27 January 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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Fourth album from Michigan-born purveyor of old school soul music with contributions from Pharrell Williams, Kendrick Lamar and Jesse Ware
6.9
The LP is a joy to listen to and fans of Steely Dan will find much to admire here. The album builds with track after track of awesomeness that offers a heralded look at a genre of music that often goes overlooked Read Review
It covers a wide range of sounds and styles in its 52-minute runtime, but it also packs an immediate punch Read Review
Hawthorne's muse is steeped in '70s influences — notably falsetto and symphonic-soul giants like Curtis Mayfield and Barry White Read Review
Should hit the spot for fans of the Pharrell/Daft Punk hook-up Read Review
Hawthorne has synthesised his influences into perfect power pop Read Review
Equally focused on delivering mildly self-effacing party jams and empathetic moments of connection Read Review
The sound of 1960's era Detroit still pulses, but Hawthorne’s revitalized sense of artistic freedom has led to forays into the likes of nostalgic hip-hop and yacht rock Read Review
For all of his apparent devotion to the genre, Hawthorne comes off somewhat soulless Read Review
Where Does This Door Go may be a sonic adventure, but it's not quite slick enough to challenge the current crop of R&B luminaries Read Review
Wherever this door does go, it is a place that calls for boat shoes, a relaxed attitude, and a returning fan's patience Read Review
There’s such a variety of grooves coming from different avenues that it’s easy to find something to like about this album Read Review
Once a low-key Casanova, now he wants to rock all night. From modest goals come modest returns Read Review
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Mayer Hawthorne: Where Does This Door Go
FKA Twigs Eusexua
The album presents an artist learning to find strength in near-constant movement Slant Magazine
Analysis aside, it’s also just thrilling in a purely visceral, physical sense. Like dancing itself, it’s an alchemic transformation of intention into pure sensation The Quietus
Bad Bunny Debí Tirar Más Fotos
Bad Bunny uses nostalgia to spark a connection with the fans and denounce the risks of a future without the people or the culture they love PopMatters
Sam Amidon Salt River
The folksinger’s calling is as old as the hills. Channeling Appalachian fiddles, desert rock, Ornette Coleman, and Arthur Russell, the Vermont native keeps it moving forward, in his own inimitable style Pitchfork
Folk bends under their queries, but doesn't break. Print edition only Uncut
If you like Papa M and Nic Jones, prepare to be delighted. Print edition only Mojo
An intoxicating mix of folk and free jazz on the Vermont native’s 10th album finds him creating something very much on his own terms musicOMH
Drawing on an eclectic variety of sources - eclectic even for him - for a set of covers that continues to cultivate his uniquely spectral yet soil-bound sound All Music
Sam Amidon explores the organic quality of folk music with this collection of warm and playful re-compositions The Skinny
Benjamin Booker Lower
It’s a lucid collection of songs that lead the listener on a journey into the mind’s eye, and leaves them feeling changed after the final notes ring out Far Out
This record is not easy to settle into— but I think that’s the point. It challenges expectations of sound and presentation, and like so many great works, rewards multiple listens. Booker seems to hold a mild disdain for genre/stylistic purists, and this record is a total testament to that Northern Transmissions
A triumphant return after seven years Clash
Working with producer Kenny Segal, the New Orleans-based singer-songwriter constructs a corroded beat-centric grunge that soundtracks stories of violence and perseverance Pitchfork
jasmine.4.t You Are The Morning
At times delightful, yet not without its flaws, this is an encouraging debut No Ripcord
Her first album in five years feels as much like a physical sensation as a sonic one, a cohesive and transcendent artistic experience 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
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
Dave We’re All Alone In This Together