28 December 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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The Baltimore art rock / noise pop outfit, back after a brief break-up with their third album
6.5
[A] Beefheart-like tendency to avoid consistent rhythm and keep the audience guessing is partly what makes this music feel so alive Read Review
Paradoxical as it may seem, the more structured version of the band that Do Whatever You Want All the Time presents just may be more exciting, and offer more potential, than what Ponytail were doing before Read Review
A band with an imprint and sound all of its own, with much of joy to share around Read Review
An intense and imaginative celebration of noise, pop and noise-pop. Print edition only
The seven tracks that make up this impressive swansong are more composed, more painstakingly structured than either of its predecessors Read Review
A sound you can drink and a quick sharp hit to pep up your week Read Review
Sees them moving into more sophisticated territory with plenty of layering of sound Read Review
Ponytail fans will surely enjoy this relatively formed incarnation of the band’s energy. Non-fans can appreciate the pure joys of a band making noise free of the grip of self-doubt or other inhibitors Read Review
A candy-colored descent into madness, one which tames the wildness of the group's previous efforts in the interest of a far more mature style Read Review
The cracks are starting to show in the band’s previously impervious candy shell Read Review
A more refined take on their jerk-punk lyricism Read Review
“Experimental” and “sophisticated” are often code words for “lackluster” when they come directly from the label, and while that isn’t quite the case for Do Whatever You Want All the Time, it’s close Read Review
I doubt it will stay with any of us for very long, but with some luck these growing pains will yield a new and even more arresting Ponytail Read Review
Without Ponytail’s flair for life-affirming, Beefheart-style cut-ups, there’s little sonic intrigue here Read Review
To truly grasp the vigour of Do Whatever You Want All The Time, do it yourself. Grab four mates, pick up some instruments and go nuts. Just don’t cut an album from the sessions Read Review
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Ponytail: Do Whatever You Want All the Time
The Lemonheads Love Chant
The band’s first album of original music in 20 years is an undeniably self-conscious comeback, manifesting the existential angst of middle age in sludgier-than-usual riffs, sudden switchups, and some of Evan Dando’s most self-reflective lyrics to date A.V. Club
Dove Ellis Blizzard
Enigmatic Galway songwriter sounds like a storm-tossed mix of Thom Yorke of Radiohead and Jeff Buckley The Irish Times
This is Lorelei Holo Boy
Amos has been an expert popsmith for years; the world is finally catching up, and not a moment too soon All Music
One half of Water From Your Eyes re-records songs from the back catalogue of his other band, resulting in acoustic fare touched with regret and darkness The Guardian
Nate Amos’s latest solo album consists entirely of songs written in the years prior to 2024’s Box for Buddy, Box for Star. The music presents us with yet another robust block of material that allows his idiosyncratic songwriting to truly shine Paste Magazine
This Is Lorelei’s Holo Boy has the air of an artist taking stock, as he maps the route taken while checking which parts still line up now Spectrum Culture
Songwriter Nate Amos polishes up 10 tracks from his Bandcamp days and confronts humorous self-effacement with new confidence Pitchfork
A wonderfully enjoyable cycle of straight-down-the-line songwriting Clash
Oneohtrix Point Never Tranquilizer
It’s his best work since Replica, and the most complete realization of his long-running obsession with the imperfect persistence of time. Tranquilizer doesn’t just show you a world—it shows you how that world remembers itself Under The Radar
Melody’s Echo Chamber Unclouded
This is the epitome of a “vibes album,” and as a vibes album, Unclouded knocks it out of the park Spectrum Culture
Dove Ellis’ debut is remarkably assured, showcasing a new talent with strong potential Spectrum Culture
The Galway-born singer-songwriter takes Romantic yearning — for the pure, the mythical, the divine — and turns it gently earthward on Blizzard Paste Magazine
Despite its title, ‘Tranquilizer’ is deceptively mesmerizing, potently putting calm emotions into a frenzied state, and leaving you coming back for more Northern Transmissions
Little Simz Lotus
She’s a rapper who refuses to let up and keeps ensuring that her name is held aloft in the conversations of the best in the world Far Out
Dove Ellis breathes new life into the Irish folk-rock scene. The album is hopeful, complex and as a whole plays with the picturesque diction of a pastoral poem. Wondering what will follow this stunning debut makes the listening all the more enjoyable Hot Press
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
Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree