9 November 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.
Browse specific styles
Third album from the electro collaboration between Radioclit's Etienne Tron and Malawian singer Esau Lilongwe
7.2
Simple, sublime pop songs Read Review
A hybrid as thrilling as anything we’ve heard from Africa Express. Print edition only
A huge step forward on their earlier recordings. Print edition only
The same ingredients and patterns are there, but The Very Best now sound much more like a fully operational band, rather than a fortuitous hodgepodge of singing and sampling Read Review
Tracks like ‘Sweka’ wouldn’t sound out of place in any nightclub on the planet. The world, and your gran, will be dancing Read Review
You’ll shimmy and shake to “Sweka” and “Mwana Wanga”, but there’s a melancholic catch to “Hear Me” which will reel you back to the here and now Read Review
Multicultural act move to an African beat. Print edition only
As a snapshot of a country in turmoil, it’s a weighty, sometimes euphoric and completely compelling encapsulation of time and place Read Review
Sometimes cheese just tastes good Read Review
It's the group's most lived in and emotionally authentic sounding release to date Read Review
It doesn't matter whether you understand the language or not, it's all about what's conveyed in the intonation, which is illustrated beautifully in the sparkling "Mwanga Wanga" Read Review
When the chintzy synth chords and Ibiza-acceptable thump of "Mariana" lurch to the fore, it sounds like shameless pandering Read Review
Makes a King rarely makes a case for greatness. Rather it simply furthers The Very Best’s very particular aesthetic in a manner more enjoyable than revelatory Read Review
The results are a little one-paced: they lack the sense of adventure of the two earlier albums Read Review
Feels a bit one-note, though they can still hit that one note hard Read Review
Roll over video for more options
The Very Best: Makes a King
Django Django Doveland
Django Django would appear to have refreshed their approach and challenged themselves to try out previously unconsidered melodic avenues The Arts Desk
Print edition only Uncut
Gilla Band Pugnello
Somewhere amidst the anarchy of Pugnello, there are gems waiting to be found. Unearthing them is well worth your time Still Listening
Greg Freeman All Set The Bone
Existentialism has a sound (and it’s hard to ignore) with Greg Freeman’s introspective All Set The Bone Still Listening
U2 Carnaval de Luz
Carnaval De Luz finds U2 50 years after their formation with the same four members and the same desire to shake things up. The album provides a convincing answer to the question of why they keep doing what they do XS Noize
Fontaines D.C. Dopamine Chamber
Fontaines D.C. push deeper into synthetic territory on Dopamine Chamber, balancing stadium-sized melodies with restless experimentation and darker texture Record Collector
They sound ambitious and engaged in their 50th year, swinging for the fences and hitting more targets than not. There’s still some gas in the tank Record Collector
La Roux Old Flames
Print edition only Record Collector
Back with her first new music in six years, La Roux's new sound explores facets of R'n'B and Europop to varying degrees of success The Skinny
La Roux turns to 90s R&B on a fourth album shaped by the end of a 17-year relationship, finding room for new beginnings beneath its layered production Still Listening
Print edition only Rolling Stone UK
Devastating moments are dressed up with warm production and kinetic 00s R&B in the now quiff-less singer’s grownup fourth album The Guardian
Elly Jackson returns with heartfelt pop songs about breaking up, resentment, vulnerability and all that entails musicOMH
Ditching erratic experimentation for an ambient concept, the indie shapeshifters' sixth album is their most coherent in years musicOMH
Doveland sounds less like a reduction of Django Django’s musical vocabulary than a more relaxed demonstration of how much they possess PopMatters
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