26 December 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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Album no. 4 is a heavy one for the Atlanta, Georgia indie rockers
6.5
A band that have found their sound, are comfortable in their skin, and improving rapidly Read Review
Despite its flaws, Simple Math went Top 30 in the US. The infinitely superior Cope might expand their reach further. Print edition only
Though they’re still mining the same vein they have for a decade, they’re still churning out gems too Read Review
More than just the sound of a band getting by; it's the sound of Manchester Orchestra at their best Read Review
Cope is all about the brutal force of dirty, meaty guitars, and lots of them Read Review
The songs are fast and short; the energy throughout the album is infectious and continuous Read Review
Sustained power and little in the way of variety can make for quick fatigue, but at just 38 minutes long ‘Cope’ has hooks and energy to spare Read Review
Has the feel of a band playing it safe on their first self-recorded, self-produced album Read Review
The best part of Hull’s songwriting is still present: the razor-sharp lyrical hooks that can be sung over and over again Read Review
This album sets lyrics about shaky adulthood to meat-and-potatoes guitar rock (think MMJ via Foo Fighters Read Review
Manchester’s Orchestra’s success highlights an ability to create heavy rock moments that don’t drag their audience down Read Review
Plaintive emo vocals, grungy riffs and Pixies-style stop-start dynamics, all put together deftly and embellished by punchy, bright production Read Review
It's becoming pretty clear that the genre in which Manchester Orchestra resides has more untapped potential than the band itself Read Review
With this album and previous album Simple Math, the band has completely abandoned their delicate, softer arrangements and gone in a direction that doesn’t really set them apart anymore Read Review
Exhilarating if unrelenting. Print edition only
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Manchester Orchestra: Cope
The Lemonheads Love Chant
The band’s first album of original music in 20 years is an undeniably self-conscious comeback, manifesting the existential angst of middle age in sludgier-than-usual riffs, sudden switchups, and some of Evan Dando’s most self-reflective lyrics to date A.V. Club
Dove Ellis Blizzard
Enigmatic Galway songwriter sounds like a storm-tossed mix of Thom Yorke of Radiohead and Jeff Buckley The Irish Times
This is Lorelei Holo Boy
Amos has been an expert popsmith for years; the world is finally catching up, and not a moment too soon All Music
One half of Water From Your Eyes re-records songs from the back catalogue of his other band, resulting in acoustic fare touched with regret and darkness The Guardian
Nate Amos’s latest solo album consists entirely of songs written in the years prior to 2024’s Box for Buddy, Box for Star. The music presents us with yet another robust block of material that allows his idiosyncratic songwriting to truly shine Paste Magazine
This Is Lorelei’s Holo Boy has the air of an artist taking stock, as he maps the route taken while checking which parts still line up now Spectrum Culture
Songwriter Nate Amos polishes up 10 tracks from his Bandcamp days and confronts humorous self-effacement with new confidence Pitchfork
A wonderfully enjoyable cycle of straight-down-the-line songwriting Clash
Oneohtrix Point Never Tranquilizer
It’s his best work since Replica, and the most complete realization of his long-running obsession with the imperfect persistence of time. Tranquilizer doesn’t just show you a world—it shows you how that world remembers itself Under The Radar
Melody’s Echo Chamber Unclouded
This is the epitome of a “vibes album,” and as a vibes album, Unclouded knocks it out of the park Spectrum Culture
Dove Ellis’ debut is remarkably assured, showcasing a new talent with strong potential Spectrum Culture
The Galway-born singer-songwriter takes Romantic yearning — for the pure, the mythical, the divine — and turns it gently earthward on Blizzard Paste Magazine
Despite its title, ‘Tranquilizer’ is deceptively mesmerizing, potently putting calm emotions into a frenzied state, and leaving you coming back for more Northern Transmissions
Little Simz Lotus
She’s a rapper who refuses to let up and keeps ensuring that her name is held aloft in the conversations of the best in the world Far Out
Dove Ellis breathes new life into the Irish folk-rock scene. The album is hopeful, complex and as a whole plays with the picturesque diction of a pastoral poem. Wondering what will follow this stunning debut makes the listening all the more enjoyable Hot Press
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
Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree