16 April 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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Fifth album of rap and pop from the Trinidad-born MC from Queens, New York with guest appearances from J. Cole, Lil Wayne, Tate Kobang, Drake, Lourdiz, Lil Uzi Vert, Skillibeng, Skeng and Future
6.6
While similarities to her 2010 original may run only name-deep, this sample-heavy – and sometimes emotional – material certainly holds its own Read Review
Refusing to be hemmed in, it’s a record of real ambition, an example mirroring fan-pleasing tendencies with actual artistic growth Read Review
Stepping away from Barbie-Girl pop towards her strengths as a rapper, this is the sound of a more mature artist in fierce command of her talent Read Review
The sound of Nicki Minaj cracking her knuckles and getting her hands dirty again. It’s the purest distillation of her uniquely feminine bravado Read Review
Pink Friday 2 is a long album, and it’s going to get longer Read Review
Thirteen years after her landmark album Pink Friday, the pop-rap superstar aims to conjure and build on that moment with an ambitious 22-song statement that is a very mixed bag Read Review
The pop-rap phenomenon is back with her first album in five years Read Review
While some moments of interpolation are more inspired, the musician’s increasing reliance on recognisable samples can start to feel like cruise control Read Review
Unlike its predecessor, the album doesn’t leave much of an impression. Read Review
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Julien Baker & Torres Send A Prayer My Way
A resounding testament to resilience and tentative hope DIY
TORRES and Baker's music elevates our shared experience to a level of catharsis akin to sitting on the stoop, sharing a lone dart with a friend as the sun goes down on another long day Exclaim
Valerie June Owls, Omens, and Oracles
American darling Valerie June’s sunny nature is woven into her M. Ward-produced Owls, Omens and Oracles, making listening an uplifting experience Spectrum Culture
Craig Finn Always Been
Always Been is a collection of character-driven vignettes and occasional one-off detours that’s for the most part set to Springsteen-influenced heartland rock that’s lent verisimilitude and gravity by weaving in both Finn’s real life and his deeply familiar hang-ups surrounding faith and love into the proceedings Spectrum Culture
Black Country, New Road Forever Howlong
While technically impressive, Forever Howlong most often comes off like music school playtime, effortful and failing to take root in the mind like the band’s earlier work Spectrum Culture
Indie singer-songwriters write their own stories into the genre on the excellent Send a Prayer My Way Rolling Stone
A gentle, spartan album overflowing with straight-forward songs and harmony vocals, which evoke Emmylou Harris as much as Margo. Print edition only Mojo
"Dirt" and gentle gut-wrencher "Showdown", on which Baker takes vocal lead, boast the same sparse, clear-eyed lyricism of her 2021 album Little Oblivions, while Scott's earthy alto is the perfect foil, whether campfire storyteller or wisecracking sidekick. Print edition only Uncut
In general, the album lacks defiant stories with cultural counter-punches. And aside from a few exceptions, Prayer lacks the riffs and big choruses needed for dependable airplay Northern Transmissions
The result is as brilliant a record you could hope for from two of the current generation’s finest songwriters The Line Of Best Fit
Confidently playing to the strengths of its creators, this collaborative work is built on undeniable chemistry musicOMH
On their first album as a duo, the singers reclaim the honky-tonk music they grew up on Slant Magazine
Bon Iver SABLE, fABLE
Bon Iver’s fifth studio LP SABLE, fABLE shifts from the stark beauty of the original EP to include uplifting sounds that are as enjoyable as they are personal PopMatters
Momma Welcome To My Blue Sky
The Brooklyn alt-rock band rides a wave of guitar fuzz through songs about love, longing, and surviving your early 20s. It’s intimate without ever revealing too much Pitchfork
Will Smith Based On A True Story
The star’s first album in two decades is a pointless apology tour for the dumbest Oscar gaffe in history, treating his Chris Rock slap as a grand teachable moment. It’s as corny as it is calculating Pitchfork
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
Spiritbox Tsunami Sea
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