18 December 2024
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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Fourth studio album of experimental electro-pop from German quartet
6.3
Sublime electronica exploring themes of our future with an air of enlightened elegance Read Review
Print edition only
At 10 tracks, the under 40-minute album is a perfectly pleasant reminder that Lali Puna shouldn't wait so damn long to deliver new material in the future Read Review
The band never lets its use of loops or dance music conventions usurp its main intent, which seems to be precisely constructing experimental but accessible pop music Read Review
The tracks skim low and then tilt upward with the addition of a drum or synth part. It's a stock trick that works well, and Lali Puna use it with unusual tact. Read Review
It’s as though they’ve sandpapered off the sparkle to leave only the dull remaining shell. Shame Read Review
Even those fleeting moments of adventurousness are not enough to make Our Inventions stand out in the realm of minimalist electronic pop Read Review
The quartet dials back the sometimes-abrasive motorik of 2004's Faking the Books in favor of a smoother, cosmopolitan coffee-shop sound Read Review
Whereas earlier albums like Scary World Theory saw brief flirtations with minimal techno for instance, Our Inventions is very much an electronic-heavy indie-pop record Read Review
The music is safe tweetronica, Trebejahr’s vocals inscrutable like a tasteful wallpaper Read Review
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Lali Puna: Our Inventions
Saint Etienne The Night
It is thematic and specific and at the same time one of the most coherent efforts the trio has come up with so far Spill Magazine
Linkin Park From Zero
For long-time fans, From Zero offers a mix of nostalgia and renewal. For newcomers, it’s an invitation to explore the band’s rich discography. Either way, it’s clear that Linkin Park is not just surviving but thriving in this new chapter of their career Vinyl Chapters
The Night is a meditative journey through sound, seamlessly blending moments of quiet introspection with richly textured ambiance. The hyponic ambience that they’ve crafted must be experienced Northern Transmissions
It’s a lullaby for the modern age—best savoured before sleep, one delicate note at a time XS Noize
Snoop Dogg Missionary
As a follow-up to the history-making ‘Doggystyle’, ‘Missionary’ swaps out its predecessor’s hedonistic charm for some more mature nuggets of wisdom NME
Their first full-length collaboration since Doggystyle is a celebration of strengths, displaying Snoop's growth while underlining his congenial gangsta appeal Rolling Stone
Aligning with Dre across the full breadth of the record, ‘Missionary’ is one of rap’s most iconic voices doing what he does best Clash
While it doesn't really come close to capturing the lightning-in-a-bottle power of Doggystyle, there's enough of that original spirit mixed with a modernized production sound to make Missionary one of Snoop's more enjoyable full-album listening experiences in several years All Music
Snoop Dogg has a spring in his step on his relentlessly interesting Dr Dre collaboration The Independent
Lyrics convey impressions and fragmentary thoughts to evoke a state between waking and sleeping The FT
Truly beautiful and moving ambient pop mini-triumph that's sad, nostalgic, and elegiac - with lovely vocals by Sarah Cracknell and brilliant production throughout All Music
Another of the trio’s explorations into ambient music, this immersive work conjures images of a city just before dawn rises, with the faint sound of birdsong and the constant drizzle of rain musicOMH
While it is unlikely to provide the viral moment that returns Saint Etienne to their rightful place in the charts or troubles new audiences, it will more than satisfy the committed and may, with the benefit of an even longer lens, be among their greatest achievements Clash
By deconstructing their identity, Saint Etienne have created a coherent sequence of remarkable songs which sound like everything else they have done and nothing else, at the same time. It is a very impressive achievement. The Quietus
Ambient noise draws the threads of these songs together – distant chatter, the sound of rain – but it’s the night buses and pubs of Wonderlight that best catch The Night’s Victoria Segal muted glimmer. Print edition only Mojo
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