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.
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Debut album of dream pop from London-based Italian Alessio Natalizia
6.1
A thing of gorgeousness; tremolo guitars, unfolding drum patterns and dreamlike arrangements Read Review
It is not an album underpinned by hype – it is a finely tuned statement of intent from a young songwriter who, like very few others, has an incredibly patient yet potent Midas touch in his craft Read Review
Headphones donned and lights extinguished, each submersion is every bit as worthy as the last Read Review
Treads the impressive line between epic and restrained Read Review
Unsettling, weirdly compelling stuff Read Review
A big gooey feast of melancholy laptop pop, and it’s relatively lovely stuff Read Review
There are occasional flashes of creativity-stuffed aptitude - but this time around they're merely flashes Read Review
Softly burred guitar loops, Fripp-like trippiness and heavy psych/space-rock grooves. Print edition only
There are no weak links or moments which falter, yet neither does 'Banjo Or Freakout' do anything to really seize the listener's attention Read Review
Banjo Or Freakout? More of each please Read Review
An obvious enthusiast of lo-fi recordings, Natalizia is first and foremost a pop artist, and this is realized on the album’s more successful endeavors Read Review
Once Natalizia writes some songs better flattered by his sonic sense, I suspect he'll really have something here Read Review
Some of the worst offenders here feel like demos and, damn, they are tough to endure. Read Review
You will get some relaxed, passive listening from the record, but the overly hazed production makes for an aimless set of tracks Read Review
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Banjo or Freakout: Banjo or Freakout
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