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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A cosmic collaboration between two masters of the soundscape.
6.3
Print edition only
Both Floyd aficionados and early-'90s bong jockeys will find points of reference here. Print edition only
Challenging, but also warm, lush and reassuringly ambient. Print edition only
I was a bit nervous that it might miss the mark and disappoint. Happy to say, it does not. It is superb. Read Review
Metallic Spheres is chill-out to a “t” Read Review
What starts off as being a rather dodgy idea on paper does in fact impress and as you get lost in the dreamy keyboards and brilliant guitar lines it's clear this prog collaboration most definitely deserves your attention Read Review
Switch on a lava lamp, plump up some cushions and drift along to their soothing grooves Read Review
The most focused and listenable Orb album in years Read Review
Gilmour's main influence seems to be to hold Patterson's worst excesses in check Read Review
There’s plenty worth exploring beneath Metallic Spheres’ shiny exterior Read Review
As is the case with many big league collaborations, it doesn’t feel like either party brought their best game to the project Read Review
Classic ambient house, dated trip-hop, thundering drum loops, weird dub, even down-home picking Read Review
It’s not so much that either artist’s contribution destroys the work, more that it never really forms in the first place Read Review
It's pleasant enough, recalling the work of Krautrock psych-rock synthesists Harmonia, but somewhat lacking in momentum Read Review
Disappointingly lacking hooks to retain the attention Read Review
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The Orb feat. David Gilmour: Metallic Spheres
Ladytron Paradises
Ladytron have produced an album that, from its inception, sought to invoke the same spirit that the band had 25 years ago Far Out
Gorillaz The Mountain
The strongest case in years that Gorillaz can still make records that matter as records Dork
Kim Gordon Play Me
'Play me' doesn’t try to comfort. It tries to provoke, energise and outlast the scroll Dork
The Orielles Only You Left
These songs come from months of demo-hoarding and forensic listening, the band archiving every practice-room spark before lovingly picking through the results Dork
James Blake Trying Times
Blake sounds energised by the room he has carved out for himself Dork
Harry Styles Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.
This isn’t an album built like a straight line from hook to hook. It moves in waves, often favouring texture and atmosphere over immediate release Dork
Underscores U
It’s technical excellence as a musical product cannot be overstated. For a pop album to be this busy yet possess a pocket as deep and rich as underscores displays here is simply amazing Sputnik Music (staff)
Indie rock icon Kim Gordon acerbically wrestles with the state of the world over hip-hop and industrial beats on Play Me PopMatters
The former electro-pop enfant terrible swings big on her latest album, compressing all her split personalities and eclectic tastes into a high-gloss, high-stakes gamble to remake pop on her own terms Pitchfork
On U, she finds a clearly-defined, rounded-out identity in her music for the first time, and she delivers the most immediate and the most robust work of her career The Line Of Best Fit
Performing, writing and producing everything herself, April Grey pares back her hyperpop electronics for an LP in thrall to 90s pop-R&B, with songs that big stars would die for The Guardian
April Harper Grey’s latest hits all the beats of a classic pop record — a choreo-primed single, a power ballad, a post-breakup closure anthem — without overstaying its welcome Paste Magazine
A tour-de-force of production chops that cements April Harper Grey as a key auteur in the future of the genre NME
Alexis Taylor Paris In The Spring
Paris in the Spring is a gem of a record which, while never over-reaching its ambition, sparkles with electronic ingenuity as it takes in all seasons of human experience Spectrum Culture
It's a beautiful collection of genre-hopping songs. Print edition only Uncut
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
