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8 January 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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Highest Recent Ratings

Albums to watch

SnocapsSnocaps

"They are back playing pop that is pretty darn unmatched" (8.6/10 - Northern Transmissions). "A hailstorm of warm, exceptionally-written country-rock bangers backed by MJ Lenderman and Brad Cook" (8.5/10 - Paste)

Florence + The MachineEverybody Scream

"Florence Welch enlists horror and magic to harness hope" (10/10 - NME). "An urgent and vital testimony to survival and rebirth, Florence Welch’s sixth album is a defiant middle finger to doubters" (9/10 - musicOMH)

Lily AllenWest End Girl

"Her best album in 16 years, an incisive diary of a marriage in freefall" (10/10 - The Independent). "A hard-hitting pop exposition, while also providing an endless supply of hooks" (8/10 - Clash)

The Last Dinner PartyFrom The Pyre

"Insanely rich with ideas, hooks, smart artifice and real emotion, From The Pyre is a feast of giddy raptures" (10/10 - Record Collector). "Both thematically and sonically richer" (10/10 - DIY)

BrògealTuesday Paper Club

"2026 is there for Brogeal’s taking, they’re gonna be a lot of people’s new favourite band" (8/10 - God Is In The TV). "This is what it sounds like when a band get it right the first time" (10/10 - Dork)

THE CHART: THE TOP RATED NEW ALBUMS

The ADM rating is a weighted average from our survey of more than 50 sources , taking into account the number of reviews

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8.6
ADM Rating

Dove Ellis

Blizzard

Debut album from the Galway-born, Manchester-based indie-rock artist

Added: 05/12/2025
8.0

Dry Cleaning

Secret Love

Third album from the South Lodon post-punk quartet produced by Cate Le Bon recorded at Black Box Studios in the Loire Valley, France

Added: 08/01/2026
7.4

This is Lorelei

Holo Boy

The second full-length release from the Vermont songer-songwriter and producer Nate Amos features re-recording of songs written between 2014 and 2021

Added: 12/12/2025
6.9

Melody’s Echo Chamber

Unclouded

Fourth studio album from French indie dream pop singer-songwriter Melody Prochet

Added: 05/12/2025

Latest Reviews

Dry Cleaning Secret Love

Secret Love follows 2022’s Stumpwork, an album that pushed Dry Cleaning’s sound towards more expansive routes, a direction of travel that, with the help of Cate Le Bon’s expert production, has led to their best work yet. It is also their most direct. Print edition only Record Collector

Dry Cleaning Secret Love

Secret Love, produced by Cate Le Bon, obliterates the thought [they would struggle to surprise a second time] entirely. Print edition only Uncut

Dry Cleaning Secret Love

Dry Cleaning have lost none of their distinctive edge, their idiosyncratic set-up proving to be endlessly elastic, as big as they want, as small as they need, ?to capture the chaos of the world. No hidden messages here: Secret Love is a wonderful record. Print edition only Mojo

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Our roundup of the critics' end-of-year best albums lists - the ultimate, definitive Best Of The Best Ofs, 2025

Fresh stuff

Blizzard by Dove Ellis

"With shades of Jeff and Tim Buckley, the Galway-born artist writes tunes so strong they seem as familiar as old friends" (10/10 - The Guardian). "The sound is entirely his" (8/10 - DIY)

Oneohtrix Point NeverTranquilizer
"An impossibly dense and transportive electronic album that takes impermanence as its inspiration" (8.6/10 - Pitchfork). "A demonstration of Daniel Lopatin’s mastery of structural tension" (9/10 - Slant)

Melody’s Echo ChamberUnclouded
"The music is immaculate and interesting throughout" (8/10 - Northern Transmissions). "A record that is just as impressively crafted as anything she has done" (9/10 - All Music)

Keaton HensonParader
"An increase in volume paired with a new immediacy and confidence make this his most accessible album to date" (8/10 - musicOMH). "A huge step forwards" (8/10 - Mojo)

Mavis StaplesSad And Beautiful World
Sad and Beautiful World is much more than a mere collection of Staples’ incredible gospel and soul-soaked mastery; it is a reminder of what has been before and what the future could be (8/10 - Far Out)

All-time top 10

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.

See full list