10 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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Jungle, drum & bass and dubstep on the debut from the Sacramento producer who contributed to Joey Bada$$'s mixtape Summer Knights
7.5
This is an accomplished and wildly creative record, packing far more wallop than many producers could hope to muster at such an early stage in their career Read Review
Deviating from his hip-hop background for his debut LP Alternate/Endings, Bannon has produced one of the most intriguing records of the 160bpm resurgence yet Read Review
Sprawling, cinematic and agenda-setting. Print edition only
here’s no doubt Bannon knows his rave and hardcore history, but the freshness with which he approaches this material is both impressive and audacious Read Review
A virtuoso riff on UK rave. Print edition only
Former hip hop producer ushers in the jungle revival. Print edition only
Carefully transplants the relevant ingredients and reassembles them with a connoisseur’s ear for detail Read Review
Despite Alternate/ Endings at times blurring together into an amorphous whole, there are enough ideas on display to speculate that Bannon can go exactly where he wants, and make it his own when he gets there Read Review
Alternate/Endings is never a relaxing listen; when the breakneck pace drops, it’s only replaced by an unsettling calm, and one that doesn’t last very long Read Review
Alternate/Endings succeeds in leaving you both exhausted and anxious for more Read Review
There's very little doubt that Lee Bannon is going to become a serious contender in hip-hop and electronic music one way or another Read Review
Succeeds on its own terms, even if I don’t always want to agree with them Read Review
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Lee Bannon: Alternate/Endings
Wet Leg moisturizer
Moisturizer is a bold, confident blast fuelled by the security and invincibility of a deep love. Print edition only Uncut
Moisturizer shows, decisively, that while the metal gauntlets might be very much on, creatively, Wet leg's gloves are off. Print edition only Mojo
Gwenno Utopia
A reflective journey through memory and identity from an artist who proves that her music knows no boundaries, linguistic or otherwise musicOMH
Tinged with a sense of growth and resilience, Utopia is a work that spans 25 years. That surely deserves a celebration The Quietus
Gwenno roams the cities of her youth on her vivid fourth album, Utopia The Skinny
'Utopia' might be a result of employing a form of astral projection The Arts Desk
The band’s propensity for catchy, danceable garage-punk remains intact Slant Magazine
Kesha . [Period]
Following years of tumult, the newly-independent Kesha is ready for Top 40 glory. Her new album excels when she’s doing it on her own terms PopMatters
Kesha fills her first fully independent album with accordion disco, stadium-sized twang, and too many hooks to handle. It’s… confusing Pitchfork
Spikier, sleazier and sexier, the Isle of Wight duo defy second album syndrome musicOMH
U.S. Girls Scratch It
Though Scratch It is more low-key than one has come to expect of U.S. Girls as of late, it is undeniably a commanding statement that feels like a musical victory lap Beats Per Minute
Period is an album of lukewarm nostalgic bops, where the few moments of truly interesting artistry are left to languish alone in their respective corners Sputnik Music (staff)
A disappointing missed opportunityMaybe after this spell of touring, they need to go off and live their lives instead of rushing back to album number three. A disappointing missed opportunity God Is In The TV
There’s no sniff of second album syndrome here. moisturizer oozes confidence and Wet Leg continue to play to their strengths in style The Skinny
Lorde Virgin
The New Zealander sings dramatically about new selves, the body and gender fluidity on her fourth release The FT
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