ‘Ethel Cain’ chapter of her artistic journey with a bleak yet beautiful record" (10/10 - NME)

Cass McCombsInterior Live Oak
"US indie’s steadfast storyteller makes a wonderfully unhurried double album his best yet" (10/10 - The Guardian). "At its best when it leans into the reverie with a riff that calls upon a relaxed stroll" (8/10 - Far Out)

Alison GoldfrappFlux
"Think of Flux as an elegant evolution. She’s still dancing, but this time with her heart closer to the surface" (8/10 - The Line Of Best Fit). "Floats in an elegant yet directionless orbit" (6/10 - The Skinny)

Marissa NadlerNew Radiations
"It confirms her strength as a vulnerable storyteller in an era of frequent isolation" (8.5/10 - Northern Transmissions). "Nadler still shines as a spell-weaver and mistress of moods" (6/10 - Mojo)

The Black KeysNo Rain, No Flowers
"After a career hiccup, the reliable rock duo ground themselves with a smooth, solid LP" (7/10 - Rolling Stone). "A pleasant, straightforward collection of reliably rocking jams" (7/10 - All Music)

BabymetalMetal Forth
"There are moments of genius here. In forging new bonds and attempting to break new ground," (8/10 - Kerrang!). "Proves once again that BABYMETAL are in a league of their own" (8/10 - Dork)

Reneé RappBite Me
"Hell-raising rocker parties her troubles away on her uproarious second album" (9/10 - Rolling Stone). "It’s a record that is cut from her very core, completely on her own terms" (10/10 - Dork)

Tyler, The CreatorDon't Tap the Glass
"Half an hour of early 80s rhythms and slick one-liners with the IDGAF attitude of his early years" (8/10 - The Guardian). "A crate-digging party project that favours feel over formula" (8/10 - NME)

Folk Bitch TrioNow Would Be A Good Time
"Breathtaking vocal harmonies, razor-sharp lyrical edge and delicate darkness set this Melbourne band apart" (10/10 - NME). "In short, it’s gorgeous. All ten tracks. Gorgeous" (9/10 - 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.

See full list