26 September 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.
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Founding member of both Sebadoh and Dinosaur Jr releases his third solo album of lo-fi indie rock, his first since 2009
6.5
Isn’t exactly original or inventive, but what it lacks in innovation, it makes up for in emotional honesty Read Review
Life and relationships rarely offer easy answers, and Brace the Wave doesn't either Read Review
The album rides out on Barlow repeating the phrase "learn with me", as if it needed any further invitation: we've been learning with Barlow for 30 years now Read Review
The album's routinely sparse instrumentation — featuring his trademark down-tuned ukulele — puts focus squarely on Barlow's melancholic worldview Read Review
His uncomplicated acoustic sounds make way for his poetically distressed lyrics to be the focal point on the album Read Review
As good as anything he has done with Sebadoh or Folk Implosion. Print edition only
Thank goodness Lou Barlow has returned to soundtrack the onset of middle age life Read Review
Whilst it hardly breaks new ground, either generally or for Barlow as an artist, Brace The Wave offers further evidence of Barlow’s core talent Read Review
Wave is a different animal, though; this is a mostly unembellished, minimal collection of starkly maximal songs Read Review
I often feel centered and wiser after listening to Barlow’s music, and Brace the Wave is no exception Read Review
A skilled and timely reminder of his own uniquely vulnerable vision as a songwriter. Print edition only
It’s good enough Read Review
It’s a fix for now, but don’t worry, there’ll be another soon, in one of his guises anyway Read Review
Few are as willing to write with as much brutal honesty as Barlow Read Review
A surprisingly engaging listen. Print edition only
Feels like an opportunity missed Read Review
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Lou Barlow: Brace The Wave
Blondshell Violins
This is an artist widening her frame without losing her bite. It’s confident, a little wistful, and often loud in all the right places Northern Transmissions
On her third album, Sabrina Teitelbaum fights to strike a balance between savage beauty and jagged home truths NME
Everything great about Blondshell is present on ‘Violins’, but it feels sharper, more adventurous and more assured then ever before Clash
LA alt-rock singer Blondshell trades plain-speaking lyricism for something more abstract, while Irish rock band Gurriers cut through the noise with their ambitious second album The Independent
While trying to find and assert herself, the song has her imagining walking down the aisle to Beethoven's Für Elise, even though no one, including her, would pick it as a wedding song All Music
An often-delicate inward vision that pairs frustration with beauty DIY
It's in her ability to take the everyday experience and turn it into an epic noise that Violins finds its sweet spot The Line Of Best Fit
It would be unfair to call Violins Blondshell’s finest work to date, given the strength of her previous albums. What’s clear, though, is that it’s every bit as good as what came before Under The Radar
Protomartyr Hotel Usona
The album is more eerie in tone than its predecessors, like a distant alarm sounding, trying to amplify the sounds we cannot hear Northern Transmissions
It’s a bleak listen, sure, but Protomartyr haven’t ever been the comforting types. In fact, they’ve chosen the perfect time to double down on their righteous anger and despair, and if everything were to come to a catastrophic end right now, you’ve got the perfect soundtrack for it Far Out
For newcomers, it's a perfectly moody entry point. Hotel Usona is the sound of a band settling into their own skin, creating a space that's uniquely theirs and generously sharing the key Exclaim
From singer Joe Casey’s handmade album artwork to drummer Alex Leonard’s impish, kinetic inversions of classic post-punk rhythm, the Detroit band crafts an austere, unflinching record as bleak as it is cathartic Paste Magazine
This is not a hotel you'd want to stay at any time soon, but it's a remarkable record to spend time with. Print edition only Uncut
Under dim hotel lights, Casey’s lyricism appears foreboding and alien in a way it never has before The Line Of Best Fit
Ezra Collective Here Because of Hope
Arguably the biggest jazz band in the country return with an album that shows off both their exuberant and more reflective sides 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
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