12 November 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
Former X-Ray Spex singer returns with a solo album produced by Youth (Killing Joke) mixing electro-pop, rock and reggae
7.2
2011 may reward us with releases that are just as bright, witty, and engaging as Generation Indigo, but it is unlikely that someone as singular as Styrene will be behind them Read Review
An album of perfect pop, but pop in the way that punk rock was also perfect pop in its own right Read Review
This is a pop dance album par excellence bristling with positivity, tunes and ideas Read Review
A hugely enjoyable electro-pop album Read Review
Terrific solo record, which channels her kitschy style into a synthy pop sound Read Review
Generation Indigo brims with ideas and invention, flirts with genres (dubstep and reggae expertly negotiated) and showcases a sharp intelligence and an unflagging spirit Read Review
This album could and should be the album that puts Poly Styrene back on the musical radar after 30 years Read Review
Her street-smart squeak and plastic-fantastic perspective are undimmed Read Review
Her searing voice had mellowed but her passion burns bright Read Review
Unbridled fun Read Review
Next time you and your left-liberal posse are looking to fill a dancefloor (happens to me all the time), the tracks that work here are dynamite Read Review
A flavoursome treat. Print edition only
Two-thirds, a fizzy, funny triumph. Print edition only
Finds plenty to lampoon on this droll, provocative comeback. Print edition only
Although the songs here may not always hit their targets, it’s certainly good to have such a vital voice back Read Review
Roll over video for more options
Poly Styrene: Generation Indigo
Twisted Teens The Holy Cross Tigers
They revamp the work of their progenitors while at the same time transcending it. Never wandering too far from the music that inspires them, Twisted Teens occupy a space that is distinctly theirs Beats Per Minute
Shygirl Swallow!
The UK electronica figurehead takes a sentimental turn on her tender but assured sophomore release Paste Magazine
U2 Carnaval de Luz
The Irish stadium legends’ latest is pedantic and ambiguous, rife with centrist pandering that ends up saying nothing at all Paste Magazine
On their sixteenth studio album, the Irish legends sound more playful than preachy for the first time in a long time NME
Ambitious but accessible, catchy but substantial, they've returned with a record that feels energized and alive, as though they have once again arrived at the start of something inventive and exciting Exclaim
Shygirl’s sophomore album is an idiosyncratic, heartfelt and interesting entry in the pop canon Spectrum Culture
As a burgeoning pop star, Shygirl is absolutely the real deal Slant Magazine
Lyrically, SWALLOW! is brutally romantic. Having turned 30 while writing the record, Shygirl revisits her past to write love songs with far more depth than her younger self could reach The Line Of Best Fit
In palpitating trip-hop and wind-tunnel big beat, the producer’s lovestruck second album seeks a softer, more romantic home on the dancefloor Pitchfork
Where her debut felt like the high, ‘SWALLOW!’ feels like the afters: the pulse hasn’t quite settled, and the feelings that were once easier to muffle are now impossible to ignore Clash
On album two, the London artist again shows she is able to combine genre-hopping experimentation with big pop songwriting NME
DIIV ZIRP!
ZIRP! is neither a radical reinvention nor a straightforward continuation, but an uneasy negotiation between the band's established identity and its desire for something new Spectrum Culture
What could have been a crash landing has instead pushed Twisted Teens to new heights Spectrum Culture
It’s not that 'Carnaval De Luz' is bad. It isn’t. It’s just humdrum The Arts Desk
PISS You Made Me / Skin on Linen
At once grueling, wounding, healing, intelligent, and poetic, you made me / skin on linen should also—it goes without saying—be played very, very fucking loudly Under The Radar
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