15 December 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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All the top 20s from the ADM sources (or those that bothered, anyway)
FASTER LOUDER
SLANT
RAVE MAGAZINE
PREFIX
POP MATTERS
THE FLY
MUSIC OMH
THE QUIETUS
ROLLING STONE
UNCUT
STATE
CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND
DAILY TELEGRAPH
TINY MIX TAPES
THE GUARDIAN
PITCHFORK
NO RIPCORD
LINE OF BEST FIT
Q MAGAZINE
MOJO
THE SKINNY
DROWNED IN SOUND
NME
BOWLEGS1 Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti Before Today2 Fol Chen Part II: The New December3 Wild Nothing Gemini4 Avi Buffalo Avi Buffalo 5 Beach House Teen Dream6 Secret Cities Pink Graffiti7 The National High Violet8 Warpaint The Fool9 Kelly Stoltz To Dreamers10 Deerhunter Halcyon Digest11 Baths Cerulean12 Marnie Stern Marnie Stern 13 How To Dress Well Love Remains14 Tame Impala Innerspeaker15 Caribou Swim16 These New Puritans Hidden17 The Walkmen Lisbon18 Liars Sisterworld19 Toro Y Moi Causers Of This20 No Age Everything In BetweenCLASH
AV CLUB
SPIN
This is Lorelei Holo Boy
Amos has been an expert popsmith for years; the world is finally catching up, and not a moment too soon All Music
One half of Water From Your Eyes re-records songs from the back catalogue of his other band, resulting in acoustic fare touched with regret and darkness The Guardian
Nate Amos’s latest solo album consists entirely of songs written in the years prior to 2024’s Box for Buddy, Box for Star. The music presents us with yet another robust block of material that allows his idiosyncratic songwriting to truly shine Paste Magazine
This Is Lorelei’s Holo Boy has the air of an artist taking stock, as he maps the route taken while checking which parts still line up now Spectrum Culture
Songwriter Nate Amos polishes up 10 tracks from his Bandcamp days and confronts humorous self-effacement with new confidence Pitchfork
A wonderfully enjoyable cycle of straight-down-the-line songwriting Clash
Oneohtrix Point Never Tranquilizer
It’s his best work since Replica, and the most complete realization of his long-running obsession with the imperfect persistence of time. Tranquilizer doesn’t just show you a world—it shows you how that world remembers itself Under The Radar
Melody’s Echo Chamber Unclouded
This is the epitome of a “vibes album,” and as a vibes album, Unclouded knocks it out of the park Spectrum Culture
Dove Ellis Blizzard
Dove Ellis’ debut is remarkably assured, showcasing a new talent with strong potential Spectrum Culture
The Galway-born singer-songwriter takes Romantic yearning — for the pure, the mythical, the divine — and turns it gently earthward on Blizzard Paste Magazine
Despite its title, ‘Tranquilizer’ is deceptively mesmerizing, potently putting calm emotions into a frenzied state, and leaving you coming back for more Northern Transmissions
Little Simz Lotus
She’s a rapper who refuses to let up and keeps ensuring that her name is held aloft in the conversations of the best in the world Far Out
Dove Ellis breathes new life into the Irish folk-rock scene. The album is hopeful, complex and as a whole plays with the picturesque diction of a pastoral poem. Wondering what will follow this stunning debut makes the listening all the more enjoyable Hot Press
A debut album full of beautifully crafted songs, delivered with the confidence and verve of a veteran musicOMH
Blood Orange Essex Honey
There’s a consistency in the inconsistent nature of this music, and beauty resonates throughout every unpredictable second Far Out
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
Rosalía Lux
Kendrick Lamar Damn.
D'Angelo And The Vanguard Black Messiah
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Ghosteen
Spiritbox Tsunami Sea
Self Esteem Prioritise Pleasure
Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree