7 October 2024
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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Second album from the British soul singer, featuring contributions from Nile Rodgers and members of the London Symphony Orchestra
7.6
Infinitely more experimental than the soul-gospel of 2013's Sing to the Moon Read Review
There’s a fantastical, half-awake quality to these songs. Print edition only
Rapturous vocals are framed in intricate, ecstatic orchestral pop. Print edition only
Shape-shifting orchestral Afrobeat. Print edition only
A raw and thought-provoking stroke of genius Read Review
Her music has been described as “gospel-delia”, and that’s exactly what you get: gorgeous soul hymns as if sung in under-ether dreamtime Read Review
Vivid, original, it's the real deal Read Review
The Dreaming Room may be a mess, but it’s a glorious mess, packed with heroically bonkers ideas Read Review
Laura Mvula has proved emphatically that her debut was no one-off and this highly accomplished return establishes her further as a unique, captivating talent Read Review
The context is the renewal of life after an emotional breakdown, the album’s central theme; but sense of boundless possibility applies equally to Mvula’s inventive songs Read Review
Mvula has written a hypnotic record that provides a congenial embrace, but it also isn’t afraid to take bold action. A new star is most definitely born Read Review
Laura Mvula sounds confident and free throughout her second album Read Review
Nile Rogers's edgy funk guitar functions as both anchor and an irresistible invitation to dance Read Review
Laden with sonic surprises Read Review
She tries to bridge the gap between the highbrow classicism of Moon and the electronic thrust of 2010s pop Read Review
An enormously frustrating record, as Mvula clearly has it in her to be an incredible artist Read Review
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Laura Mvula: The Dreaming Room
Leon Bridges Leon
He writes evocatively about his home state of Texas, which lends these songs a vivid backdrop. Print edition only Uncut
The musician’s emotional fourth album borrows liberally from the past but the themes are modern and the sound utterly timeless The Observer
Caribou Honey
With its intricate production, mesmerising melodies, dynamism and scope, ‘Honey’ is no doubt a stellar addition to Caribou’s catalogue Clash
The Smile Cutouts
A magnificent, playful, and positive return Clash
Sophie Sophie
When SOPHIE the record is finished, you are left with a mix of feelings and emotions. Gratitude for the work SOPHIE the artist brought us and the boundaries she broke down. Curiosity as to what this record may have been had she gotten to complete it Clash
Coldplay Moon Music
‘Moon Music’ feels like the best friend who helps you through the dark hours of 3am and takes you through the most beautiful sunrise when daylight breaks Clash
Dan Snaith embraces AI to deliver a feelgood set of tracks that provide a sun-drenched idyll musicOMH
Tenth album by Chris Martin and co is something of a damp squib and sees their decline continue musicOMH
Third album from Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner is a stranger beast than its predecessors, finding them in playful and risky mood musicOMH
The Bug Machines
This anthology of instrumentals the industrial dub stalwart crafted for his pummeling live performances is some of his heaviest, ugliest, most damaged-sounding music yet Pitchfork
Being Dead EELS
With deceptively lo-fi hooks and a playfully oblique approach, the Austin rock duo crafts songs that are goofy, serious, innocent, and knowing all at once Pitchfork
Godspeed You! Black Emperor No?Title as of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead
The band’s adherence to formula undercuts the visceral punch that has been their appeal Slant Magazine
Floating Points Cascade
It’s Shepherd’s harnessing of electronic music’s power to tease your imagination to different places that makes Cascade such a wonderful club record Under The Radar
Although it's nauseatingly upbeat - that is also what Coldplay have always done best The Arts Desk
What it lacks in cohesion, Cutouts more than makes up for in displays of technical skill and layered textures that flesh out each composition in fascinating ways Spectrum Culture
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