29 September 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.
Browse specific styles
Fifth studio album of indie rock from the Kansas City five-piece and first since they reformed in 2008
5.6
Represents experimentation and growth from a talented, maturing band, and it’s a worthy addition to the music collection of any ardent emo fan Read Review
Listeners who dismissed the Kids in the past as overwrought emo drivel might actually find things to like this time around Read Review
Revisits the raw, yet melodic sound of their classic debut, liberally sprinkled with gorgeous vocal harmonies and pop hooks Read Review
By breaking the rules of what they were supposed to sound like, they've given themselves a second bite of the cherry Read Review
For once this is a re-union not just trading on old glories Read Review
A plethora of bittersweet singalong choruses as well as the odd curve-ball, like the synth-and-phaser heavy Automatic Read Review
Back at their corrosive best. Print edition only
An inherently youthful band gracefully making good into their thirties. Print edition only
The truly surprising moments come via electronic flourishes that show up throughout the record Read Review
A just-all-right record from a band that always felt a step behind even in their own genre Read Review
It’s hard to truly love an album that tries this hard Read Review
Matthew Pryor's bellowing sneer still cuts, but nothing can cover up the hookless, by-the-numbers weakness of the materia Read Review
They've neglected to include anything memorable on it. Print edition only
Knowing what this band is capable of, its hard to shake the sad feeling that perhaps they should have just stayed broken up Read Review
Sounds like the product of a band that knows well where it’s been, but can’t quite figure out yet where it wants to go Read Review
There Are Rules aims for an aggressive aesthetic, but it ends up as mostly empty bluster as the Get Up Kids tries to put their pieces back together Read Review
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The Get Up Kids: There Are Rules
Blondshell Violins
This is an artist widening her frame without losing her bite. It’s confident, a little wistful, and often loud in all the right places Northern Transmissions
On her third album, Sabrina Teitelbaum fights to strike a balance between savage beauty and jagged home truths NME
Everything great about Blondshell is present on ‘Violins’, but it feels sharper, more adventurous and more assured then ever before Clash
LA alt-rock singer Blondshell trades plain-speaking lyricism for something more abstract, while Irish rock band Gurriers cut through the noise with their ambitious second album The Independent
While trying to find and assert herself, the song has her imagining walking down the aisle to Beethoven's Für Elise, even though no one, including her, would pick it as a wedding song All Music
An often-delicate inward vision that pairs frustration with beauty DIY
It's in her ability to take the everyday experience and turn it into an epic noise that Violins finds its sweet spot The Line Of Best Fit
It would be unfair to call Violins Blondshell’s finest work to date, given the strength of her previous albums. What’s clear, though, is that it’s every bit as good as what came before Under The Radar
Protomartyr Hotel Usona
The album is more eerie in tone than its predecessors, like a distant alarm sounding, trying to amplify the sounds we cannot hear Northern Transmissions
It’s a bleak listen, sure, but Protomartyr haven’t ever been the comforting types. In fact, they’ve chosen the perfect time to double down on their righteous anger and despair, and if everything were to come to a catastrophic end right now, you’ve got the perfect soundtrack for it Far Out
For newcomers, it's a perfectly moody entry point. Hotel Usona is the sound of a band settling into their own skin, creating a space that's uniquely theirs and generously sharing the key Exclaim
From singer Joe Casey’s handmade album artwork to drummer Alex Leonard’s impish, kinetic inversions of classic post-punk rhythm, the Detroit band crafts an austere, unflinching record as bleak as it is cathartic Paste Magazine
This is not a hotel you'd want to stay at any time soon, but it's a remarkable record to spend time with. Print edition only Uncut
Under dim hotel lights, Casey’s lyricism appears foreboding and alien in a way it never has before The Line Of Best Fit
Ezra Collective Here Because of Hope
Arguably the biggest jazz band in the country return with an album that shows off both their exuberant and more reflective sides musicOMH
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