23 December 2024
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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Third studio album from the New York rapper with guest appearances from FKA twigs, French Montana, Juicy J, Kid Cudi, Kodak Black, Moby, Frank Ocean, Skepta
6.4
The Harlem rapper's latest is loud, frenetic, and about as vibrant as hip-hop gets Read Review
Sonically, Testing is an experimental project. A shedding of the 29-year-old artist's old skin and a rebirth of something more profound and slightly more complicated Read Review
On his third studio album, Rocky is more experimental and personal. But for music that relies on the New York rapper’s artful intuitions, it’s unfortunate his intuitions are often very basic Read Review
An intriguing mix of garbled white noise and amp interference interspersed with splashes of instrumentals and a smattering of A-list features Read Review
ASAP Rocky takes to more experimentation in his music to match up with his style of fashion Read Review
Testing is what it says it is, though this far into his career, he should be doing better than merely a passing grade Read Review
The rapper’s aversion to the mainstream takes his third album to some glorious heights, with the help of Skepta and Frank Ocean. But is his swaggering decadence wearing thin? Read Review
Testing’s title might suggest experimentation, but it delivers more on tentativeness, with a smattering of solid songs mixed into aesthetically interesting but unresolved experiments Read Review
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Public Service Broadcasting The Last Flight
The album closes with the absolutely haunting “Howland,” named for the island where Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, were supposed to stop to refuel. Clocking in at eight and a half minutes and ending with actual field recordings of the island itself, it’s a worthy and mournful ending to a tragic story Under The Radar
Kendrick Lamar GNX
Burning down the industry with a reinvigorated competitive spirit Consequence Of Sound
Kim Deal Nobody Loves You More
Sounds both like it could have been a long-lost session from 1996 and, somehow, perfectly of the moment Consequence Of Sound
The Cure Songs Of A Lost World
For everyone who needs a good wallow Consequence Of Sound
Tyler, The Creator Chromakopia
If IGOR was Tyler’s high-concept experiment and CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST was the more accessible reintroduction of Tyler, the Man, CHROMAKOPIA falls somewhere in the middle Consequence Of Sound
Lady Gaga Harlequin
Using covers and originals to sketch a three-act story Consequence Of Sound
Saint Etienne The Night
Say hello to the insomniac street preachers The Irish Times
Christopher Owens I Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair
Owens has always been a songwriter devoid of irony, and here the sincerity remains. However, the crushing weight of that is always levied by the floatiness of strings or the choral contributions Far Out
Will it ever be one of my favourite Saint Etienne records? Probably not. But it’s undoubtedly quite a cinematic LP, and never anything less than listenable God Is In The TV
FLO Access All Areas
FLO’s long-heralded debut record entertains while writing a single song 16 ways The Skinny
Father John Misty Mahashmashana
Mahasmashana is a triumph and return to form for Tillman, who navigates themes of impermanence, rebirth, duality of mind and body, and the passage of time, without cynicism but much needed grace—for a world that his child will inherit Under The Radar
Chat Pile Cool World
Retaining the band’s dark edge, it’s a vital, sweeping achievement from start to finish Under The Radar
Kelly Lee Owens Dreamstate
It captures dance music’s sheer kinetic high, but also the emotive undercurrents that make it so affecting. The album is a tribute to bringing dreams to life, pushing the listener to share in their heightened rush and imagine better times ahead Under The Radar
Snoop Dogg Missionary
While the music is big and hulking, the smaller details seem to have been glossed over Slant Magazine
On the beloved indie-pop trio’s 11th album, world-weary acceptance and the unending march of time take shape as cloudy ambient tones and creepy nocturnal resonance Pitchfork
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
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
Dave We’re All Alone In This Together