21 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 album of updated age-old folk standards from the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
7.8
The marriage of ageless simplicity and avant-garde modernity ... is simply stunning. It’s creators are aware of where invention and understatement are best placed – the result is 42 transcendent minutes Read Review
It’s clear that this album is another complete success for the most interesting and promising folk musician in North America today Read Review
Much of I See the Sign's success can be chalked up to its arrangements, which are fractured and frequently off-kilter Read Review
An album that will reward the listener able to put aside preconceptions and admire its clever and successful fusion of styles, genres and musical traditions Read Review
The mostly traditional material covered here by Amidon is swathed in the string and horn arrangements of Nico Muhly and embellished with the worldly percussion and textural contributions of Shahzad Ismaily Read Review
A thing of beauty and a triumph of collaboration, its honesty and sincerity likely to thaw even the coldest of hearts Read Review
Moby reinvented vintage field recordings as space-age nightclub blues. Sam Amidon works similarly quirky alchemy here, reinventing public-domain songs as rustic mood music Read Review
Print edition only
A spiritual, and at times mournful, record with alluring tales of a man lost in the world Read Review
Overall, this at-first-shy but eventually overpowering record will make yer cheeks sting with wine and late-night gales Read Review
With the ability to integrate an R Kelly track into a record of traditional ballads, it’s quite clear that his imagination and confidence are growing with every record Read Review
It's somnambulistic stuff, with Amidon – his voice as gentle as a sigh – relishing his role as both saviour and slayer of songbooks past Read Review
While Amidon does add something new to the folk canon, perhaps it isn't quite enough Read Review
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Sam Amidon: I See The Sign
Ladytron Paradises
In an age when production is deliberately designed not to disturb listeners, Paradises may prove popular The Arts Desk
The cover artwork to Ladytron’s latest record Paradises adopts mind trickery by showing two hands touching through a triangle shape that looks both like a reflective mirror and a translucent window. Befitting artwork to hint at the content inside the triad’s album, which often takes the listener to places that are up to one’s own imagination and interpretation God Is In The TV
Ladytron head for the disco and relive the fun of 90s clubland The Skinny
Maybe Paradises could have been trimmed down a little, but their contagious creative zeal is apparent throughout its entirety. Ladytron have secured their iconic status once again, ensuring they become a cult band for an entirely new generation, or maybe more Under The Radar
The track I See Red radiates synth euphoria but the Pet Shop Boys-ish Death In London and single Kingdom Undersea are more about introspection than rapture. Print edition only Mojo
Momentum sags somewhat over its lengthy duration - but it also unquestionably features some of their finest, and funkiest, work to date. Print edition only Uncut
BTS ARIRANG
The group's journey to global domination has been nothing short of extraordinary, so it’s fitting that they have delivered an album that is of similarly epic proportions Rolling Stone UK
The barrier-breaking K-Pop icons return with a blockbuster album Clash
Ending a hiatus that began in 2022, the septet recapture a distinctiveness that had been threatening to ebb away The Guardian
Seven members attack the music with a ferocity that feels earned and personal. The album feels more often like seven individuals with real chemistry than one polished unit. The solo years gave each member a sharper creative identity, and RM’s instincts hold the whole thing together Consequence Of Sound
On its blockbuster return, the world's biggest band stresses group identity and South Korean roots, while pushing the songs into adventurous new territory Rolling Stone
Brigitte Calls Me Baby Irreversible
Irreversible sounds like a dead end: a lethargic monument to hollow style over substance, entirely on brand for a band that saddled their debut with one of the more ridiculous, faux-philosophical titles of recent years. It is a meaningless shell of a record with few, if any, redeeming features No Ripcord
Ora Cogan Hard Hearted Woman
In a time that can appear bent on applauding cynicism Cogan chooses curiosity. Her songs look straight into the abyss and still reach out for colour The Line Of Best Fit
Shabaka Of The Earth
On his first true solo album, Shabaka unites beats, flutes and saxophone (and some rap) Spectrum Culture
The Orielles Only You Left
As with the rest of their discography, The Orielles once again prove that you don’t always have to follow along with the masses to make good music 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
Rosalía Lux
Kendrick Lamar Damn.
D'Angelo And The Vanguard Black Messiah
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Ghosteen
Spiritbox Tsunami Sea
Self Esteem Prioritise Pleasure
Hayley Williams Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party
Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways