29 January 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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Second album from Danish indie rock five-piece often compared to Polyphonic Spree or Arcade Fire
5.8
...fans still mourning the death of Grandaddy. All of you are directed immediately towards Sleep Mountain Read Review
Centre it all around a heartbreaking cover of Neil Young’s ‘Philadelphia’ and the result is nothing short of stunning Read Review
It may not be breaking any new ground, but there are enough great songs to be found here that the need to be sonic adventurers is rendered insignificant Read Review
Print edition only
Passionate, urgent, full of music that swoops with the geometric elegance of flocking birds, but shows scant evidence of original thinking Read Review
At a time when Win Butler’s rabble aren’t the indie poster-boy darlings of old, you’ve got to feel this is an opportunity wasted Read Review
It's full of anthemic grace, but over 12 tracks, the whiff of déjà vu proves suffocating Read Review
Essential? No. Satisfying? Definitely Read Review
Sleep Mountain trades in the first album’s starry-eyed wonderment and excitable four-man-harmony outbursts for a more ornate but portentous delivery Read Review
Sleep Mountain lacks both the urgency and unhinged fervour of Arcade Fire and the inventive mischief of the Flaming Lips Read Review
Those who brave the record's turgid front end will be treated to Sleep Mountain's more interesting portion Read Review
Its two main crimes are that it’s too safe with its simple chord patterns and unimaginative riffs, and that it’s too in thrall to the records that have inspired it Read Review
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The Kissaway Trail: Sleep Mountain
Ari Lennox Vacancy
Neo-soul elegance and late-night vibes define the R&B star’s most inviting record to date NME
Lennox’s music often nods to the past, but her new album feels more in tune with the zeitgeist Slant Magazine
The singer’s first album for Interscope is honey-sweet, grown-up R&B that’s looking for a little something missing Pitchfork
Lennox balances jazz-soaked tradition with flashes of unruly humour and a surefire viral hit The Guardian
Jenny on Holiday Quicksand Heart
Feels more like a steady progression than a revolutionary rebrand No Ripcord
Megadeth Megadeth
Megadeth's self-titled swan song is weighted down by its own sense of importance No Ripcord
The Cribs Selling A Vibe
They're truly at their best when their tuneful choruses come paired with a raw, stripped-down treatment No Ripcord
Westside Cowboy So Much Country ‘Till We Get There
Island imprint Adventure Recordings appears to be giving Westside Cowboy a hefty push, and the early signs are that they have the chops to make the most of it No Ripcord
Cast Yeah Yeah Yeah
This is Cast sounding comfortable, confident, and settled. The songs are strong, the production is polished without being overworked, and the band sound like they know exactly who they are at this stage XS Noize
With as many albums in this century as in the last, ‘Yeah Yeah Yeah’ finds Cast building on the momentum of the previous two years with both confidence and quality. Refusing to trade solely on nostalgia, it’s a beefed-up version of their best selves. Long may their positivity last Clash
The Liverpudlians’ eighth album is the sound of a band determined to prove they’re more than a Britpop legacy act musicOMH
Power's voice is improving with age, especially confident and commanding on the closing, psych-baroque "Birds Heading South". Print edition only NME
The excellent PP Arnold featuring lead single Poison Vine is a good indicator of the move towards a very Stones-y type of uplifting soulful rock and blues; the swelling gospel rock of Don't Look Away is the most stirring thing they've done yet. Print edition only Record Collector
Instead of going out with a nuclear bang, Megadeth serves lean sides that won’t clog the final tour’s setlists Beats Per Minute
Louis Tomlinson How Did I Get Here?
The songs on the former One Direction member’s over-referential, sometimes uneven third album don’t shrink down for anyone, and he sells his disappointment and anxiety with nuance, refusing to bemoan his own celebrity Paste Magazine
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