1 October 2026
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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Sixth full-length album of dream pop from the Liverpool-born singer-songwriter and former member of Kill Laura and Misty Dixon
7.8
Modern Kosmology marks another triumphant evolution Read Review
This is music that simultaneously celebrates and explores, that takes pop as its foundation and then builds a multi-layered space on it that welcomes one and all Read Review
A unique, idiosyncratic sound that’s marked by a myriad magic moments Read Review
Weaver's confidence is well-earned and it is a satisfying spectacle that a rather underappreciated artist should find her moment nearly 25 years into her career Read Review
Brilliantly steers a course through Krautrock, femme punk, synth-driven new wave, Euro-prog and psych-pop Read Review
A radiant blast of cosmic rock and intergalactic electro-pop that sounds as next-level as the voice of the spaceship, the brain in the jar, a full-force astral projection. Print edition only
Every bit as good as its predecessor Read Review
Weaver grounds all this analogue fizz and crackle in strong songwriting, erecting a razzle-dazzle wall of sonic scaffolding around richly referential lyrics and lysergic pastoral harmonies. Print edition only
Her most completely realised album yet, albeit by dispensing with folk music almost entirely, in favour of more forceful Krautrock and psychedelic influences Read Review
Music that sounds like it’s transmitted from the outer limits in sharp, concentrated, accessible doses. All the unearthly power, none of the excess Read Review
Not only do these tracks serve to add an extra bit of dynamic tension to the album, they also point to more exploratory avenues Weaver could attempt in the future now that she's mastered synth-heavy dream pop Read Review
When the stars align on moments such as this, it’s a journey that justifies the cosmic ambitions, and Weaver’s best record yet Read Review
‘Modern Kosmology’s’ emphasis is more on atmosphere and rhythmic insistence than melody Read Review
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Jane Weaver: Modern Kosmology
Protomartyr Hotel Usona
Hotel Usona is the perfect accompaniment for Protomartyr's dark themes. It's a calculated mess, grandiose pomp in squalid decay, a steely examination of the modern moment Spectrum Culture
Gilla Band Pugnello
We’ll always need a challenging band that pushes us past our limits, and Pugnello continues their crusade to deafen their audience in the most wonderful way Under The Radar
Gilla Band emerge as spokespersons for our age of solipsism, dissecting and lampooning these proclivities. If we can’t laugh at ourselves, we’re doomed PopMatters
Tinashe Popstar
On Popstar, Tinashe remains at the front of the class, teaching material she has known long enough to deliver with her eyes closed Exclaim
For all of her career, Tinashe has questioned what it means to be a popstar, and here, she does so explicitly. But Popstar is less of a thesis statement than a coming to terms with the identity she's chosen for herself The Line Of Best Fit
The musician’s eighth full-length combines some of her most experimental, genre-blending sounds with her stickiest hooks on an autobiographical trip through stardom and celebrity Paste Magazine
Tinashe’s eighth album is her best and bravest yet: more ambitious, more focused, and effortlessly in touch with the zeitgeist. It’s the best pop album of the year Pitchfork
American R&B artist expands her palette and subverts expectation on liberatingly chaotic and fun eighth album musicOMH
Tinashe is no longer chasing approval. Instead, she’s bold, unpigeonholeable and certain of who she is as a person and artist NME
Beck Ride Lonesome
While many of the orchestral flourishes on Ride Lonesome do not feel as impactful as those on past albums, they still serve as a reminder that Beck can lend even his more nondescript moments a sense of refinement No Ripcord
Neil Young and The Chrome Hearts Second Song
The legendary Canadian looks back over his life in unashamedly nostalgic, romantic fashion with supremely poignant results musicOMH
Johnny Marr The Age of Everything
Former Smiths guitarist's fifth solo album may not contain any surprises but sees him refine his songwriting chops and deliver a solid record in the process musicOMH
Wishy Wishy
The Indianapolis band’s second album is all big feelings and bigger hooks as songwriters Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites level up from their already promising debut NME
Nature's Pill is sexy and brash, but not without touching on the disappointment that comes with trying people on in an attempt to crystallize who you are Exclaim
Besides its transportive nature, this medicine is Wishy’s own because of the ponderous hooks from vocalists Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites, who somehow find their place among the abundant sonic tchotchkes The Line Of Best Fit
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
Rosalía Lux
Kendrick Lamar Damn.
D'Angelo And The Vanguard Black Messiah
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Ghosteen
Spiritbox Tsunami Sea
Self Esteem Prioritise Pleasure
Hayley Williams Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party
Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways