19 August 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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Fifth album from the long-standing San Francisco power pop quartet
6.4
This record is killer. And they don't sound ready to give up just yet Read Review
Effortlessly skips across sounds and styles like a human Wurlitzer. Print edition only
Their familiar touch once again serves them well, though it does make for an album that sometimes feels too comfortable. Happily, Sound’s peaks are breathtaking and surprising Read Review
Imperial Teen have regularly delighted fans with their recorded material’s impish tendencies, and Feel the Sound is no exception Read Review
A record rife with glorious hooks, harmonies, and heart Read Review
Feel the Sound turns blipping guitars and synth riffs into roller-skate jams the whole band can harmonize over Read Review
Feel the Sound is not a classic, it’s not a masterpiece, and despite its pristine delivery, it’s not perfect. But it is an honest and genuine sampling of a band who continues to subvert expectations Read Review
Feel the Sound will get you to do what its title implores, especially on standouts like "Runaway" and "Last to Know," but chances are it'll be on the stage where these songs truly come to life Read Review
It's not going to surprise anyone, least of all longtime fans, but it's not like there are dozens of similar acts around at the moment demanding your attention Read Review
Surely they can’t keep doing what they’re doing forever, especially if the results are hit and miss Read Review
If you’re looking for some mindless fluff to have a good time with, there are certainly worse albums than this one. It’s just that there are better ones too Read Review
It's only the music that matters and the urge to enjoy it couldn't be more compelling Read Review
Imperial Teen sound here like they’re trying to squeeze some new flavor out of a chewed-up piece of gum Read Review
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Imperial Teen: Feel The Sound
Conan Gray Wishbone
It’s exceptionally sharp emotional writing, making ‘Wishbone’ some of his most affecting work yet Dork
His not-quite-angst meets its musical equivalent in its not-quite-alternative sound DIY
The singer’s new album Wishbone mixes slow intimate moments with hit-worthy pop-rock cuts Rolling Stone
‘Wishbone’ stands as a confident pop statement, pairing Gray’s impressive vocal prowess with sleek, polished production. In a female-dominated landscape, and during a noticeable drought of male pop stars, Conan Gray’s return is a genuine breath of fresh air Clash
Wishbone is a complete arc, capturing both the elated, tidal-wave euphoria of falling in love and the bittersweet comedown off that wave. And it's not just the feelings of love, but the tastes, the smells, and the thrilling sweaty intimacy of being close to another person in every sense that Gray embodies All Music
Dijon Baby
The Baltimore singer-songwriter and producer returns from hiatus in some style with an album captures the chaos and beauty of newfound fatherhood NME
Refusing to surrender the emotional core of his songwriting against the dazzling array of studio fireworks, this is Dijon at his strongest – an artist stretching his discipline into evocative new shapes Clash
The Los Angeles singer’s second album is a spectacular new vision of soul, pop, and R&B. His surrealist, collagist approach to songwriting stretches the bounds of sound and feeling Pitchfork
The singer-producer’s second album isn’t a breakthrough or a comeback, but meteoric proof that his debut was star-making and his sound will command the genre’s next destiny without leaving any of its ancestry behind Paste Magazine
Dijon’s best material used to feel like it could fall apart at the seams, delicately constructed with the loving touch of a careful auteur – now, it sounds like ancestries of R&B and pop being shot through the stratosphere Northern Transmissions
With a willingness to push boundaries and lean into the unconventional with his sonics, without ever compromising on the always-stunning nature of his songwriting, ‘Baby’ is hypnotically brilliant Dork
Alison Goldfrapp Flux
The album may not offer the radical reinventions of Goldfrapp's duo work, but it doesn't need to - Alison Goldfrapp pioneered these sounds, and on Flux, she's still doing them with effortless elegance All Music
Marissa Nadler New Radiations
Sonic and atmospheric retreads aside, Nadler has conjured an impressive 10th LP effort that whisks away the listener to a plane far removed from the choking contemporary, a place both trepidatious and eerily comforting Far Out
Cass McCombs Interior Live Oak
The Bay Area-born troubadour’s 11th album treats memory as malleable, letting roots and self entwine in wry, unpredictable ways Paste Magazine
As a statement of McCombs' range and artistic prowess, it’s an impressive collection. As a singular listening experience, it tends to be a bit much 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
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