20 April 2024
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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Second posthumous album from the rapper following his death in February 2020 includes guest appearances from Kanye West, Pusha T, Rick Ross, 21 Savage, Future, Chris Brown, Dua Lipa and Pharrell
5.6
Faith is the ultimate affirmation of Pop Smoke’s musical transcendence Read Review
‘Faith’ succeeds by offering not ony an elegiac portrait of Pop Smoke, but also a vision of what he could have become Read Review
The rapper’s second posthumous album has some dazzling moments, but ultimately feels like business as usual for an audience whose attention may be elsewhere Read Review
Despite poor production choices and lazy song structures, Pop Smoke's energy and solo spurts of brilliance won't allow for this stale posthumous release to tarnish his legacy Read Review
The Canarsie don's raw talent is overshadowed by superfluous guest spots on the second album to be released since his tragic death in 2020 Read Review
Pop Smoke’s second posthumous album sounds like it’s solely designed to generate clicks as a new generation of rap fans continues to be exploited for their streams Read Review
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Taylor Swift The Tortured Poets Department
Swift’s prolific nature is a double-edged sword; her unfiltered creativity is a boon for die-hard fans but could be overwhelming for casual listeners. Nevertheless, what remains indisputable is the closure this volume brings to a tumultuous chapter in Swift’s life Dork
Thorny on arrival but ultimately insightful, TTPD is a mature, messy, and grippingly honest look into Swift’s tortured psyche Northern Transmissions
Cloud Nothings Final Summer
Baldi has clearly carved out his own corner of plainspoken wisdom; on Final Summer, unfortunately, the songs don’t quite do his insights justice Under The Radar
Superstar’s 11th studio album is the fruit of abject misery but is also steeped in the singer’s trademark indefatigable optimism The Irish Times
Pearl Jam Dark Matter
With superproducer Andrew Watt working his magic, the Seattle grunge veterans sound on point and full of energy in their 35th anniversary year The Observer
Claire Rousay Sentiment
Largely recorded on the road and full of found sounds, this beguiling record from the US ambient artist captures the feeling of self-inflicted solitude The Observer
The grunge band launch themselves into their latest record with wholehearted, full-throated commitment The FT
Eleventh album shows her style evolving in 16 songs that range from charmingly cheesy to moodily melodramatic The FT
You don’t need to know exactly what she’s saying to know that it means everything Loud And Quiet
A record that is quietly powerful in its delicate yet emotional execution. Print edition only Uncut
There is unquestionable bravery in the access and vulnerability that sentiment communicates, and the journey into pop music is yet another promising step in rousay's always-morphing development Exclaim
Channelling her signature sound into an album of emo-inflected pop songs, sentiment is claire rousay’s most personal work to date The Skinny
The Los Angeles-based composer and singer-songwriter’s latest collection delivers a spectrum of emotions colored by expressive, refreshing candor Paste Magazine
Though haunted by the phantoms of what could’ve been, Taylor’s most cathartic release to have created is her most cathartic to listen to; a spell-binding, toxic, chaotic illustration of what floating adrift and losing yourself looks like Clash
Nia Archives Silence Is Loud
Exuding femme energy – she’s frequently DJ’d to women-only spaces – she taps into an often neglected aspect of jungle history, while writing a few chapters of her own. An early Mercury tip? Don’t bet against it Clash
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