23 March 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 album of alt.folk infused rock from the London five-piece produced by Peter Katis (The National, Interpol)
6.9
An extraordinary debut from a new British-based band who combine a gipsy swagger with tremulous sensitivity and gothic rock drama Read Review
An album that both plays to their strengths and showcases a diversity of modes, each sculpted authentically. An outstanding effort Read Review
This is a surefooted and uncompromising collection Read Review
The mix of craft and believability is irresistible. Print edition only
Dry The River have paved the way for their inevitable success in 2012, and ‘Shallow Bed’ is set to prove that the band’s incessant hard work will be completely worth the endeavour – and the wait Read Review
Full of passion. Print edition only
Catchy melodies, big choruses and emotive storytelling Read Review
The emo/hardcore elements mixed in are interesting, but they’re jarring shoved in amongst the record’s prettier, softer parts—perhaps next time they’ll settle for one approach or the other Read Review
They most evoke a Neon Bible-era Arcade Fire slightly shorn of the romance and nostalgia Read Review
An uplifting debut Read Review
It's accomplished, luxuriant, expertly crafted Read Review
Rich instrumentation, nimble lyrics and emotional gales of choruses Read Review
Instead of charm you’ve got big dramatic gestures at every turn Read Review
Schooled on U2/Snow Patrol, lofty Brits emit a church-friendly vibe that confuses uplifting and grandiose Read Review
Dry the River take their music so seriously, even Sting would giggle Read Review
A minor update of the already hackneyed blueprint for contemporary folk-rock that’s enjoyed chart success over the past few years: let’s call it Mumford 2.0 Read Review
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Dry The River: Shallow Bed
Ladytron Paradises
Ladytron have produced an album that, from its inception, sought to invoke the same spirit that the band had 25 years ago Far Out
Gorillaz The Mountain
The strongest case in years that Gorillaz can still make records that matter as records Dork
Kim Gordon Play Me
'Play me' doesn’t try to comfort. It tries to provoke, energise and outlast the scroll Dork
The Orielles Only You Left
These songs come from months of demo-hoarding and forensic listening, the band archiving every practice-room spark before lovingly picking through the results Dork
James Blake Trying Times
Blake sounds energised by the room he has carved out for himself Dork
Harry Styles Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.
This isn’t an album built like a straight line from hook to hook. It moves in waves, often favouring texture and atmosphere over immediate release Dork
Underscores U
It’s technical excellence as a musical product cannot be overstated. For a pop album to be this busy yet possess a pocket as deep and rich as underscores displays here is simply amazing Sputnik Music (staff)
Indie rock icon Kim Gordon acerbically wrestles with the state of the world over hip-hop and industrial beats on Play Me PopMatters
The former electro-pop enfant terrible swings big on her latest album, compressing all her split personalities and eclectic tastes into a high-gloss, high-stakes gamble to remake pop on her own terms Pitchfork
On U, she finds a clearly-defined, rounded-out identity in her music for the first time, and she delivers the most immediate and the most robust work of her career The Line Of Best Fit
Performing, writing and producing everything herself, April Grey pares back her hyperpop electronics for an LP in thrall to 90s pop-R&B, with songs that big stars would die for The Guardian
April Harper Grey’s latest hits all the beats of a classic pop record — a choreo-primed single, a power ballad, a post-breakup closure anthem — without overstaying its welcome Paste Magazine
A tour-de-force of production chops that cements April Harper Grey as a key auteur in the future of the genre NME
Alexis Taylor Paris In The Spring
Paris in the Spring is a gem of a record which, while never over-reaching its ambition, sparkles with electronic ingenuity as it takes in all seasons of human experience Spectrum Culture
It's a beautiful collection of genre-hopping songs. Print edition only Uncut
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