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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Debut album from the London electronic artist, protégé of fellow London producer Daniel Avery
7.8
Warm, emotive and well-produced, the work of a natural talent that will only get better with time Read Review
Her rise to success is owed to her own creative mind and assuring that taking time to create a solid product can be a virtue Read Review
There are clear parallels with Factory Floor, Mica Levi and early Grimes, but Owens has clearly found her calling. Print edition only
It’s standout track ‘Bird’ that really hooks you as it seamlessly switches from shadowy ambience to a delicious sub-bass beat that sounds as good in headphones as it will when cranked out at dangerously high decibels from some techno dungeon speakers Read Review
Dark synth-pop if the haunting, affecting kind. Print edition only
Welsh singer and producer leaves her indie rock past behind and mixes dream pop and ambient techno on her immensely varied and fully-formed debut Read Review
A debut that is full of depth and one that exposes the scope of electronic music beyond just the club Read Review
Both danceable and meditative music with genuine heart Read Review
Feels like the opening chapter of a thrilling career Read Review
She can create an environment so specific that, after listening, you may find yourself longing to immerse yourself in it again Read Review
Only once it’s over do you feel its spell release you. That is, until the next Kelly Lee Owens album Read Review
Give Owens time to figure out her strengths and weaknesses and she might make something truly formidable Read Review
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Kelly Lee Owens: Kelly Lee Owens
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