14 December 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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Fifth album, and first to be recorded in a proper studio, from the Australian punk quartet
6.5
An album shorn of sentimental nonsense, where Deaf Wish prove that their stubborn commitment to old-fashioned, back-breaking work still pays off Read Review
The Melbourne quartet’s fifth album doesn’t counteract any Sonic Youth comparisons, but it does conjure an alternate history where the rock formalism of Goo and Dirty became the band’s defining sound Read Review
While every song doesn’t work, they excel at instilling mood Read Review
There's a dark beauty across Lithium Zion Read Review
Deaf Wish are now as articulate as they are furious -- a subtle but vital change that makes this their finest work yet Read Review
As hip-hop and RnB dominate the charts and impress the critics, the championing of rock music in 2018 remains the fevered bleating of dads, which makes it hard to feel a band like Deaf Wish could change anyone’s life anymore Read Review
Perhaps the world has been round the spin cycle of weary Sonic Youth thrash once too often Read Review
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Van Morrison The Prophet Speaks
Compared to the majesty of Astral Weeks, released almost exactly 50 years ago, it’s a ragtag collection that’s unlikely to appeal beyond true believers Evening Standard
Alessia Cara Alessia Cara
Her voice, while gorgeous, is not big in range – its beauty lies in its candidness and presence. She sings like she’s personally sharing intimate tales with each listener NOW
XXXTentacion Skins
The rapper's tragic life makes his art hit home harder than ever Consequence Of Sound
His music, particularly now that he’s no longer around to complete it, is of dubious merit Slant Magazine
Shot dead in June, the rapper has since stormed charts worldwide. This posthumous album reveals a maverick talent – and a grim contribution from Kanye West The Guardian
Strictly for fans who needed just ten more reasons to hear his voice All Music
'SKINS' is another fiery blast of catharsis, a largely metaphor-free space where depression isn't hinted at poetically but invited to throw down The Independent
Underneath it all, the posthumous album from the Florida rapper is woefully aimless and structurally unsound Pitchfork
Lubomyr Melnyk Fallen Trees
This, like the other excellent records he has given us since his belated emergence into the global limelight, is a work of quiet - but nonetheless defiant – beauty from a true great of contemporary classical music Drowned In Sound
Daniel Knox Chasescene
Wonderfully dark fourth album. Print edition only Uncut
The production is old Hollywood by way of Weimar Berlin: tipsy pianos, swooning strings and debonair melodies Evening Standard
Vera Sola Shades
Vera wrote, played and arranged all of the parts herself, creating layers of sounds using traditional instrumentation that is both complex and sparse. Shades is a world of lone marching drums with choirs hidden in the shadows God Is In The TV
There's much to admire. Print edition only Uncut
Think Jolie Holland, or P.J. Harvey's To Bring You My Love, and prepare to be entranced. Print edition only Mojo
Ultimately Sola's muse remains rooted in the nocturnal. Print edition only Q
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