26 May 2026
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 indie pop album from LA duo Sam Martin and Simon Katz, formerly of Iglu & Hartly
5.2
Wake Up is an infectious, bombastic party album perfect for the summer months Read Review
If further albums show progression and evolution into a style that they make more uniquely theirs, the only way to go from here is up Read Review
Sugary, hyperactive songs performed by a band who sound like they live on a diet of Skittles and Coke Read Review
Their music's used in a Coca-Cola ad and, aptly, feels exactly like necking a can of the brown stuff: a rapid sugar rush, followed by a gradual crash Read Review
Neither as outre as the Polyphonic Spree nor as imaginative as the Flaming Lips Read Review
Wake Up is happy and very danceable, but it should only be consumed in small, commercial, or movie trailer-sized doses Read Review
Youngblood Hawke's debut rings loud with euphoria, but has little emotional impact. And that in itself is a bit depressing Read Review
The relentlessly summery mega anthems sound identical. And exhausting. Print edition only
Every tune sounds a little Frankensteinian, a jamming together of Arcade Fire, Foster the People, Passion Pit and other indie glee-seekers with one eye on the chequebook and the other on what the alt.crowd might like Read Review
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Youngblood Hawke: Wake Up
Ed O’Brien Blue Morpho
‘Blue Morpho’ offers a reminder that, as he and his other bandmates have repeatedly proved, O’Brien boasts a wholly-uninhibited approach to how rock and pop music is arranged, resulting in works that move and grow like the building blocks of life itself Clash
Kevin Morby Little Wide Open
Represents a musical homecoming for Morby to the Americana that is central to much of his work No Ripcord
Lykke Li The Afterparty
On a purportedly final album, the Swedish electro-pop singer’s disenchantment takes shape around sparkling synth and light-touch disco beats Pitchfork
Paul McCartney The Boys of Dungeon Lane
A richly nostalgic trip that proves this legend is still as creative as ever Rolling Stone
Tori Amos In Times Of Dragons
Her vocals have rarely sounded better. A husky tone has slowly emerged, giving her a Patti Smith croon to her words of scorn. Anyone who has followed Amos’ career to date will relish this addition to her cannon. It might, hopefully, attract new fans too Under The Radar
Full of wonder, full of creativity, and possibility, fully realized and here for our delight. Like the album as a whole this is a truly excellent piece. It features lyrics full of thankfulness as we “feel the grace in all of life, thank you for this time.” What a great note to end a special album on Under The Radar
The Coral 388
By the time the rocksteady sway of “Spirit Catcher” and the effortless pop beauty of “Crossing The Sands” close the album, The Coral seem firmly back in the swing of creating music again. Hiatus done and dusted XS Noize
Every choppy guitar line and snaking Hammond or Farfisa lick form hooks in their own right The Arts Desk
By reconnecting with their past, The Coral have found the essence of who they are now - and it's pretty magical Mojo
It's an utter delight, an album that touches on all those influences [rocksteady, doo wop, soul, ska and 2-Tone] but still sounds like nothing but The Coral. Print edition only Record Collector
It’s a lucky number thirteen for fans – The Coral remain a band to cherish Clash
Despite an unorthodox release pattern that harks back to an era before streaming, the Wirral outfit's 13th album is one of their most accessibl musicOMH
Broken Social Scene Remember The Humans
While Remember the Humans aims to recapture something of vintage Broken Social Scene, the key aspects of their old sound simply can’t be reproduced by this version of the band Spectrum Culture
The singer/songwriter makes a valiant pivot into rock, though he lacks the backbone, grit and conviction to make it work Spectrum Culture
The guitarist’s second solo outing – but first under his actual name – offers mindfulness via a widescreen prog-folk trip NME
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
Rosalía Lux
Kendrick Lamar Damn.
D'Angelo And The Vanguard Black Messiah
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Ghosteen
Spiritbox Tsunami Sea
Self Esteem Prioritise Pleasure
Hayley Williams Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party
Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways