4 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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Third EP of alt R&B from the 23 year old singer from St Louis, featuring guest spots from Isaiah Rashad, Chance the Rapper and Kendrick Lamar
6.4
If Z’s main mission is to build up its creator for a gargantuan full-length release in the near future, it’s serving its purpose rather well Read Review
Billed as an EP, but that undersells the completion and cohesion of these 10 songs Read Review
The main downfall of Z is a lack of strong lyricism. In the rare moments that the murk clears or the light becomes too bright, what lies behind is less graceful than what it seemed Read Review
What ultimately makes it stick, from the beaming hooks to the gossamer production, is the execution, how all the scattered pieces eventually jell until the puzzle is complete Read Review
SZA is in safe hands on Top Dawg Entertainment and will grow and produce some great music, for now she needs to work out which SZA is the one to move forward with Read Review
As insights into worlds in the making go, Z is well worth devoting time and attention to Read Review
The album opens up when SZA does, but that happens only in slices Read Review
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Kesha . [Period]
Achieves a post-Brat sound that’s lathered in quirky personality The Arts Desk
Spectacular serves sit alongside catharsis and contemplation on the pop star’s first release on her own label, Kesha Records NME
Loyle Carner hopefully!
Though vastly different from its predecessors, in a way, ‘hopefully !’ feels like a celebration of an intrinsically Loyle Carner quality Dork
Pulp More
It’s classic Pulp: gloriously awkward, sharply observed, and still dancing proudly to its own weird rhythm. We’ve missed them. They’re back. More, please Dork
Addison Rae Addison
She’s not here to reinvent the wheel, just to spin it in diamanté heels while lip-syncing into a Hello Kitty mirror Dork
Haim I quit
‘I quit’ is a record that’s fallen straight out of 1977, bringing in whispers of Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young and Gloria Gaynor: one or two more daring decisions and it would be truly great Dork
. isn't just a good album, it's a decisively great one, full stop All Music
Following an experimental phase and a long-gestating split from RCA and Kemosabe Records, Kesha resumes her interest in party pop with a spirited sixth album that’s unfortunately littered with lazy, obnoxious, and dated songs Paste Magazine
The singer seems torn between unruliness and introspection Slant Magazine
The record pleasantly showcases Kesha’s impressive vocal range, emotive delivery and riff performance, but the final song is a spark that serves to highlight the unevenness of the album Beats Per Minute
The American singer re-introduces herself to the world on her sixth studio album musicOMH
After a long legal battle, the pop star’s sixth album harks back to her 2010s era, with a buffet of pop styles and only rare hints of her highly-publicised trauma The Guardian
The pop rebel’s first album as an independent artist, (Period.), has a wild try-anything spirit Rolling Stone
Lorde Virgin
Because for all the grand ideas here, it feels like Lorde has more to say about them, and as the aesthetic and songcraft of Virgin illustrates — almost despite all of this — she is more than skilled enough to do so Beats Per Minute
Frankie Cosmos Different Talking
Different Talking feels like Frankie Cosmos finally coming into its own. By self-producing, the band articulates a broader sound palette than on 2022’s Inner World Peace Northern Transmissions
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