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
Debut full-length album from LA-based world music-influenced electronic duo
5.7
Sometimes befuddling but never boring, Rainbow Arabia is making music that ultimately sounds like no one else's Read Review
Great thumping melodies, intriguingly mad vocals and moments of beauty Read Review
An incredible set of ideas, even if they’re not quite fully formed Read Review
They have evolved into an act that has smoothed the sounds of the world into an album that sparkles in just the right light Read Review
There's little not to like about this debut album, which never relents in its quest for the perfect balance between catchiness and experimentalism Read Review
Rainbow Arabia have made an album that feels like a tropical party at sunset, which more often than not ditches the club for the postcard picture-perfect golden sands Read Review
An album that has a lot of ideas; perhaps more than what makes up a coherent pop record Read Review
The overriding impression of Boys and Diamonds is of MIA’s global smash-and-grab style of musicianship minus the bonding agent of an overarching personality Read Review
Print edition only
Has definite groovability and points of real interest, with an earnest search for true individuality that you have to respect. More refinement and Rainbow Arabia could be truly galacti Read Review
The songwriting is ultimately too blocky and dull and slapped together for it to succeed as the thing it most wants to be-- a pop record Read Review
The tunes can be slight. Print edition only
Desperately in need of inspiration Read Review
Rainbow Arabia might be good to dance to, but sunning oneself below its fluorescent glow isn't going to sow the seeds of "new culture" in you Read Review
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Rainbow Arabia: Boys and Diamonds
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