3 November 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 full-length release from the post-punk Liverpool quartet produced by Ryan and Gary Jarman from The Cribs
7.3
‘New Last Name’ is the sound of the band proving that they can distil all the madness and experimentalism of their debut into something even more fulfilling and emotionally resonant with deeper lyricism, wittier asides, killer hooks and a questing desire to unquestionably be nothing but themselves Read Review
This deserves to be on all of the 2024 lists Read Review
The Liverpool quartet merges a vibrant personality and color with lofty ambitions on their sophomore album Read Review
Just as they did on Guitar Music, Courting throws us for a loop. For every steadfast rock song on the album, there’s a song with synth beats slipped in, another using autotune to soften any hard edges they might have Read Review
New Last Name marks an ambitious turn for Courting, as they think through an album-as-album and then find the meeting point between their pop and art-rock inclinations Read Review
The production on the Liverpool band's second LP is perpetually in motion: both ambitious and scattershot at once Read Review
Although Courting embrace noisy new instrumentation on New Last Name, making it fun and energetic, it sadly fails to match the impact and charm of their debut Read Review
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Snocaps Snocaps
The Crutchfield twins — accompanied by MJ Lenderman and Brad Cook — reunite for a spirited new project that plays to their strengths and embraces all the miles they’ve traveled Pitchfork
Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield and her twin sister Allison Crutchfield of Swearin’ get together for a fantastic surprise album Rolling Stone
Despite Snocaps' supergroup pedigree, their debut album feels less like boygenius-style star-making moment and more like a low-stakes romp. With a spirit of fun and camaraderie, this feels a bit like the rock-leaning cousin to Katie Crutchfield's band Plains Exclaim
Music from Katie is always welcome and, these days, not so rare. Which makes the return of Allison to the forefront on half these tracks the most wonderful of Snocaps’ surprises Under The Radar
Waxahatchee and her twin sister are joined by Lenderman and Brad Cook for an album of headstrong, tender Americana about chasing integrity and conviction The Guardian
The twin sisters’ first album together since P.S. Eliot’s breakup in 2011 is a hailstorm of warm, exceptionally-written country-rock bangers backed by MJ Lenderman and Brad Cook Paste Magazine
Witch Fever Fevereaten
Every single aspect of this record presents an elevated version of a band that many already loved, and it’s a joy to listen to Far Out
Anna Von Hausswolff ICONOCLASTS
For newcomers, this album presents a near perfect, accessible entry into her recordings All Music
The Charlatans We Are Love
The Charlatans have done with We Are Love and while it may not win them front page news, it's an accomplishment well worth applauding All Music
Florence + The Machine Everybody Scream
Her first album after three difficult years is an epic reassertion of Florence’s fearsome, spell-binding power Evening Standard
It’s the sound of a band unafraid to stare something horrible in the face and keep moving forward anyway Dork
A little more of Final Girl's filmic atmospherics might have added life and range, but when Drank The Sap hits its stride, Witch Fever max the catharsis with satisfying force. Print edition only Record Collector
Witch Fever is a band with overwhelming promise. Even in ‘FEVEREATEN’s less cohesive moments, they show their potential to grow into their sound and harness every remnant of emotion Clash
In their second full-length album, Manchester's Witch Fever deliver a high impact, genre-bending rejection of hegemony The Skinny
This is an album for the coldest of autumns and for dark nights of the soul. It’s hellish, haunting and an emotional maelstrom, deeper and more textured than Witch Fever have ever gone before. At this point, everyone needs to know who this band are Kerrang!
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