25 May 2019
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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Fourth R&B album from the former Destiny's Child singer and X-Factor judge
5.7
an album that balances world-weariness about relationships with infectious dollops of sexual agency Read Review
Instead of focusing on escape through pleasure, Talk A Good Game concentrates on conversation, and when necessary, confrontation Read Review
Considering her career so far, this is super cool, contemporary grown-up R&B that shows just how far Rowland has come Read Review
Satisfying, if mostly unexciting, material Read Review
Talk a Good Game's standout tracks prove that she's closer to carving a niche for herself than she has been on prior efforts Read Review
A solid body of work — albeit with some questionable filler song Read Review
Rowland's pendulum has swung away from her Guetta-dance flirtation back to her R&B roots Read Review
Rowland half-heartedly vamps it up with several befuddling missteps Read Review
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Kelly Rowland: Talk A Good Game
Faye Webster Atlanta Millionaires Club
There are traces of genius on Faye Webster’s Atlanta Millionaires Club The Line Of Best Fit
Hayden Thorpe Diviner
The album is full of the poignant melodies and clever wordplay that made Wild Beasts such an unstoppable force, but it’s the music that is the most striking and memorable Clash
Morrissey California Son
The latest from the former Smiths frontman delivers some diverting covers and some utterly unlistenable notes The FT
Cate Le Bon Reward
The Welsh singer-songwriter channels furniture making and free-spiritedness The FT
Flying Lotus Flamagra
Steven Ellison’s latest album as Flying Lotus offers up 27 tracks that head off in a multitude of directions The FT
Somewhere in here is a 40-minute program with greater impact. Getting to know the whole thing well enough to make a custom-contracted edition is worth the time All Music
If it all sounds vaporous at times, or even predictable to listeners long familiar with Flying Lotus’ sound, then at least it represents his growth into a full-fledged record producer, someone capable of straight-up great songwriting as well as engagingly electronic funk A.V. Club
His most diverse and psychedelic yet Under The Radar
Mavis Staples We Get By
The electric charge of opening track "Change" sets an urgent tone from the outset: "Get it straight/Be sure that you hear/Gonna change around here." The only response is to listen for further instructions Under The Radar
Tyler, The Creator Igor
Tyler, the Creator's latest album remains ambiguous and uncertain The Quietus
Morrissey and some (barely audible) high-profile guests rework 12 of his favorite ’60s and ’70s songs by American artists to mixed results Pitchfork
The former Wild Beasts singer embarks on a new direction on his soul-searching solo debut, stripping back his songwriting to a reverent hush Pitchfork
IGOR is a commendable, yet flawed album, one that further challenges what we can and should expect from a rap album in 2019 Paste Magazine
On Steven Ellison’s sixth album, his sweeping jazz-funk feels limitless. It sounds more like a sketchbook with FlyLo crafting each minute with great care and technical dexterity Pitchfork
The legendary singer has lost little expressiveness with age, but these songs are about the small, quiet spaces where she can catch her breath and steel her nerves Pitchfork
Since we've been around, that is. So, the highest-rated albums from the past eight years or so. Rankings are calculated to two decimal places.
Kendrick Lamar To Pimp A Butterfly
Kendrick Lamar Damn.
D'Angelo And The Vanguard Black Messiah
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree
Frank Ocean Channel Orange
Anaïs Mitchell Hadestown
Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Leonard Cohen You Want It Darker
Sufjan Stevens Carrie & Lowell
Mount Eerie A Crow Looked at Me