8 February 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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Twelfth album and first on seven years from Columbian-born pop star featuring collaborations with Cardi B, Bizarrap, Rauw Alejandro, Grupo Frontera, Ozuna, Karol G, Fuerza Regida and Tiësto
6.6
A great two-for-one set that is essentially a short new album and a de facto "Greatest Hits 2022-2024" Read Review
The She Wolf is back and she is howling louder and prouder than ever Read Review
The long-awaited return from the Latin trailblazer sees her unpick her recent emotional devastation with wit and real self-awareness Read Review
Lawsuits and lost love couldn’t stop the Colombian powerhouse from taking her rightful place atop Spanish pop’s streaming-fuelled resurgence Read Review
Las Mujeres is a grab-bag of pop genre fusions, yet Shakira manages to hold court in every song with her incisive and enduring songcraft Read Review
The Colombian superstar’s first Spanish-only album in 19 years is a brutally honest look at her breakup that overflows with vengeance and still-got-it sex appeal Read Review
Her first record since 2017’s El Dorado melds pulsating dance anthems with reggaeton, pop… and even a splash of grunge Read Review
Despite a hit diss track so withering it affected the stock market and enlivening turns from Cardi B and leading regional Mexican musicians, the Colombian’s wan 12th album washes out her adventurous spirit Read Review
Break-ups reoccur throughout the songs, but they lack the vim of the record’s hit single Read Review
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Inhaler Open Wide
Catchier, more stirring than ever, Inhaler have done it again. Only this time they achieve with a new-found trust in their guts, it makes this work stronger. A magnificent move forward Clash
Sharon Van Etten Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory
Leading from the front and with a new musical approach, here is a demonstration of how the camaraderie of a band can revitalize musicOMH
The singer fills her stormy seventh album—billed as a collaborative effort with her bandmates—with post-punk motifs and reflections on clinging to love amid apocalyptic upheaval Pitchfork
FKA Twigs Eusexua
FKA Twigs’ Eusexua is a conceptual masterpiece that speaks to the heart and the head, the spirit and the body. These things are not separate from each other PopMatters
Manic Street Preachers Critical Thinking
It’s an album of clearly defined verses and middle eights, of song title hooks, and singalong guitar melodies following singalong vocal melodies. The way these songs orbit then arrive at choruses have a kind of gravitational inevitability to them The Quietus
From the enveloping and moody opening tracks to the eclectic midsection, Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory stands out for both its depth and breadth Under The Radar
Van Etten changed things up, eschewing her identity as a singer/songwriter and forming a new band, the Attachment Theory, to infuse her songs with a new life and perspective Spectrum Culture
Squid Cowards
Their third studio album is a collection of vignettes about cult leaders, sociopaths and cannibals NME
The four-piece continue to bend rock & roll into new shapes on this festival-ready record NME
Cowards is the ideal album that a band in Squid’s position would put out: one that builds on the ideas that defined in their first two albums, but doesn’t stay comfortable in what they know best Paste Magazine
Open Wide stands out as the group’s most mature body of work. Leaning into the indie-pop sound worked in the band’s favour as they created memorable songs that are both uplifting and catchy Northern Transmissions
Heartworms Glutton For Punishment
For a debut, it’s staggering. It’s mature way beyond her years and astonishingly built, it’s a true testament to her power as a singer, songwriter, musician and her dedication to her own vision and only that Far Out
Debut album that firmly places Heartworms in a league of her own, leaving enough room for her passion and talent to grow as the project evolves Dork
There’s an intrigue which lies in the way these are threaded together and you can hear the many musical influences at work which create a distinctive and well-crafted album The Quietus
Could Glutton For Punishment have been more strategically curated? Perhaps, but this is an ambitious act. And sometimes you need to be commended for what you attempt as much as for what you achieve Beats Per Minute
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