14 October 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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Second album of folk / indie pop from the North Carolina band led by Ari Picker
7.5
Draws heavily from his [Ari Picker] classical training, yet maintains a smart, accessible core that brings to mind Sufjan Stevens at his least quirky Read Review
Lost In The Trees has constructed a beautiful memorial for the soul of Ari Picker’s mother to rest in Read Review
This may be one of the best records of the year so far Read Review
The tracks on A Church are beatifically mournful, its orchestrations minor key, and its vocals sung by an author distinctly heavy of heart Read Review
The album is stirring without wallowing; it can move even the listener who knows nothing of the backstory Read Review
Too deep in its emotion to idly listen to, and too warm in its instrumentation to wear you down, this record proves a strange, incomplete comfort -- one that embraces loss as much as it tangles with it Read Review
The tragedy that inspired and plagues this album seems to be offered as a celebration rather than an exercise in mourning Read Review
A stirring coda that embraces the aftermath of despair, ringing with a resilience that's inspired, ambitious, mesmerizing and majestic Read Review
The album is as intricate and well-crafted as a Radiohead release, with highly emotional content that was inspired by the recent suicide of frontman Ari Picker’s mother Read Review
A mother’s suicide inspires moving orchestral folk, beauty and hope found amid grief Read Review
Over the course of a dozen songs, frontman Ari Picker tries to make sense of his mother's suicide against a backdrop of rich orchestration Read Review
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Lost In The Trees: A Church That Fits Our Needs
Jay Som Belong
The final sounds of Belong are the sounds of a party, heard from just outside, what you missed out on from expecting so much, rather than simply letting things happen as they may Beats Per Minute
The Antlers Blight
Blight may not be for everyone. For some though, it’s offering a sort of presence; an outstretched hand to join in and reflect on the strangled futures. It’s beautiful, restrained, and quietly heart-shattering Northern Transmissions
More than worth the wait DIY
Lola Young I'm Only F**king Myself
Lola Young turns heartbreak, chaos, and self-sabotage into art on her latest record — a brutally honest, sonically wild ride that’s equal parts hangover and healing Spectrum Culture
Barry Can’t Swim Loner
Loner will see Barry Can’t Swim continue his rapid ascent and, in turn, cement his status as one of the most exciting new talents in electronic dance music PopMatters
Cate Le Bon Michelangelo Dying
As Cate Le Bon navigates difficult emotional states, it may seem like the road was a challenging one to traverse, but it has resulted in some of her best work PopMatters
Snõõper Worldwide
Studio production, wordier songwriting, and a vintage drum machine don’t slow down the egg-punk band. Their second album is rowdy and relentless as ever Pitchfork
Emotionally exhausting yet frequently stunning, this is an effortlessly compelling and haunting addition to Peter Silberman and co’s impressive canon musicOMH
Doja Cat Vie
On Vie, Doja Cat references the 1980s to prove that pop is one of many genres in her wheelhouse. Doja remains an elusive, genre-bending savant PopMatters
Geese Getting Killed
The Brooklyn four-piece’s impressive latest is an album that feels longer than it really is, but still makes you frustrated when it ends Spectrum Culture
Nine Inch Nails Tron: Ares Soundtrack
Until they release a “real” NIN record, at least this one is as real as you want it to be Spectrum Culture
Jade That's Showbiz Baby!
Where That’s Showbiz Baby succeeds as a Europop album, it suffers from severe overproduction and fails to establish Jade with a clear identity outside of Little Mix Spectrum Culture
If Super Snooper is a test run that puts the band onto the next stage, then Worldwide is the proper showcase of what Snooper can efficiently do in their compositions, now pushed to another level with more weight in theme and production Northern Transmissions
Fans and new listeners alike should have no trouble riding shotgun with Duterte – as she reaches for new levels of authenticity The Line Of Best Fit
What once was meticulous and solitary is now plural and porous, Jay Som’s Belong is a study in letting go The Skinny
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
Frank Ocean Channel Orange