17 October 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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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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Soulwax All Systems Are Lying
What marks out 'All Systems Are Lying' most obviously is the presence of Laima Leyton’s vocals The Arts Desk
A vibrantly textured, shapeshifting, and inquisitively diverse return DIY
Displays plenty of the turbo-charged, New Order-ish electro-pop traits of their best work Record Collector
While there's not much depth to the lyrics on the Dewaele brothers' latest album, when it sounds this good, who cares? The Skinny
Soulwax has always been great at eroding the lines between rock and dance music, utilising and harnessing the power of the riff in an electronic context. This continues to be forcefully apparent on tracks like "Idiots In Love". Print edition only Uncut
It struts with confidence. Print edition only Mojo
Sudan Archives The BPM
A dizzying, frenetic collision of sound and vision The Skinny
At 15 tracks, The BPM is rather too much of a sensory overload, but this is enthusiasm in context. Print edition only Uncut
While the concept means Parks' violin takes a backseat, it makes for a dizzying, future-facing hybrid of dancefloor sounds. Print edition only Mojo
Perhaps it's the vulnerability at the core of THE BPM that really makes what Sudan Archives is doing still feel so fresh. Standing out in the club music scene, it sets a new standard for anyone interested in playing with sound while maintaining an accessible heartbeat Exclaim
The album pulses with the kind of euphoria that comes from letting loose on the dance floor Slant Magazine
Hannah Frances Nested In Tangles
Despite clearly having experienced and subsequently created a whirlwind, Frances proves that she is masterfully in control of everything she is doing. Play on, maestro – let the circus continue Far Out
The Last Dinner Party From The Pyre
It feels even more dynamic than the last as they lean fully into fantasy, going fully cinematic or even folkloric, but then switching it up again and again, combining pure poetry with modern references to Real Housewives Far Out
Deftones Private Music
The energy is infectious, the pace is relentless and frenetic, and the magic is constant, truly carving out a 'back to form' aura Punk News
Agriculture The Spiritual Sound
The instrumentation and sequencing, the fury and fragility. Whatever magical combination has coalesced to create this record, I’m all in. I can’t get enough of it. I’ve got a new band occupying that space in my mind where I know they can create special music and that makes me immensely happy Punk News
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
Spiritbox Tsunami Sea
Self Esteem Prioritise Pleasure
Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree
Frank Ocean Channel Orange