20 July 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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Debut full length release from the 21-year-old Salford singer, taking inspiration from 60s pop
6.5
Pitched somewhere between easy-listening seductress and torch-song belter, her voice is soulful and dreamy with just a tang of something muskier in its sweetness Read Review
This decade-defying album delivers grand phalanxes of unashamedly huge, old-fashioned string and brass-laden arrangements, all in support of a singer whose pleasure centre-targeted melodies repeatedly do their nape hair-sensitising thing Read Review
Retro fetishisms aside, this is an impeccable debut: two feet in the past and one open mouth pointing towards a very bright future Read Review
Dare it be said even, that Harvieu might be a future successor to Amy Winehouse? A voice to really go down in history. Perhaps. But one thing is sure, these songs hold an inner beauty that feels like it could live forever Read Review
What sets her apart from the Duffys of the world, though, is when she slows down and explores the dark-toned sensuality that make Forever in Blue and the title track undisputed highlights of a very promising album Read Review
What should be dull is transformed into something irresistible, thanks to her simply faultless voice Read Review
For all her vocal precision, aside from the shiversome Love Is a Melody there’s a curious lack of passion Read Review
Harvieu's energy shows that nostalgia needn't chain you down. Print edition only
New UK retro-soul hope lacks edge. Print edition only
There is hope and no shortage of raw, if a-little-too-lushly orchestrated, talent Read Review
It’s a stylised affair, perfectly retro- fitted with sweeping strings and bulging brass Read Review
This an extremely accomplished debut, filled with intricate productions where not a note is wasted while the poetic lyrics leave Ren’s heart on the floor. There is however, the rookie mistake of too much too soon Read Review
Harvieu's voice shows she's got potential, the material tends towards the bland and boring. Print edition only
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Ren Harvieu: Through The Night
Billie Martin Dog Eared
Still only 26, Marten's writing is a strong scaffold for an experienced live studio band, whose every flourish (the irresistible keyboard arpeggio on the breezy "Crown" is a particular delight) add depth to her words. Print edition only Uncut
Overall, it's a gently entrancing and quietly elegant album. Print edition only Mojo
Billie Marten’s fifth studio album delves into nostalgia, love and introspection in a cosy folk triumph The Skinny
It takes time for the 10 tracks to find their own spaces and the dazey melodies to take root The Independent
Justin Bieber Swag
The pop star’s latest offering is a perfectly decent record, albeit one that lacks lyrical flair, emotional depth or any sense of responsibility musicOMH
Alex G Headlights
Alex Giannascoli upgrades to hi-fi dad rock and sails home with a major label debut worthy of the all-time indie graduations Pitchfork
Represents a flirtation with commercialized approaches, with suburbanism, with, dare we say, the banal. Given Alex’s impressive record, it’s not a stretch to imagine that going forward, he’ll find a way to better reconcile the predictable and unexpected, the cliché and seminal, the well-worn and just-discovered The Line Of Best Fit
Haim I quit
I quit is a varied-but-very-enjoyable return from the Los Angeles trio Consequence Of Sound
The album doesn’t shy away from the glare, but rather steps into it Slant Magazine
Philly’s indie hero adds to his discography of unassumingly brilliant folk-rock on his major-label debut Rolling Stone
On Headlights, his first album on a major label, Alex G drills deeper into a refinement of his sound The Skinny
Lorde Virgin
Before he died David Bowie called Lorde the future of music and he was not wrong. See you again before the end of the decade, hopefully? God Is In The TV
Alex G is one of the most distinctive characters working in indie rock today, and despite some of its shortcomings, the songs on Headlights still prove that Exclaim
Headlights is as much of an opus as it is, only because it is so clearly, honestly both of these things—because Alex G proves on a major label the seriousness with which he takes his career as a musician, all the while strumming along a love letter to the singular sound he’s so conscientously developed Northern Transmissions
While the sonic invention and off-kilter details remain, on his 10th album the cult musician eschews distortion for melancholic melodies and crooked love songs The Guardian
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