4 January 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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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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Caribou Honey
Honey is fun, easy listening, and it is just about guaranteed to get toes tapping; it’s just not as substantial or stirring as one might hope Under The Radar
Public Service Broadcasting The Last Flight
The album closes with the absolutely haunting “Howland,” named for the island where Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, were supposed to stop to refuel. Clocking in at eight and a half minutes and ending with actual field recordings of the island itself, it’s a worthy and mournful ending to a tragic story Under The Radar
Kendrick Lamar GNX
Burning down the industry with a reinvigorated competitive spirit Consequence Of Sound
Kim Deal Nobody Loves You More
Sounds both like it could have been a long-lost session from 1996 and, somehow, perfectly of the moment Consequence Of Sound
The Cure Songs Of A Lost World
For everyone who needs a good wallow Consequence Of Sound
Tyler, The Creator Chromakopia
If IGOR was Tyler’s high-concept experiment and CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST was the more accessible reintroduction of Tyler, the Man, CHROMAKOPIA falls somewhere in the middle Consequence Of Sound
Lady Gaga Harlequin
Using covers and originals to sketch a three-act story Consequence Of Sound
Saint Etienne The Night
Say hello to the insomniac street preachers The Irish Times
Christopher Owens I Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair
Owens has always been a songwriter devoid of irony, and here the sincerity remains. However, the crushing weight of that is always levied by the floatiness of strings or the choral contributions Far Out
Will it ever be one of my favourite Saint Etienne records? Probably not. But it’s undoubtedly quite a cinematic LP, and never anything less than listenable God Is In The TV
FLO Access All Areas
FLO’s long-heralded debut record entertains while writing a single song 16 ways The Skinny
Father John Misty Mahashmashana
Mahasmashana is a triumph and return to form for Tillman, who navigates themes of impermanence, rebirth, duality of mind and body, and the passage of time, without cynicism but much needed grace—for a world that his child will inherit Under The Radar
Chat Pile Cool World
Retaining the band’s dark edge, it’s a vital, sweeping achievement from start to finish Under The Radar
Kelly Lee Owens Dreamstate
It captures dance music’s sheer kinetic high, but also the emotive undercurrents that make it so affecting. The album is a tribute to bringing dreams to life, pushing the listener to share in their heightened rush and imagine better times ahead Under The Radar
Snoop Dogg Missionary
While the music is big and hulking, the smaller details seem to have been glossed over Slant 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