27 March 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
Experimental pop on the second album from Yorkshire-born James Mabbett
7.5
‘Christiania’ is eccentric, it’s unique and it’s wholly unpredictable Read Review
This is real music for real music fans, and this man isn’t half talented Read Review
Maximises on Napoleon IIIrd’s love for psychotic chanting and delirious moments of profanity, and creates an intense and bewildering mass of energy in its wake ... Christiania is faultless Read Review
It is hard to express just how many different genres are represented in Christiania but what is even more outstanding is Napoleon IIIrd’s ability to make it all sound so easy whilst all the time enthralling and encapsulating his listeners with its complexity Read Review
A perfect late curio of 2010 Read Review
Despite the mesh and muddle of synthesizer sounds that dominate the record, and the regular intervening of non-instruments and sounds ... it does all collate into a series of coherent and undeniably detailed songs Read Review
Channels influences as far-flung as Brian Wilson, Balearic house and space rock Read Review
It's rich, complex and beautiful. Print edition only
It may take a bit of wearing in for one to truly feel Christiania's impact, which comes from all sides, but once settled, it's hard not to revel in its constant realised ambition Read Review
Take the in-your-face electro pop of, say, Hot Chip and then, instead of singing in that wry, detached art-school way, be a bit shouty and angry and punk rock Read Review
Print edition only
A subtly entertaining little find with sprinklings of genius Read Review
It's hard to avoid the suspicion that all the layers of sonic murk are disguising a shortfall of songcraft Read Review
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Napoleon IIIrd: Christiania
Fcukers Ö
Nothing about the album asks permission: it wants a dancefloor, a crowd and a slightly irresponsible amount of volume Dork
A swift album that’ll prove difficult to grow tired of DIY
Altogether, Ö feels like candy: addictive, sweet, glossy; the ultimate sugar rush. While it remains to be seen if there's a crash coming, Fcukers are undeniably the life of the party Exclaim
For a band sold as New York's next great party-starters, much of the debut album from Fcukers feels oddly undercooked The Skinny
It doesn’t take itself too seriously, and it’s exactly what’s needed heading into summer. Fcukers know what they do best, and they are at the top of their game. Who’s ready to keep up with them? The Line Of Best Fit
Robyn Sexistential
After 2018’s meditative Honey, the Swedish star returns to her trademark skin-tingling electro bangers – but this time she’s unpicking her trademark fixation on romantic love The Guardian
Underscores U
This is a proper pop album, not in spite of its oddness, but because of it Dork
James Blake Trying Times
It’s not Blake’s most immediate album, and probably not his most consistent. But it might be one of his most honest, not because it says more, but because it leaves more unsaid Beats Per Minute
The Twilight Sad It's The Long Goodbye
Six albums in, they’ve delivered something that feels both intensely personal and completely universal. It’s The Long Goodbye doesn’t try to dress anything up or soften the edges. It sits with the reality of loss and lets it unfold in its own time XS Noize
The Black Crowes A Pound of Feathers
Chris and Rich Robinson didn’t twiddle their thumbs when putting together this bubbling cauldron of rock, blues, soul and funk – A Pound Of Feathers was done and dusted in just 10 days, and benefits from both discipline and spontaneity Record Collector
The essence of what has driven Robyn’s 30-plus year career DIY
Questioning everything about love, life and sex, Robyn takes us on a joyride that’s both serious and silly NME
BTS ARIRANG
After nearly four years, the world-conquering boyband are back, bringing with them new reflections on life and shining light on more facets of their cultural heritage NME
In so clearly seeking to recapture a certain kind of early-millennial energy in its production and songwriting, Sexistential perhaps forfeits the potential to be its own thing in a way that Honey indisputably was Exclaim
With the shackles of the majors thrown off, Trying Times seems like the most fun Blake has had in a while 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
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