9 November 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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Follow-up to the Vermont-born indie/folk singer-songwriter's highly acclaimed Hadestown
8.1
Deploys a quiet chamber-indie ensemble behind Mitchell's chirrup of a voice... Marvellous Read Review
With Young Man In America, Anaïs Mitchell has created her second consecutive masterpiece Read Review
A fierce, melodic affirmation of sadness and grief, love and lust, attachments formed both strong and precarious, Young Man in America is a marvel of a record from start to finish Read Review
A remarkable, genre-defying album. Print edition only
Powerful rituals smeared with blood and dirt Read Review
A subtle weave of fiddles, squeezeboxes and mandolins provides the backdrop for Mitchell's parables on a brilliant, highly original album Read Review
Marks her out as a true American original. Print edition only
A sorrowful, yet captivating collection of songs, ensuring that Ms. Mitchell continues to snap at the heels of PJ Harvey in the female singer songwriter stakes Read Review
You have to be in the mood for Young Man In America but, when you are, you'll be rewarded by an absorbing album Read Review
As freshly cathartic and comforting as the first rays of sunshine after a long, bleak winter Read Review
Mitchell has created a deeply affecting album which preserves everything that was so marvelous about her beloved folk-opera, and ultimately performs a very handsome job of keeping out of its vast shadow Read Review
Like her characters, Mitchell possesses a restless spirit, one that pulls from her musical predecessors and contemporaries but continues with each release to develop a way of looking at the world that's all her own Read Review
Decidedly more traditional than 2010’s Hadestown, but certainly no less accomplished Read Review
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Anaïs Mitchell: Young Man In America
Rosalía Lux
Orchestral pop worthy of an orchestra Consequence Of Sound
Swerves into yet another new lane, bringing together operatics, orchestral movements and buzzing electronics NME
Danny Brown Stardust
The Detroit visionary revels in hyperpop, club, and confession for a messy, euphoric reset that only he could pull off NME
What lingers isn’t the guest list or the language tally. It’s authority. A singer at full stretch without strain. A writer and arranger who knows when to hold and when to let go Dork
Mavis Staples Sad And Beautiful World
A vibrant mix of gospel, blues, country, soul, and rock, this is roots music that speaks to the present with compassionate, life-affirming power. It's yet another artistic triumph for the Black American music and Civil Rights icon All Music
Hatchie Liquorice
Filled with highs, lows, and surprises, Liquorice eloquently expresses young love's volatility - and makes for Hatchie's most consistent music since Keepsake All Music
Sorry COSPLAY
Dressed to impress. Print edition only Record Collector
Asha Lorenz's dreamy, deceptively casual vocals soften the sharp edges throughout and help foster an overall coherence even amid Cosplay's outbreaks of giddy chaos. Print edition only Uncut
After the insular mood of Quaranta, with its themes of addiction and depression, it’s refreshing to hear Brown having unabashed neon-lit fun The Quietus
The Detroit rapper feared his music would get dull after he went sober, but no-one could be bored by this guest-stuffed, chaotically swaggering new album The Guardian
Sobriety may have taken a long time to achieve, but it’s strapped a rocket to this album without sacrificing any of the glorious weirdness that always made him such a compelling figure Dork
His ambition remains undimmed as he opens this new chapter DIY
A rejuvenated, feature-packed return to form for one of the most innovative rappers around The Skinny
The album finds the Detroit rapper discovering a new lust for life Slant Magazine
Danny Brown looks and sounds better today than ever before, and his latest offering is a testament to his restored health and balance. Don’t forget he’s been in the game for over two decades at this point, yet you’d never guess it from listening to his music Clash
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
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