20 August 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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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
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Peter Wolf Crier: Inter-Be
Conan Gray Wishbone
It’s exceptionally sharp emotional writing, making ‘Wishbone’ some of his most affecting work yet Dork
His not-quite-angst meets its musical equivalent in its not-quite-alternative sound DIY
The singer’s new album Wishbone mixes slow intimate moments with hit-worthy pop-rock cuts Rolling Stone
‘Wishbone’ stands as a confident pop statement, pairing Gray’s impressive vocal prowess with sleek, polished production. In a female-dominated landscape, and during a noticeable drought of male pop stars, Conan Gray’s return is a genuine breath of fresh air Clash
Wishbone is a complete arc, capturing both the elated, tidal-wave euphoria of falling in love and the bittersweet comedown off that wave. And it's not just the feelings of love, but the tastes, the smells, and the thrilling sweaty intimacy of being close to another person in every sense that Gray embodies All Music
Dijon Baby
The Baltimore singer-songwriter and producer returns from hiatus in some style with an album captures the chaos and beauty of newfound fatherhood NME
Refusing to surrender the emotional core of his songwriting against the dazzling array of studio fireworks, this is Dijon at his strongest – an artist stretching his discipline into evocative new shapes Clash
The Los Angeles singer’s second album is a spectacular new vision of soul, pop, and R&B. His surrealist, collagist approach to songwriting stretches the bounds of sound and feeling Pitchfork
The singer-producer’s second album isn’t a breakthrough or a comeback, but meteoric proof that his debut was star-making and his sound will command the genre’s next destiny without leaving any of its ancestry behind Paste Magazine
Dijon’s best material used to feel like it could fall apart at the seams, delicately constructed with the loving touch of a careful auteur – now, it sounds like ancestries of R&B and pop being shot through the stratosphere Northern Transmissions
With a willingness to push boundaries and lean into the unconventional with his sonics, without ever compromising on the always-stunning nature of his songwriting, ‘Baby’ is hypnotically brilliant Dork
Alison Goldfrapp Flux
The album may not offer the radical reinventions of Goldfrapp's duo work, but it doesn't need to - Alison Goldfrapp pioneered these sounds, and on Flux, she's still doing them with effortless elegance All Music
Marissa Nadler New Radiations
Sonic and atmospheric retreads aside, Nadler has conjured an impressive 10th LP effort that whisks away the listener to a plane far removed from the choking contemporary, a place both trepidatious and eerily comforting Far Out
Cass McCombs Interior Live Oak
The Bay Area-born troubadour’s 11th album treats memory as malleable, letting roots and self entwine in wry, unpredictable ways Paste Magazine
As a statement of McCombs' range and artistic prowess, it’s an impressive collection. As a singular listening experience, it tends to be a bit much Spectrum Culture
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
Spiritbox Tsunami Sea
Kendrick Lamar Damn.
D'Angelo And The Vanguard Black Messiah
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Ghosteen
Self Esteem Prioritise Pleasure
Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree
Frank Ocean Channel Orange