26 December 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
Album No7 from the palindromic Berlin-based experimental post-rock and electronic instrumentalists
6.5
A warm, hypnotic record from a lovable band of anthropoids with giant electronic hearts Read Review
A masterful lesson in elegance and how to blend minimalism with majesty Read Review
Only one track exceeds four minutes — and pretty much everything is kept within the simple, repetitive riffing structure suggested by their palindromic name Read Review
The music of To Rococo Rot has always had an organic element; Speculation furthers that with a real sense of play and exploration Read Review
Speculation is undoubtedly idiosyncratic and technically brilliant; it’s just a shame that it’s a record that doesn’t ultimately care for your opinion of it Read Review
Rhythm is key throughout the record, with each track building layer upon layer of different sounds to move the listener in vastly different ways Read Review
Don’t be intimidated by the German electronica tag, this is immediate stuff – few tracks outstay their welcome Read Review
Print edition only
... an exposition on repetition and its lulling, hypnotic allure, Speculation is a welcome return after To Rococo Rot's two-plus years away Read Review
As a complete work this is an excellent addition to a moody discography Read Review
As blissful or intimate as To Rococo Rot have gotten throughout their 15 years together, they’ve always been a bit easy to ignore and blocking them out is even easier on this late stage artifact Read Review
This is a looser affair than anything else in the group's catalog, surely due to their escaping Berlin city life to record with Jochen Irmler of Faust in his secluded rural German studio Read Review
Roll over video for more options
To Rococo Rot: Speculation
The Lemonheads Love Chant
The band’s first album of original music in 20 years is an undeniably self-conscious comeback, manifesting the existential angst of middle age in sludgier-than-usual riffs, sudden switchups, and some of Evan Dando’s most self-reflective lyrics to date A.V. Club
Dove Ellis Blizzard
Enigmatic Galway songwriter sounds like a storm-tossed mix of Thom Yorke of Radiohead and Jeff Buckley The Irish Times
This is Lorelei Holo Boy
Amos has been an expert popsmith for years; the world is finally catching up, and not a moment too soon All Music
One half of Water From Your Eyes re-records songs from the back catalogue of his other band, resulting in acoustic fare touched with regret and darkness The Guardian
Nate Amos’s latest solo album consists entirely of songs written in the years prior to 2024’s Box for Buddy, Box for Star. The music presents us with yet another robust block of material that allows his idiosyncratic songwriting to truly shine Paste Magazine
This Is Lorelei’s Holo Boy has the air of an artist taking stock, as he maps the route taken while checking which parts still line up now Spectrum Culture
Songwriter Nate Amos polishes up 10 tracks from his Bandcamp days and confronts humorous self-effacement with new confidence Pitchfork
A wonderfully enjoyable cycle of straight-down-the-line songwriting Clash
Oneohtrix Point Never Tranquilizer
It’s his best work since Replica, and the most complete realization of his long-running obsession with the imperfect persistence of time. Tranquilizer doesn’t just show you a world—it shows you how that world remembers itself Under The Radar
Melody’s Echo Chamber Unclouded
This is the epitome of a “vibes album,” and as a vibes album, Unclouded knocks it out of the park Spectrum Culture
Dove Ellis’ debut is remarkably assured, showcasing a new talent with strong potential Spectrum Culture
The Galway-born singer-songwriter takes Romantic yearning — for the pure, the mythical, the divine — and turns it gently earthward on Blizzard Paste Magazine
Despite its title, ‘Tranquilizer’ is deceptively mesmerizing, potently putting calm emotions into a frenzied state, and leaving you coming back for more Northern Transmissions
Little Simz Lotus
She’s a rapper who refuses to let up and keeps ensuring that her name is held aloft in the conversations of the best in the world Far Out
Dove Ellis breathes new life into the Irish folk-rock scene. The album is hopeful, complex and as a whole plays with the picturesque diction of a pastoral poem. Wondering what will follow this stunning debut makes the listening all the more enjoyable Hot Press
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
Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree