10 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.
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
Roll over video for more options
Napoleon IIIrd: Christiania
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