24 February 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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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
Gorillaz The Mountain
A rich, rewarding take on living with and after loss, brimming with feeling, character and vibrant pop purpose. Print edition only Record Collector
Gorillaz's most ambitious (and moving) record to date. Print edition only Mojo
Its 15 tracks are filled with cheery major-key singalongs, sitar-soaked synth-pop bangers and whimsical waltzes that serve as ecstatic celebrations of life, rebirth and reinvention. Print edition only Uncut
Bill Callahan My Days of 58
“The Man I’m Supposed to Be” starts eerie and slow, sounding like those early Smog releases. Callahan notes that he’s seen “that demon inside me.” With horns ominously tooting along, Callahan right then and there makes the case as one of our greatest pulp, not quite gothic, singer songwriters Northern Transmissions
Iron & Wine Hen's Teeth
Iron and Wine displays Samuel Beam at the height of his songwriting powers as he delivers another melodic helping of folk rock XS Noize
Eighth album from former Smog man finds him sharing personal reflections and stories in customary understated, unhurried style musicOMH
The album sees the singer facing down mortality with candor and humor Slant Magazine
It’s a collection of songs that are sagely and slightly sad, with a touch of characteristic wryness and dryness around the edges. Here’s hoping Bill has better days ahead Record Collector
It's hard not to view My Days Of 58 as among his most transparently autobiographical works, as brimming with self-scrutiny and pontification as it is elegant wordplay. Print edition only Uncut
Compelling meditations on humanity, mortality and the everlasting Mojo
Veteran singer-songwriter Bill Callahan returns with a personal yet approachable masterwork The Skinny
As one of the most consistently compelling musicians of his era, Sam Beam continues a streak of good albums that’s decidedly yet to meet its end Paste Magazine
Charli XCX Wuthering Heights
The few stellar tracks on Wuthering Heights assert that Charli XCX is one of pop’s most forward-thinking artists. The rest of the album, however, is bland in a way that feels beneath what we know she’s capable of creating Spectrum Culture
Mitski Nothing's About to Happen to Me
Mitski produces numerous thought-provoking lines, seamlessly blended again with rich tapestries of sound The Arts Desk
Gorillaz explore life, death and what comes next on their ninth album The Mountain The Skinny
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
Hayley Williams Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party
Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways