25 March 2026
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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Second release from the Canadian folk / pop singer-songwriter
6.5
Folk can be a notoriously intransigent genre, and Basia Bulat probably occupies the less user friendly end of the spectrum, but for those who like an album which grows and reveals its treasures slowly, A Heart of My Own is gold Read Review
The songs are about loneliness, love, separation, life’s ups and downs, and are mostly very good, but it is her voice that really sets them apart Read Review
At times arresting, at other moments it's let down by some odd choices in the production and mixing. There is enough to hold the attention and to draw the listener back, particularly a couple of great songs and some excellent musicianship Read Review
...when it’s good, it’s good: tracks Run and Sparrow are highlights for their deft songwriting matched with Bulat’s emotive voice and Howard Billerman’s dramatic instrumental arrangements Read Review
Expertly and diversely arranged, the songs of Heart of My Own build and hover, often in surprising ways Read Review
While Bulat's versatility's a selling point, it's her rare, extraordinary voice that makes her a fresh find in the notoriously musty folk-pop bin Read Review
Her voice has this amazing quality, it sounds live somehow, a beautiful clear tone that is somehow interfered with by a very subtle watery rasp, or a wobble akin to Antony Hegarty Read Review
Her debut was invitingly enjoyable ... but some of her ideas seemed almost half baked... On Heart Of My Own the focus is evident and it’s much more accessible and easier to enjoy as a result Read Review
Print edition only
At times it sounds a bit too polished... Yet despite her earnestness Bulat remains an intriguing prospect Read Review
...you'd like to hear what Bulat would do with another producer next time around, because working with this one has been a mixed bag on two recordings now Read Review
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Basia Bulat: Heart Of My Own
Fcukers Ö
Nothing about the album asks permission: it wants a dancefloor, a crowd and a slightly irresponsible amount of volume Dork
A swift album that’ll prove difficult to grow tired of DIY
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Underscores U
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BTS ARIRANG
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In so clearly seeking to recapture a certain kind of early-millennial energy in its production and songwriting, Sexistential perhaps forfeits the potential to be its own thing in a way that Honey indisputably was Exclaim
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