9 November 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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First solo album in 20 years from the legendary father of Ethio-jazz
7.3
You probably don't need to know much about Western (let alone Ethiopian) jazz in order to recognise and enjoy Astatke's genius, which is so proudly on display here Read Review
A much more coherent record than a lot of heavily improvisational modern jazz albums. It's a very easy album to access for listeners who aren't particularly schooled in either jazz or the Ethiopiques series Read Review
A name to drop with the trendy hordes of Hoxton, as is proved by this set. Print edition only
This latest solo collection is a meditational affair. Print edition only
An album of dreamy, mostly instrumental music shot through with bitter-sweet traditional flavours Read Review
An enjoyably eclectic collection in which Astatke standards like the Afro-Latin groove "I Faram Gami I Faram" and "Mulatu's Mood" rub shoulders with more recent compositions Read Review
Mulatu Astatke confidently doing what he does best: providing inventive arrangements, bringing the best out of his collaborators, offering glimpses of the unfamiliar amidst familiar materials, and capturing experience with quiet majesty Read Review
As the West continues to explore Africa, to embellish its many cultures, Mulatu Steps Ahead acts as a proponent of liberalism and travelled sophistication. More please Read Review
Anyone expecting the rawer grooves of the 1970s would at these points be forgiven for scuttling back to their Ethiopiques comps, where the smoothness is scuffed by age Read Review
It's a classy, sophisticated set that proves Astatke is still a musical force in his mid 60s. But he should have cut out the deadpan announcements during the tracks Read Review
It is the very welcome yet too infrequent African elements that provide the most areas of interest. Read Review
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Mulatu Astatke: Mulatu Steps Ahead
Django Django Doveland
Django Django would appear to have refreshed their approach and challenged themselves to try out previously unconsidered melodic avenues The Arts Desk
Print edition only Uncut
Gilla Band Pugnello
Somewhere amidst the anarchy of Pugnello, there are gems waiting to be found. Unearthing them is well worth your time Still Listening
Greg Freeman All Set The Bone
Existentialism has a sound (and it’s hard to ignore) with Greg Freeman’s introspective All Set The Bone Still Listening
U2 Carnaval de Luz
Carnaval De Luz finds U2 50 years after their formation with the same four members and the same desire to shake things up. The album provides a convincing answer to the question of why they keep doing what they do XS Noize
Fontaines D.C. Dopamine Chamber
Fontaines D.C. push deeper into synthetic territory on Dopamine Chamber, balancing stadium-sized melodies with restless experimentation and darker texture Record Collector
They sound ambitious and engaged in their 50th year, swinging for the fences and hitting more targets than not. There’s still some gas in the tank Record Collector
La Roux Old Flames
Print edition only Record Collector
Back with her first new music in six years, La Roux's new sound explores facets of R'n'B and Europop to varying degrees of success The Skinny
La Roux turns to 90s R&B on a fourth album shaped by the end of a 17-year relationship, finding room for new beginnings beneath its layered production Still Listening
Print edition only Rolling Stone UK
Devastating moments are dressed up with warm production and kinetic 00s R&B in the now quiff-less singer’s grownup fourth album The Guardian
Elly Jackson returns with heartfelt pop songs about breaking up, resentment, vulnerability and all that entails musicOMH
Ditching erratic experimentation for an ambient concept, the indie shapeshifters' sixth album is their most coherent in years musicOMH
Doveland sounds less like a reduction of Django Django’s musical vocabulary than a more relaxed demonstration of how much they possess PopMatters
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