25 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.
Browse specific styles
Debut album of lo-fi country blues from duo comprising former Wars of 1812 member Peter Pisano and Brian Moen
6.5
Inter-Be is, in short, a success in every way Read Review
Pisano is a strong songwriter who skilfully layers his material to ensure its glory grows with repeated listens. At once haunting and comforting – Inter-Be heralds a major talent Read Review
Reflects the bold first steps of a band coming together out of the ashes of writers block and failed projects, while delivering a solid statement that their moment has indeed arrived Read Review
This is a unified set with a soul and a heart, which is not something you come across everyday Read Review
Ambient at times (Lion) and more bluesy (Saturday Night) at others, emphasized with the plucky guitar that gives the songs a bucolic element (Demo 01). But mostly it's a chord and a beat. And for the most part, they're all that's needed Read Review
M. Ward has long been a force in indie rock's old-timey lane, and Pisano and Moen reside very much in his spirit, using what sounds to be almost exclusively vintage gear Read Review
Working in the ambiguous "indie-folk" genre, comparisons to Bob Dylan or Iron and Wine would be expected, but with Moen’s additions, the album most resembles Justin Vernon’s Volcano Choir project Read Review
Print edition only
Starting by stripping Pisano’s songs back to the bark, the duo then painstakingly build the tunes out with fuzzy alt.folk and rootsy lo-fi embellishments Read Review
There’s not a great deal here to grab onto. It coasts by very amicably, and there are a few nice hooks to be found Read Review
There are definitely highlights to the album that make it somewhat worthwhile. The first three or four songs are pretty strong and catchy Read Review
Roll over video for more options
Peter Wolf Crier: Inter-Be
Blondshell Violins
This is an artist widening her frame without losing her bite. It’s confident, a little wistful, and often loud in all the right places Northern Transmissions
On her third album, Sabrina Teitelbaum fights to strike a balance between savage beauty and jagged home truths NME
Everything great about Blondshell is present on ‘Violins’, but it feels sharper, more adventurous and more assured then ever before Clash
LA alt-rock singer Blondshell trades plain-speaking lyricism for something more abstract, while Irish rock band Gurriers cut through the noise with their ambitious second album The Independent
While trying to find and assert herself, the song has her imagining walking down the aisle to Beethoven's Für Elise, even though no one, including her, would pick it as a wedding song All Music
An often-delicate inward vision that pairs frustration with beauty DIY
It's in her ability to take the everyday experience and turn it into an epic noise that Violins finds its sweet spot The Line Of Best Fit
It would be unfair to call Violins Blondshell’s finest work to date, given the strength of her previous albums. What’s clear, though, is that it’s every bit as good as what came before Under The Radar
Protomartyr Hotel Usona
The album is more eerie in tone than its predecessors, like a distant alarm sounding, trying to amplify the sounds we cannot hear Northern Transmissions
It’s a bleak listen, sure, but Protomartyr haven’t ever been the comforting types. In fact, they’ve chosen the perfect time to double down on their righteous anger and despair, and if everything were to come to a catastrophic end right now, you’ve got the perfect soundtrack for it Far Out
For newcomers, it's a perfectly moody entry point. Hotel Usona is the sound of a band settling into their own skin, creating a space that's uniquely theirs and generously sharing the key Exclaim
From singer Joe Casey’s handmade album artwork to drummer Alex Leonard’s impish, kinetic inversions of classic post-punk rhythm, the Detroit band crafts an austere, unflinching record as bleak as it is cathartic Paste Magazine
This is not a hotel you'd want to stay at any time soon, but it's a remarkable record to spend time with. Print edition only Uncut
Under dim hotel lights, Casey’s lyricism appears foreboding and alien in a way it never has before The Line Of Best Fit
Ezra Collective Here Because of Hope
Arguably the biggest jazz band in the country return with an album that shows off both their exuberant and more reflective sides musicOMH
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