14 April 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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The Rhode Island quartet reference their hometown in the title of this, their third alt.country release
6.5
A celebration of music by a band who likes nothing more than to have a good time—and what is more respectable than that? Read Review
Served with such a knowing grin you can't help but love it. Print edition only
Deer Tick’s members act like kids, but Divine Providence is best when they sound like full-grown men Read Review
The group's best album to date Read Review
A set of howling rockers Read Review
Divine Providence is the Deer Tick we’ve always known was behind the chugging, 90 proof country rock Read Review
Setters of trends, they will not be, with this offering. Providers of mindless, chaotic R&R, they most certainly can be Read Review
Overall, their aim to harness their live show appears to be a success, especially on the more rabble-rousing and downright fun bar-side calls to arms that pepper the album Read Review
At their best, Deer Tick deliver a timely reminder that fun doesn’t necessarily have to translate into a shortage of substance Read Review
They may have taken the easy way by leaving depth and emotional subtlety aside, but the brainless night bar rock n’ roll they’re playing on Divine Providence is not something to be ashamed of Read Review
The problem with Divine Providence isn’t that it is bad, because it really isn’t, in fact, I would go as far to say that it is a good album. The problem is that listening to it is like watching the high school dance scene out of Back To The Future Read Review
Divine Providence isn’t about God being amongst us; it’s about being proud of where you came from. So grab a beer or a bottle of Jack (or both) and let Deer Tick entertain you for an hour Read Review
Divine Providence apparently isn't a realm for the faint of heart, but those with the verve to vent their all may find it a welcome retreat Read Review
Self-absorbed and even downright hateful Read Review
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Deer Tick: Divine Providence
Djo The Crux
Recording as Djo, the star’s third album is catchy and melodic, with echoes of The Beatles and west coast psychedelia The FT
Bon Iver SABLE, fABLE
The band’s fifth release harks back to their acclaimed 2008 debut For Emma, Forever Ago The FT
This companion album to last year’s Sable EP gives those sorrowful songs a soulful lift, with Vernon’s beautiful falsetto vocals to the fore The Observer
A record of rare beauty and hope that fits neatly into the catalogue of an outfit that has never failed to deliver something extraordinary Clash
Mamalarky Hex Key
Mainstream success isn’t beyond Mamalarky’s grasp, but they would have to ditch their eccentricities to achieve it. Heaven forbid they ever do The Line Of Best Fit
Throughout the twelve tracks on Crux, Joe Keery proves time and again that he’s not just a pretty face, and not even just a great actor – he’s also a very accomplished musician and songwriter with a huge future ahead of him God Is In The TV
SPELLLING Portrait Of My Heart
Portrait of My Heart is beautiful, emotionally potent, and intricate. So in other words, it’s just another Spellling album Spectrum Culture
Snapped Ankles HARD TIMES FURIOUS DANCING
Hard Times Furious Dancing needs to exist in the context of global collapse, class warfare and cascading environmental disaster in order to be more than just a solid new wave record with sharp, if not superficial, politically charged lyrics Spectrum Culture
The Los Angeles band’s third album is the clearest reconciliation between the tension of their easygoing indie pop and their meticulous musicianship yet Paste Magazine
A record that challenges as much as it charms Northern Transmissions
Hex Key wavers on infectious hooks fused with eccentric strut but it also seems afraid of the plunge necessary to ring out each cut’s real creative worth Far Out
Hex Key is compellingly weird and rhythmically and melodically catchy, with each of its fluorescent, silver-, or neon-colored tracks holding earworm potential All Music
Too much of this record sounds like it could have been made by almost anyone and that's not good, and neither in the end is SABLE, fABLE All Music
Justin Vernon’s version of ‘radiant pop music’ is to brighten his earthy, acoustic landscapes with synths and drum pads The Independent
Justin Vernon is incapable of making a ‘happy’ record. The upbeat moments here are inevitably followed by deep longueurs. But the abiding feeling is one of peace The Irish Times
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
Spiritbox Tsunami Sea
Kendrick Lamar Damn.
D'Angelo And The Vanguard Black Messiah
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Ghosteen
Self Esteem Prioritise Pleasure
Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree
Frank Ocean Channel Orange