26 May 2018
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 studio album from the Memphis soul / blues singer-songwriter
7.8
Finds Valerie June expanding her unique blend of blues, soul and mountain music to create a distinctive hybrid in which past and future coalesce with gentle power Read Review
This is the singer-songwriter as wise woman, as wickedly sharp village witch Read Review
Valerie June returns with a stirring journey through time and its impact on love and life Read Review
A triumph of form, The Order of Time is a completely idiosyncratic take on American roots music Read Review
Her siren-like vocal delivery is both beautiful and tempting. Print edition only
A vivid storyteller, June approaches traditional music with a similar mix of irreverence and affection. Print edition only
Establishes June as a proper auteur who has long transcended any limitations as a quaint revivalist Read Review
A well-assembled composite of blues, country, classic soul and gospel Read Review
June ends up too polite when she could be making a definitive statement Read Review
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Valerie June: The Order Of Time
Wooden Shjips V
Lightness of touch is the real revelation here. Print edition only Q
Woozy, melodic and reflective. Print edition only Uncut
Creates a sense of space, both mental and physical, as well as the idea of an alternate perception that is the calling card of West Coast psychedelia. Print edition only Mojo
Isn't a major departure from what fans of the Shjips have come to expect, as the group will seemingly always stick to a surging, hypnotic brand of Krautrock-inspired minimalism All Music
Just a little sharper than Wooden Shjips have sounded before music OMH
Never rises above space rock, making the album feel like any other '60s hippie/psychedelic record Exclaim
An album of hazy intensity, perfect for these times and this summer The Guardian
Chvrches Love Is Dead
Mayberry is one of the more interesting figures in modern pop, so here’s hoping one day they’ll have a bit more substance and bite The Irish Times
Snow Patrol Wildness
One of the most comforting and relatable inclusions in the band's catalog All Music
‘Love Is Dead’ manages to balance hopeful, utopian pop with a darker, gloomier undercurrent NME
Will certainly please the band's ever-expanding fan base while not really moving the needle creatively enough to convince sceptics that their initial opinions were unfounded Exclaim
Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks Sparkle Hard
It feels far more assured of himself in a way we haven’t seen from him in quite some time Spectrum Culture
Missing the attitude and strangeness that made their past music unique Consequence Of Sound
Still capable of delivering exciting, engaging and boundary-pushing synth-pop when it really matters Under The Radar
Perhaps the record will turn Chvrches into genuine chart-botherers, or festival headliners, but their last two albums had already provided compelling evidence that they would have been capable of that under their own steam, without the anaesthetising effect of Kurstin’s expensive production The Line Of Best Fit
Since we've been around, that is. So, the highest-rated albums from the past eight years or so. Rankings are calculated to two decimal places.
Kendrick Lamar To Pimp A Butterfly
Kendrick Lamar Damn.
D'Angelo And The Vanguard Black Messiah
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree
Frank Ocean Channel Orange
Anaïs Mitchell Hadestown
Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Leonard Cohen You Want It Darker
Sufjan Stevens Carrie & Lowell
Mount Eerie A Crow Looked at Me