4 June 2023
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.
Browse specific styles
The one-time Drive-By Trucker and leader of The 400 Unit with a 2nd solo album of introspective country rock songs
8.1
Listening to this stunning album will provide you with your own moment of clarity. Don’t let it slip away Read Review
For the most part Southeastern is pretty serious business. Then again, so is life and the one that Isbell has lived thus far is certainly worth documenting, especially when the songs supporting it are this stunning Read Review
An album worthy of his considerable talents. Each of the songs is a stunner Read Review
It’s a poignant, reflective, and very often frank portrayal of humanity’s dual impulses authored by someone who has lived several chapters, yet knows the story is constantly being rewritten Read Review
Isbell's best solo album thus far Read Review
Jason’s prose and perspective can at times be downright uncomfortable, but undeniable and rooted in a powerful truth about the way things are. This intensity never lets up for the duration of the record Read Review
Understated triumph. Print edition only
Vivid, multi-faceted tales of souls adrift Read Review
It's Isbell's best album yet Read Review
It's the little details that ring truest, one true line after another Read Review
Easily Isbell’s best solo album - his most richly conceived and generously written Read Review
Suggests that rehab has sharpened his country-rock storytelling Read Review
Roll over video for more options
Jason Isbell: Southeastern
Beach Fossils Bunny
Beach Fossils’ latest album distills the best of their daydreamy indie-pop with new wisdom and existential angst. But they’re just still as laid-back as you remember Pitchfork
If you allow yourself the time to uncover all of its layers of depth, that glow only becomes brighter Clash
The moderate pacing and more personally derived songwriting make the album one that demands closer attention to fully understand and enjoy, but it rewards that attention with some of the band's most nuanced and subtly detailed pop constructions to date, ultimately revealing new depths both musical and emotive Albumism
Payseur's vocals might still sound diaphanous, his lyrics still concerned with small moments of sadness and pleasure, but there is now a structured professionalism here that will delight and confound others. Print edition only Mojo
Every moment shimmers with atmosphere, as the rippling melodies and contoured choruses enclose Payseur's knotty ruminations in sun-dappled serenity. Print edition only Uncut
Bunny's performances are pristine: the record navigates its hooks, sonic sways and immaculate v..v..vibes with palpable ease Sputnik Music (staff)
Rufus Wainwright Folkocracy
Reminisces about his folk-oriented upbringing on tranquil and relaxing Folkocracy The Line Of Best Fit
Turning 50 is, if you’re Rufus, a good excuse to bring famous friends and family round to make a new album inspired by the sort of music he listened to while growing up musicOMH
While the album does delve into unusually -- for Wainwright -- rustic traditional fare, selections keep listeners on their toes by not only broadly defining folk, but with a slew of diverse guest singers and arrangements that, at least occasionally, stray into lush orchestral territory. All Music
If it has little earth under its nails, with any background maid or shepherd perfectly cast and choreographed, there are still plenty of lovely, curious tableaux - among them David Byrne's dreamy appearance on Moondog's High On A Rocky Ledge, or Nina Simone-inspired Cotten Eyed Joe, featuring Chaka Khan. Print edition only Mojo
He puts a uniquely Rufus twist on the likes of "Shenandoah" and "Wild Mountain Thyme" of course, singing them in his best operatic tenor with a touch of John Jacob Niles. Print edition only Uncut
It is a worship album for the very notion of folk itself, and an exploration of where it has gotten him thus far Paste Magazine
While, for the most part, this is a celebration of other artists’ folkocracies, Wainwright is well aware of his own place within all of this. The cover of ‘Going To A Town’ is case in point, but more obvious still is the collaborations with other members of the Wainwright clan Clash
Ben Folds But Here We Are
The album amounts to a relatively familiar reflection on aging and the passage of time Slant Magazine
What Matters Most is also tied together with a consistent underlying sense of dread. With its brushed snare, simmering piano, and tender vocal delivery, the elegant "Moments" closes the album with a call for optimism, even in absence of reason All Music
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
Self Esteem Prioritise Pleasure
Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree
Frank Ocean Channel Orange
Dave We’re All Alone In This Together