5 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.
Browse specific styles
Fifth full-length album from the Canadian singer-songwriter featuring contributions from Amy Allen, Eddie Benjamin, Ethan Gruska, Scott Harris, Nate Mercereau, Mike Sabath and Chris Thile
6.3
A brave, understated, hugely personal triumph Read Review
The singer-songwriter’s fifth studio album is his most candid work to date Read Review
Regrouping after some time out, the Canadian singer-songwriter adopts a sparser, folk rock approach, yet shines best in honeyed pop mode Read Review
There’s a nice blend of folk, country, and while it’s a step in the direction for Mendes the Artist (and the Human), there’s a line between performance and genuineness. Mendes slightly oversteps it with an ill-fitting cowboy boot Read Review
His vulnerability is admirable – if only his songs were half as daring Read Review
His latest has a folkier sound to match its more introspective mood Read Review
MIKE Showbiz!
At just under 50 minutes, Showbiz! packs in 24 tracks, some of which feel more like interludes or sketches rather than fully fleshed-out songs Northern Transmissions
The album portrays the entertainment industry as a relentless, soul-crushing machine Slant Magazine
The New York rapper-producer lays down hard truths over a dense tapestry of soul, funk and 60s girl group sounds The Quietus
These fleeting fragments of the rapper-producer’s itinerant life, delivered in a lackadaisical yet focused style, prove he deserves all the acclaim he gets The Guardian
The prolific Brooklyn rapper reflects on dislocation and homecoming with his most refined, spiritual-sounding album to date Pitchfork
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy The Purple Bird
The depth of the production helps deliver this feeling, elevating the sound of The Purple Bird to a place where all of its carefully placed details and rusty joy can be clearly heard, and even more markedly felt Albumism
His humor, his pathos, his very real concern for the hungry, whether it’s for love or for justice, make any Bonnie “Prince” Billy album a necessary edition to the American songbook Northern Transmissions
The veteran folkster’s latest album is a weird, catchy, effortless homage to the genre’s roots Paste Magazine
FKA Twigs Eusexua
The hazy underground equivalent of BRAT summer with a massive injection of purified sex DIY
Franz Ferdinand The Human Fear
Although they've unfairly become a footnote in early-2000s rock revival lore, Franz Ferdinand always deserved credit for keeping a level of class throughout their career Exclaim
Mogwai The Bad Fire
Although there are a handful of highlights, the group has settled into a comfort zone from which good tracks emerge effortlessly, but nothing outstanding Sputnik Music (staff)
David Gray Dear Life
There are enough weak tracks here that a stronger album could have resulted from a more unsparing selection and a shorter runtime Spectrum Culture
Maribou State Hallucinating Love
You’re guaranteed to please a carful of family members and friends alike with Maribou State’s third album, but you’re also not going to reach for Shazam when you hear it on the speaker at your local cafe Spectrum Culture
The Weeknd Hurry Up Tomorrow
There’s worthwhile material here but he’d have done well to have made this personal opus much shorter, and thereby more impactful The Arts Desk
The Purple Bird is impeccably produced, but has an almost compilation-like feel in the way it shifts sharply through tones, perhaps the result of having so many cooks in the kitchen Under The Radar
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