17 May 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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Fourth solo album from the Houston rapper featuring guest appearances from Bon Iver, Sampha, Drake, Playboi Carti, Beyoncé, 21 Savage, the Weeknd, Yung Lean, Young Thug, James Blake, Kid Cudi, Bad Bunny, Future and SZA
6.2
UTOPIA sees Scott stay true to his style, his preferences, and his principles, going against the grain of the tendencies in the viral-hungry world that is 2023 ra Read Review
Lead single ‘K-POP’ remains a titanic moment, but its immediacy is perhaps a misnomer on a record dominated by misdirection, about-turns, and sudden revelations Read Review
The album operates less as a cohesive body of work and more as a series of show-stopping set pieces Read Review
The Houston rapper's first album since 2018 teases a brave new sonic world, but has little to say about what might happen if we get there Read Review
In an attempt to give the world a true blockbuster rap album, the Houston rapper delivers a shiny, empty spectacle loaded with pop superstars who rarely make an impact Read Review
The reality is that while Scott is a masterful curator, he’s just an OK rapper. Those two realities are discordant for too many moments on Utopia Read Review
Returning with a long-awaited fourth album in the wake of the Astroworld disaster, Scott’s rhyming isn’t strong enough to distinguish him from his A-list guests Read Review
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Keeley Forsyth The Hollow
Solemn songs unfold with intense singing, mournful beats and swelling drones The FT
The British singer-songwriter’s harrowing, physical folk music forces you to confront an awful and awesome kind of beauty Pitchfork
Even when her words are sometimes obscured by the way she stretches and contorts them, she elicits a visceral reaction purely through her voice’s unsuspecting force and precise shapes Beats Per Minute
This is a stark and often moving listen, setting her coldly operatic voice against a backdrop of billowing modern classical and wintry electronics. Print edition only Uncut
These non-linear creations are vehicles for an incredible contralto that echoes Anohni, Diamanda Galas, Jarboe, even late-era Scott Walker. Print edition only Mojo
While it’s far from cosy easy listening, as an entry point into the bewitching, disquieting world of its maker, this album is pretty special musicOMH
A couple of tracks have endings so abrupt they feel artificial. They definitely have me wishing for longer codas and wig-outs. Does she ever let it go on longer? Is this instinct, or discipline? A plan, or just how songs came out? But crucially, where Limbs felt like someone still developing their sense of direction, The Hollow sounds like someone nearing absolute mastery The Quietus
Beth Gibbons Lives Outgrown
Thirty years after stepping into the spotlight, the Portishead singer reintroduces herself with her debut solo album. History weighs heavy on her songs, but she takes pains to avoid her musical past Pitchfork
Dehd Poetry
Dehd exude a youthful charm that is hard to replicate on Poetry. They are infectious and their sunny melodies and sincerity make their music compelling PopMatters
Beth Gibbons gives us the understanding of our mortality that we all need on her most revealing work The Quietus
Billie Eilish Hit Me Hard And Soft
The singer’s music is energised by her push-pull relationship with fame The FT
The Portishead singer has a powerful sense of feeling in her voice on her solo debut The FT
A.G. Cook Britpop
Tracks explore the past, present and future of the striking hyperpop style pioneered by the producer The FT
As he closes the books on PC Music, label founder A. G. Cook unspools a rangy triple album full of shiny synths, inside jokes, and gently sentimental vocal pop Pitchfork
On his third studio album, the British producer puts a reverent pin in PC Music across three discrete discs that revel in a self-referential past and outline an already-here future Paste Magazine
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.
Kendrick Lamar To Pimp A Butterfly
Fiona Apple Fetch The Bolt Cutters
Kendrick Lamar Damn.
D'Angelo And The Vanguard Black Messiah
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Ghosteen
Self Esteem Prioritise Pleasure
Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree
Frank Ocean Channel Orange
Dave We’re All Alone In This Together