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.
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Third album under this pseudonym from New York singer-songwriter Meredith Godreau
6.5
Arty folk-pop where no two songs follow the same formula Read Review
Successful at balancing flavours, soaring from feather-light whimsy to more emotive territory with flair Read Review
Godreau's voice is sweet and girlish. Print edition only
A thing of ghostly magic and quietly exotic beauty. Print edition only
A strange, distantly familiar set of songs Read Review
Leche exhibits a number of parallels with Múm ... and Godreau's delicate, expressive and almost childlike voice lends itself completely to the sort of skewed melodies and sentiments paraded by both Read Review
Reveals a more adventurous songwriter, bending the song forms and lacing the lyrical matter with darker themes Read Review
The consistency of Godreau’s songwriting is stellar Read Review
You're left with the sense that Elliott Smith may be gone but there;s still some bruised poets carrying his torch. Print edition only
Sometimes mysterious, often simply pleasant, there will probably be something here for most listeners Read Review
There are two or three songs that just don’t work but there are also several that stand comparison with any spawned by the likes of Nick Drake or Robyn Hitchcock Read Review
Although it fails to produce something wholly new to the table, it does assemble a collection of quant and enjoyable songs Read Review
For all its brief swoops of beauty and quirky intrigue, there is something ultimately unsatisfying about Leche Read Review
Godreau is a huge talent who needs a polite shove out of her comfort zone Read Review
Print edition only
Leche’s rickety allure is also its downfall: a half-finished record in essence, these songs ultimately instigate more frustration than enjoyment Read Review
Her success is mindblowing and frustrating Read Review
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Gregory and the Hawk: Leche
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