30 April 2024
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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Fifth record from Tim Cohen's psychedelic "new garage" act
5.8
This is no identity crisis, it's the sound of beautiful evolution Read Review
A set of songs that's less urgent, but—in a freaky-yet-endearing way—more personal Read Review
Fresh & Onlys have retained the standard of excellence established over the past half decade or so Read Review
Drawing from garage rock, psychedelia and indie-pop, The Fresh & Onlys’ songs have long employed jangling guitars and hazy reverb. The foursome pushes those elements further here Read Review
A flurry of drum machine-anchored ballads and lush analog production, taking it (just a tad) into a new realm without straying too far from the old Read Review
The Fresh & Onlys’ relentlessly retro manifesto can be a bit grating if you’re not stoned or the world’s happiest person Read Review
Much of the album largely lives and dies by how much The Fresh & Onlys can animate five-decades old material Read Review
It's all moodily pleasant but never immersive. House of Spirits is a slow-burner that ultimately chokes on the ashes of its own grayscale lethargy Read Review
House of Spirits is the saturnine successor nobody asked for, a detour though a bramble patch running parallel to a stretch of open road Read Review
A half-success, showing promise and ambition but lacking both the direction and the songs to be anything but a minor addition to the band’s catalogue Read Review
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The Fresh & Onlys: House of Spirits
Iron & Wine Light Verse
Samuel Beam returns with an expanded sonic palette while also rekindling the bright spark that made 2007’s The Shepherd’s Dog so magical Paste Magazine
St. Vincent All Born Screaming
Clark has always been more of a storyteller than a memoirist, and All Born Screaming finds her getting back to communicating something human as opposed to something about her Spectrum Culture
Justice Hyperdrama
Parisian dance duo Justice’s first album in eight years might not bottle the same lightning as their debut, but it’s still got enough charge for a wild night out PopMatters
Taylor Swift The Tortured Poets Department
She’s made some phenomenal music in her career and a handful of songs on The Tortured Poets Department are welcome additions to her canon. These are sadly outnumbered by bland filler and compromised by an overwhelming sense of stasis No Ripcord
Hovvdy Hovvdy
The Austin duo’s hushed and unassuming double album is a capstone to their career so far, a scrapbook of moments of love and loss from a life well-lived Pitchfork
The pair have fully blossomed from their early DIY start, showcasing an incredible range of indie pop craftsmanship and a grounded centredness built on empathy and understanding Exclaim
If at times you crave for something unhinged across these 19 songs, the sonic equivalent of a psychic break to disrupt the constant temperate mood, you inevitably fall back on Martin and Taylor’s fluid warmth. Their transition into scarred adult terrain still sounds remarkably peaceful Under The Radar
Their previous albums have gently invited you to settle into them, but Hovvdy pulls at you, trying to draw out moments of catharsis or festival-ready melody. If you give into that pull, the results are as endlessly blissful as ever The Line Of Best Fit
The Texas-bred duo’s new double-LP showcases a new spin on their signature light-footed production as well as a heavier subject matter Paste Magazine
Hovvdy houses their most eclectic transitions and banger-certified pop songs Spin
Recreating the noises in her head, Annie Clark’s first fully self-produced album ranges across styles and emotions, and is her most direct yet The Observer
The French producer duo attempt a return to their roots, but the results are a little too polished The Observer
An album that confidently states Annie Clark as one of the greatest songwriters around while Dork
While the album may lack the tension that once made Justice’s music feel so robust, it’s a valiant effort nonetheless—a sonic escapade that’s equal parts exhilarating and frustrating Northern Transmissions
The iconic, chameleonic rocker’s course-correcting seventh solo album is as harrowing as it is hopeful—and her heaviest yet Paste Magazine
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