24 June 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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Ninth album from the Richmond, Virgina rock singer-songwriter
7.9
Silky earworms of the highest order, with Mann admirably making solitude and sadness entities that should be inhabited instead of spurned Read Review
Mental Illness lays its hurt and sadness out so effectively that it’s hard to completely accept it as pure fiction Read Review
As elegantly dark as a wrought iron gate. Print edition only
As in good short stories, every element in her songs works to support a single theme Read Review
This is not a flash album, there are no virtuoso flourishes by any of the players. Every note has been carefully positioned to frame her voice in a sympathetic and supportive way and recorded simply and elegantly Read Review
It's no maudlin affair, because of its insistent melodies and deft lyrics. Print edition only
Becomes something of a balm for troubled times; it's an album that finds reassurance within the darkest corners Read Review
One of Mann's most ravishing and affecting hymns to solitude Read Review
A compelling consistency of mood makes Metal Illness easy to get lost in Read Review
The music adds a gentle beauty to the proceedings, sometimes in contrast to the heaviness of what Mann sings about Read Review
Mental Illness is Aimee Mann’s quintessential statement, tempering the discord of life with elegant chamber folk. Mann fills her songs with ordinary people struggling against operatic levels of pain Read Review
Mann embraces the sadness of her music Read Review
If there’s ever been any doubt as to Mann’s poetic sensibilities, let them be laid to rest Read Review
Eminently listenable and proves that there is always room for downbeat folk in your collection Read Review
Remains more of the same, never quite hitting any peaks, and never missing a step either Read Review
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Aimee Mann: Mental Illness
Sophie Oil Of Every Pearl's Un-Insides
There are garish, hyper-kinetic tracks but there are also more reflective moments, a welcome shift in emphasis The FT
Nine Inch Nails Bad Witch
An inventive, aggressive return The Observer
The Carters Everything Is Love
Born out of therapy-like recording sessions, it marks the pair’s first full-length collaboration, but listeners hoping for detail on their reconciliation might be disappointed: this is curated veneer, not ugly exposition The Observer
Kamasi Washington Heaven & Earth
While Earth finds Washington wielding his sax as a furious, necessary weapon, the indulgent, opulent cushion of Heaven serves as a dazzling balm, the choir transforming from theatrical to celestial The Observer
Gang Gang Dance Kazuashita
A return to an altered cultural landscape The Observer
As bold and maximalist, as rhythmic and righteous, as one might expect from the reedsman who helped kickstart the global jazz renaissance. A must-have Evening Standard
He’s headed back to the dark seam he tapped for still horrifying 1990s albums like The Downward Spiral and The Fragile Evening Standard
Kazuashita is impeccably made, but it could stand a little more chaos A.V. Club
Earth is loaded with mentally and emotionally draining songs A.V. Club
It establishes Washington as a composer and arranger of dizzying potential and still underscores his twin rep as a soloist and jazz conceptualist All Music
ARP Zebra
As unconventional as it is relaxing, Zebra is perhaps Arp's most inviting sound-world yet All Music
Protomartyr Consolation E.P.
This dose of bruising revolt results in a strong antidote to our collective liberal disgust Punk News
Engaging and magical throughout DIY
Johnny Marr Call the Comet
Thirty-five years on from breaking into the industry, Marr’s still got plenty of tricks up his sleeve and certainly proves it on his best and most interesting solo album yet Gig Soup
Kids See Ghosts Kids See Ghosts
No one may be more responsible for introducing a dark mood to mainstream hip-hop than Kanye West and Kid Cudi Spectrum Culture
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