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16 November 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

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)

New

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)

New

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)

Highest Recent Ratings

Albums to watch

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)

Jamie xxIn Waves

"Blistering return from dance’s master craftsman" (10/10 - The irish Times). "Jamie xx has delivered a masterpiece that will linger long after the last beat fades" (9/10 - Clash)

Floating PointsCascade

"Cherish it while you can, before he sets off on a completely different tangent once more" (8/10 - Far Out). "Easily the most successful work he's made as a dance producer" (8/10 - All Music)

MJ LendermanManning Fireworks

"A collection of caricatures ballooned by empathy, bruised egos, and lovable self-destruction" (9.2/10 - Paste). "It's the release he's been waiting for since the first utterances of the album" (9/10 - Exclaim)

Nick Cave And The Bad SeedsWild God

"The dark intensities are leavened by something peculiar in Cave’s oeuvre: joy" (8/10 - The Arts Desk). "The joy after the storm" (8/10 - The Irish Times)

In The Morse Code Of Brake Lights

The New Pornographers

In The Morse Code Of Brake Lights

Album number eight from Canadian-American musical collective produced by band leader A.C. Newman with co-lead vocals by Neko Case

ADM rating[?]: 7.1
Label: Concord /
UK Release date: 27/09/2019
US Release date: 27/09/2019

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8.7 113934
8.7 | Paste Magazine

In The Morse Code Of Brake Lights builds on the band's exemplary catalog
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8.0 113854
8.0 | All Music

The New Pornographers have established their wall of indie rock sound over the past two decades to the point that In the Morse Code of Brake Lights doesn't offer a tremendous amount of surprises
Read Review
8.0 113829
8.0 | PopMatters

The New Pornographers' latest offers a myriad of listening pleasures on the surface, and the further one digs into its contents, the more one can find to enjoy until one concludes that the journey of discovery is its sole purpose
Read Review
8.0 113831
8.0 | Rolling Stone

Canadian-American supergroup stares down societal collapse with dazzling multi-part harmony
Read Review
8.0 113834
8.0 | Uncut

The playful tumbles of verbiage are as central to the group's sonic identity as the key components of its baroque power pop. Print edition only
7.5 113860
7.5 | Under The Radar

They can sprint when they need to, but not forever. This release proves that they don't have to anymore
Read Review
7.4 113926
7.4 | Pitchfork

Though a sense of doom lurks at the heart of the venerable band’s eighth album, they remain determined to keep classic guitar-pop alive by slyly twisting and expanding the form
Read Review
7.0 113864
7.0 | Northern Transmissions

The New Pornographers remain stunning after seven albums and with In The Morse Code Of The Breaklights, the band returns with one of its finest moments
Read Review
7.0 113828
7.0 | No Ripcord

If In The Morse Code Of Brake Lights isn’t remembered as the peak of The New Pornographers' work, its heart is squarely where it needs to be—and is still head and shoulders above most of the choices we are presented with these days. Electoral or otherwise
Read Review
7.0 113833
7.0 | Exclaim

Despite any nitpicky issues one may find with In the Morse Code of Brake Lights, it's refreshing to see the New Pornographers, 20 years into their existence, still trying to swing for the fences
Read Review
7.0 113830
7.0 | Slant Magazine

The album is, at least by the group’s typical power-pop standards, a heavier, murkier affair
Read Review
6.0 113832
6.0 | The Arts Desk

Neko Case substantially contributes to more allusive art-pop
Read Review
6.0 113835
6.0 | Mojo

Morse Code is more concerned with our collective lost soul rather than individual anxiety. Print edition only
5.5 113933
5.5 | Spectrum Culture

Give Morse Code a listen, especially if you’re a lover of Newman, but don’t be shocked if it’s not as super as you want it to be
Read Review
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