7 September 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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Fourth solo album from the Houston rapper featuring guest appearances from Bon Iver, Sampha, Drake, Playboi Carti, Beyoncé, 21 Savage, the Weeknd, Yung Lean, Young Thug, James Blake, Kid Cudi, Bad Bunny, Future and SZA
6.2
UTOPIA sees Scott stay true to his style, his preferences, and his principles, going against the grain of the tendencies in the viral-hungry world that is 2023 ra Read Review
Lead single ‘K-POP’ remains a titanic moment, but its immediacy is perhaps a misnomer on a record dominated by misdirection, about-turns, and sudden revelations Read Review
The album operates less as a cohesive body of work and more as a series of show-stopping set pieces Read Review
The Houston rapper's first album since 2018 teases a brave new sonic world, but has little to say about what might happen if we get there Read Review
In an attempt to give the world a true blockbuster rap album, the Houston rapper delivers a shiny, empty spectacle loaded with pop superstars who rarely make an impact Read Review
The reality is that while Scott is a masterful curator, he’s just an OK rapper. Those two realities are discordant for too many moments on Utopia Read Review
Returning with a long-awaited fourth album in the wake of the Astroworld disaster, Scott’s rhyming isn’t strong enough to distinguish him from his A-list guests Read Review
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Alabama Shakes I Must Be Dreaming
Even at their most wide-ranging, the Shakes make it all sound effortlessly cool No Ripcord
Julia Holter Materia
Materia is best appreciated as a document of process rather than a completed thought No Ripcord
Getdown Services Massive Champion
Unmistakably English, but way funnier and much more interesting musically than Sleaford Mods No Ripcord
Arab Strap Half-Told Tales
Much like its name, Half-Told Tales, these deeply felt, descriptive and lived-in songs are amongst the formidable Scottish duo’s finest and most immediate work The Quietus
Mastodon Marrow Deep
Cerebral and caustic, the structures built within the body of Marrow Deep are worth exploring The Quietus
Dexy Midnight Runners LOVE
With its strings, slowies and lush M.O.R production, the music sometimes achieves the emotional impact it aims for The Arts Desk
Sleep Hempispheres
The stoner-doom institution returns, minus founding guitarist Matt Pike, for a monotonous album of timid riffs and bad weed puns Pitchfork
The departure of guitarist Matt Pike doesn’t leave the stoner metal band marooned Paste Magazine
The quality of Hempispheres stands well enough to rate as a solid crossover work, leaving the depth-charged ruins of Dopesmoker and the following orbit of The Sciences behind, finding new planetary matter to dig into No Ripcord
It’s unlikely I’ll pick Hempispheres over their classics, as it’s the least overwhelming and that’s mainly what I want to experience when I listen to Sleep. However, that doesn’t mean it is not a legitimate, well-thought work by committed musicians who evidently navigate a new era Sputnik Music (staff)
The firepower Matt Pike brought to Sleep's seminal recordings is noticeably absent, but rather than replace it, Cisneros and company chose to embrace a more celestial, perhaps age-appropriate approach to getting ripped All Music
Chat Pile Who Loves The Sun
With more of what existing devotees demand, plus a few degrees of increasing accessibility, Who Loves The Sun suggests that as the climate around them heats up, so do Chat Pile. At least the latter is a very good thing Kerrang!
Packed with caustic drama and moments of real heart, Half-Told Tales makes clear that Arab Strap are still well connected to their alt-pop alchemy that fuelled former glories, that likewise has dreamed up a fine record cementing their always unique presence in the indie world Far Out
We’re watching the world fall apart in real time. Ever wondered what that sounded like? On Who Loves the Sun, Chat Pile expose the contradictions and controversies at the heart of the compendium of chaos with searing lyricism and exciting instrumentation Far Out
It's a true delight that Dexys Midnight Runners are back to reclaim their place in the pop music firmament and LOVE is nothing less than a late career highlight that pales not at all when held up to their early work All Music
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