19 July 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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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
Billie Martin Dog Eared
Still only 26, Marten's writing is a strong scaffold for an experienced live studio band, whose every flourish (the irresistible keyboard arpeggio on the breezy "Crown" is a particular delight) add depth to her words. Print edition only Uncut
Overall, it's a gently entrancing and quietly elegant album. Print edition only Mojo
Billie Marten’s fifth studio album delves into nostalgia, love and introspection in a cosy folk triumph The Skinny
It takes time for the 10 tracks to find their own spaces and the dazey melodies to take root The Independent
Justin Bieber Swag
The pop star’s latest offering is a perfectly decent record, albeit one that lacks lyrical flair, emotional depth or any sense of responsibility musicOMH
Alex G Headlights
Alex Giannascoli upgrades to hi-fi dad rock and sails home with a major label debut worthy of the all-time indie graduations Pitchfork
Represents a flirtation with commercialized approaches, with suburbanism, with, dare we say, the banal. Given Alex’s impressive record, it’s not a stretch to imagine that going forward, he’ll find a way to better reconcile the predictable and unexpected, the cliché and seminal, the well-worn and just-discovered The Line Of Best Fit
Haim I quit
I quit is a varied-but-very-enjoyable return from the Los Angeles trio Consequence Of Sound
The album doesn’t shy away from the glare, but rather steps into it Slant Magazine
Philly’s indie hero adds to his discography of unassumingly brilliant folk-rock on his major-label debut Rolling Stone
On Headlights, his first album on a major label, Alex G drills deeper into a refinement of his sound The Skinny
Lorde Virgin
Before he died David Bowie called Lorde the future of music and he was not wrong. See you again before the end of the decade, hopefully? God Is In The TV
Alex G is one of the most distinctive characters working in indie rock today, and despite some of its shortcomings, the songs on Headlights still prove that Exclaim
Headlights is as much of an opus as it is, only because it is so clearly, honestly both of these things—because Alex G proves on a major label the seriousness with which he takes his career as a musician, all the while strumming along a love letter to the singular sound he’s so conscientously developed Northern Transmissions
While the sonic invention and off-kilter details remain, on his 10th album the cult musician eschews distortion for melancholic melodies and crooked love songs The Guardian
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
Spiritbox Tsunami Sea
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