15 January 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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Our archive of chart news from the past, and present.
Ringo Starr Look Up
Look Up is technically sound, but the focal point fails to deliver on the key aspects that help us lean towards country music. We end up with a shell of a record, missing out on humility and depth. It’s not a terrible album to listen to, but there are much better out there Far Out
The pacing is perfect and the end result is one of Starr’s strongest albums in his career Spill Magazine
Making good on his legacy as the Beatles’ resident cowboy, the former Fab Four drummer teams up with T Bone Burnett on a solo album steeped in classic country Pitchfork
New county album is full of the charm and camaraderie that's always made him so lovable Rolling Stone
His wheelhouse has always been in conveying emotion, profound sincerity and of course his stellar storytelling, and ‘Look Up’ is the perfect showcase for him to do that Clash
Who knew Starr and Burnett would make such a great team? And who else hopes they'll try this again? All Music
Moonchild Sanelly Full Moon
The sex-positive South African trailblazer deserves to break into the mainstream with the fullest expression so far of her wit and sheer verve The Observer
Ethel Cain Perverts
Ambient soundscapes dominate US singer-songwriter Hayden Silas Anhedönia’s resolutely avant garde second album The Observer
Franz Ferdinand The Human Fear
It's some of their most self-assured-sounding music, but thanks to its naked emotions and eclectic choices, it's also some of their most human-sounding music. All told, it's a respectable - but not too respectable - addition to their body of work All Music
The Human Fear ends as an uneven effort of a band pulling in multiple directions Spill Magazine
A project full of push/pull, enveloping warmth and chafing discomfort. It offers an intimate glimpse into Anhedönia’s artistry and process, while at other points keeping the listener at arm’s length through the use of alienating noise and stark negative space Albumism
The album, at multiple points, features what I can only describe as sudden and violent sonic jump scares, which, through sudden bursts, suddenly transform even familiar environment into a nightmare Beats Per Minute
Lambrini Girls Who Let The Dogs Out
They’ve dropped an album of the year contender just 10 days into 2025. Big power move, that Kerrang!
The Scottish band’s first album since 2018 expands their sound in a way that suits them Paste Magazine
It's no contemplative home listening affair, more one to play while driving fast or leaping around a room The Arts Desk
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"Truly beautiful and moving ambient pop mini-triumph that's sad, nostalgic, and elegiac" (9/10 - All Music). "Conjures images of a city just before dawn rises" (7/10 - musicOMH)
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