11 July 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 from Norwich-based electronic producer and musician
7.5
Holkham Drones should stand side-by-side with the masterpieces that Kieran Hebden and Dan Snaith have put out this year Read Review
Abbott’s endearing accessibility ensures that this collection will find friends from all walks, of all persuasions. And all are sure to be, one way or another, sufficiently moved Read Review
With a début as promising and assured as this, expect big things from Abbott in the future Read Review
This is a prime example in how to make machine music sound warm and human. Listening to it is like entering a lucid dream Read Review
A richly rewarding experience. Print edition only
Luke Abbott has risen to the top of the electronica pile, and while he may not have the hype of some of his contemporaries, he can be safe in the knowledge that 'Drones' is up there with the best of the year Read Review
Perhaps a touch overlong, Holkham Drones is nevertheless unsettling, otherworldly and oddly beautiful Read Review
Holkham Drones is modest and quick to reward Read Review
A man whose heart seems to send electro pulses beating through his veins. Print edition only
Draws more from minimalism and krautrock than grime, the clean lines of his analogue synth constructions employing steady pulses adorned with sparse bleeps and burring textures Read Review
Print edition only
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Luke Abbott: Holkham Drones
Wet Leg moisturizer
After winning multiple Grammys and Brits, the Isle of Wight band explore love and sexuality on their second LP – but there’s still room for some barbed put-downs The Guardian
Wet Leg’s balance of danger and relaxation pays off in this turbulently fun listen. Excitingly crafted and dangerously sharp, moisturizer is the sound of someone rolling their eyes at how lovesick they’ve become, then shrugging before seeing how far it’ll take them Northern Transmissions
Gwenno Utopia
Utopia is different from her previous work not just because of the language shift, but because of how it was made. Instead of starting electronically, Gwenno composed most of these songs on piano, recording live with her band in her living room. That choice gives Utopia organic warmth. The human touch is evident in how the instruments breathe together Northern Transmissions
Barry Can’t Swim Loner
Another that sounds like it will be blasted from windows of all kinds whenever the sun shines The Arts Desk
On his latest record, Barry Can’t Swim cements himself as a boundary-pushing voice in electronic music, one fluent in mood, movement, and meaningful reflection The Skinny
U.K. indie-rockers party hard and travel fast on their great second album Rolling Stone
Gwenno’s songwriting matures compellingly on Utopia The Line Of Best Fit
Kesha . [Period]
Kesha’s . is a mess of a statement The Line Of Best Fit
Pulp More
Far more than the themes of aging, sex, and loss, Pulp’s More straight-facedly spreads the word of love and it is the start of something new — a rebirth PopMatters
The Scottish producer trades sun-soaked bliss for emotional introspection – without losing the big drops musicOMH
A gorgeous and varied album that will surely soundtrack countless summers, ‘Loner’ is an accessible and creative collection of colour-splattered dance music whose myriad delights feels all the more impressive for the fact that, like all the best parties Clash
Moisturizer is a bold, confident blast fuelled by the security and invincibility of a deep love. Print edition only Uncut
Moisturizer shows, decisively, that while the metal gauntlets might be very much on, creatively, Wet leg's gloves are off. Print edition only Mojo
A reflective journey through memory and identity from an artist who proves that her music knows no boundaries, linguistic or otherwise musicOMH
Tinged with a sense of growth and resilience, Utopia is a work that spans 25 years. That surely deserves a celebration The Quietus
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