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
Synth-driven, dancefloor-friendly indie rock on the 2nd album from the London quartet
6.9
Has refreshing substance in our digital world Read Review
Fracture sounds like an outfit dreamily distracted by the past, rather than overwhelmed Read Review
It’s disco tinged at times, it’s also bright and sophisticated Read Review
Successfully swerve the perils of the po-faced by being fun. Print edition only
This record is fun with a capital 'F', but there are moments of gravitas too Read Review
On The Age of Fracture, they’ve settled down and drawn out a solemn groove, furthering a sound indebted to bands like New Order and Depeche Mode Read Review
Princeton academics and weighty literary ideals rarely make for a bright-eyed sense of feel-good, but it’s a trick Cymbals pull off extremely nimbly Read Review
They take familiar elements and sounds and make something new, which all good pop music does. However, there’s very little to connect with emotionally Read Review
Completes an impressive transformation for the band Read Review
Whilst an undoubtedly fun album, CYMBALS aren't really offering anything new Read Review
The scrappiness has been softened for their second record, with mixed results Read Review
Cymbals aren’t afraid to wear the joy they find in making music on their sleeves without a sniff of irony, and what’s more, they can lay down a pretty hefty hook Read Review
It's musical sophistication that takes centre stage here. Print edition only
The kind of meek synthfunk once propagated by the likes of Hot Chip and Metronomy. Print edition only
The problem plaguing The Age of Fracture is inconsistency; the filler material is unmemorable and a little bland Read Review
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Cymbals: The Age Of Fracture
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