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4 June 2023

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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New

Noel Gallagher's High Flying BirdsCouncil Skies

"Shows flashes of the glory days" (NME). "This collection of songs is one of his finest post-Oasis offerings" (Clash). "Noel Gallagher’s best solo work yet" (XS Noize)

New

Foo FightersBut Here We Are

"Ambitious, poignant, and vivid in equal measure" (Clash). "Will come to be the most treasured Foo Fighters album of all" (Gigwise). "A suitably pensive toast to rock’s restorative powers" (NME)

New

Arlo ParksMy Soft Machine

"A triumph, matching the heights of her debut while embracing some unexpected aspects" (Clash). "Fully representing the multifaceted complexities of the world outside" (DIY)

Highest Recent Ratings

Albums to watch

Paul SimonSeven Psalms

"The veteran singer-songwriter ponders faith and mortality in seven beautiful, impressionistic movements" (The Observer). "Seven Psalms is, more than anything else, a thematic experience" (Sputnik Music)

OvermonoGood Lies

"Knitting garage with techno, the pounding yet poppy debut album is masterfully done" (The Guardian). "Retain all the hallmarks of their early work while dialling up the ambition" (NME)

The Lemon TwigsEverything Harmony

"New York duo have never mined the past more effectively than on this fourth album" (The Guardian). "A statement to the musical mastery at work behind the scenes of The Lemon Twigs HQ" (Dork)

The NationalFirst Two Pages Of Frankenstein

"The US indie heroes deliver a dose of profound catharsis and their finest album in a decade" (NME). "An album of low-key brilliance" (Northern Transmissions)

Susanne Sundførblómi

"Offers a widescreen perspective of humanity, optimism, and purpose" (Slant). "Songwriting of an incredibly powerful reach, with penetrating tones that get to the core of the human spirit with piercing clarity" (musicOMH)

Everything But The GirlFuse

"A rich, atmospheric song cycle, it has the emotional heft of The Blue Nile and the production nous of Massive Attack" (Clash). "Imbued with the sounds of today" (NME)

Metallica72 Seasons

"Old and new fans alike will be headbanging happily throughout" (The Independent). "It's Metallica by the books, the experimentation and curiosity pushed aside for brutality and sheer force" (TLoBF)

WednesdayRat Saw God

"The album cycles through an eclectic range of influences, from grunge to shoegaze to country-style balladry" (Slant). "Wildly ambitious and easily lives up to the industry hype" (Exclaim)

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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6.8

Sleep Token

Take Me Back To Eden

Third full-length album from London-based masked black metal collective

Added: 19/05/2023
6.7

Nabihah Iqbal

Dreamer

Second album from the London-based artist who worked as a producer under the moniker Throwing Shade

Added: 28/04/2023
6.6

The Smashing Pumpkins

Atum

Twelfth full-length release from the alternative rock band is a 33-track rock opera/concept album

Added: 11/05/2023
6.6

Rufus Wainwright

Folkocracy

Latest studio album from the Canadian baroque pop singer-songwriter produced by Mitchell Froom (Suzanne Vega, Los Lobos)

Added: 02/06/2023
5.9

Lewis Capaldi

Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent

Second album from the Scottish singer-songwriter working with a series of songwriters and producers including TMS, Phil Plested, Nick Atkinson and Edd Holloway

Added: 18/05/2023
5.5

Ed Sheeran

- (Subtract)

Fifth studio album from the English popstar produced by The National's Aaron Dessner

Added: 05/05/2023

Latest Reviews

Beach Fossils Bunny

Beach Fossils’ latest album distills the best of their daydreamy indie-pop with new wisdom and existential angst. But they’re just still as laid-back as you remember Pitchfork

Beach Fossils Bunny

If you allow yourself the time to uncover all of its layers of depth, that glow only becomes brighter Clash

Beach Fossils Bunny

The moderate pacing and more personally derived songwriting make the album one that demands closer attention to fully understand and enjoy, but it rewards that attention with some of the band's most nuanced and subtly detailed pop constructions to date, ultimately revealing new depths both musical and emotive Albumism

More reviews

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Fresh stuff

The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte by Sparks

"The brothers Mael are incorporating new sounds and concepts, whilst still sounding exactly like themselves" (musicOMH). "Continue their streak of delightful strange and imaginative vignettes" (NME)

Water From Your EyesEveryone's Crushed
"It’s honest, smart, refined – and simply excellent" (Loud And Quiet). "It feels like they’ve finally found their sound" (The Guardian). "Dare to suggest experimental music can be funny" (The Skinny)

KeshaGag Order
"It is, in the word’s true sense, a psychedelic album" (The Arts Desk). "Loaded with deliciously weird hooks, ‘Gag Order’ showcases a singer who is just getting started" (The Independent)

KaytraminéKaytraminé
"An assured and confident debut and packed to the brim with style" (TLoBF). "Feels like one of the most necessary, anthem-filled summer releases in recent hip-hop memory" (American Songwriter)

Bar ItaliaTracey Denim
“The prolific London trio chart a promising and imaginative course with their first release on Matador Records” (NME). "With songs like these, they were never going to stay a secret for long" (The Skinny)

Lewis CapaldiBroken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent
"There’s a confidence, even if feigned, that sets this version of Capaldi apart from 2019’s" (The Line Of Best Fit). "Though these songs tread familiar ground, any cynicism is undetectable" (Evening Standard)

Ed Sheeran- (Subtract)
"It’s downcast yet full of new ideas – but will fans take to it?" (The Guardian). "Unsheathing himself from the gloss of his prior work, Ed Sheeran has delivered a work of great truth" (Clash)

Alison GoldfrappThe Love Invention
"Welcome to Alison Goldfrapp’s paradisiacal, tempting, thrilling vision of the sublime" (Clash). "Her first solo album ever does away with the moody darkness altogether" (Evening Standard)

billy woods / Kenny SegalMaps
"Kenny Segal is the perfect partner for his knotted and descriptive delivery. He emotionally matches each verse with fluid and deliberate production" (Loud And Quiet)

Jessie WareThat! Feels Good!
"A wild ride of an album" (Dork). "The retro mood of Ware’s brash pop never feels like a costume" (The Guardian). "The sound of an artist hitting their stride and then some" (DIY)

Indigo De SouzaAll Of This Will End
"Takes no prisoners on her third album, but there's hope tangled up in all the rage" (The Skinny). "The album allows the singer to get things off of her chest after years of holding it all in" (Slant)

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