25 September 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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Album number seven from the Canadian indie pop band led by singer-songwriter Joel Gibb
7.3
In spite of the poppiness of old, The Hidden Cameras have never given the listener a completely easy ride. The most syrupy sounds have often been accompanied by dark, visceral lyrical themes; songs have veered between ear candy and harsh atonality Read Review
Orphan has a similar tour-de-force feel to the first Arcade Fire album: the sound of loneliness and heartbreak gift-wrapped in bundles of sonic joy Read Review
‘Origin: Orphan’ is the sound of The Hidden Cameras finally proving they can make records as wham-bam powerful as their performances, with deliciously sumptuous results. About time too; confidence suits them Read Review
Complex, intelligently constructed yet – as with all the best music – deceptively easy to listen to, admire and outright love, it has certainly earned its place in as many Best of Year lists as possible and, indeed, in your record collectio Read Review
The Hidden Camera’s have a lightness of touch and a love of simple pop structures which anchors them from disappearing into pomposity. Read Review
Print edition only
...they can do tender and epic all at the same time Read Review
...the sound of a band hitting peaks they’ve struggled to achieve since 2003’s ‘The Smell Of Our Own’ Read Review
Origin:Orphan is a solid record that occasionally reaches greatness Read Review
The lack of lyrical cleverness seems to have infected the music as well, making for a mostly cloudy listen from a formerly sunny-day band. Read Review
...as an album Origin: Orphan sounds compromised and stylistically incoherent, the sound of a band fumbling for a new sound and collapsing under the weight of their misdirected ambition Read Review
An awkward balance of personal exploration which they refuse to commit to, and a relentless chirpiness which is becoming increasingly unnatural Read Review
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The Hidden Cameras: Origin: Orphan
Blondshell Violins
This is an artist widening her frame without losing her bite. It’s confident, a little wistful, and often loud in all the right places Northern Transmissions
On her third album, Sabrina Teitelbaum fights to strike a balance between savage beauty and jagged home truths NME
Everything great about Blondshell is present on ‘Violins’, but it feels sharper, more adventurous and more assured then ever before Clash
LA alt-rock singer Blondshell trades plain-speaking lyricism for something more abstract, while Irish rock band Gurriers cut through the noise with their ambitious second album The Independent
While trying to find and assert herself, the song has her imagining walking down the aisle to Beethoven's Für Elise, even though no one, including her, would pick it as a wedding song All Music
An often-delicate inward vision that pairs frustration with beauty DIY
It's in her ability to take the everyday experience and turn it into an epic noise that Violins finds its sweet spot The Line Of Best Fit
It would be unfair to call Violins Blondshell’s finest work to date, given the strength of her previous albums. What’s clear, though, is that it’s every bit as good as what came before Under The Radar
Protomartyr Hotel Usona
The album is more eerie in tone than its predecessors, like a distant alarm sounding, trying to amplify the sounds we cannot hear Northern Transmissions
It’s a bleak listen, sure, but Protomartyr haven’t ever been the comforting types. In fact, they’ve chosen the perfect time to double down on their righteous anger and despair, and if everything were to come to a catastrophic end right now, you’ve got the perfect soundtrack for it Far Out
For newcomers, it's a perfectly moody entry point. Hotel Usona is the sound of a band settling into their own skin, creating a space that's uniquely theirs and generously sharing the key Exclaim
From singer Joe Casey’s handmade album artwork to drummer Alex Leonard’s impish, kinetic inversions of classic post-punk rhythm, the Detroit band crafts an austere, unflinching record as bleak as it is cathartic Paste Magazine
This is not a hotel you'd want to stay at any time soon, but it's a remarkable record to spend time with. Print edition only Uncut
Under dim hotel lights, Casey’s lyricism appears foreboding and alien in a way it never has before The Line Of Best Fit
Ezra Collective Here Because of Hope
Arguably the biggest jazz band in the country return with an album that shows off both their exuberant and more reflective sides musicOMH
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