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.
Browse specific styles
Second album from the Minneapolis alternative hip-hop artist Melissa Jefferson
7.3
Hip hop needs a strong female voice today—one that matches the pop magnetism of Beyoncé, but with the political and social awareness of Killer Mike. With Big GRRRL Small World, Lizzo seems primed and ready to fill that spot Read Review
What makes it such a great album is how gleeful it all sounds Read Review
It is incredibly refreshing to hear such a clear and resounding voice amongst what is an admittedly misogynistic crowd Read Review
The bulk of tracks on here are far more sober and introspective than her first record Read Review
While she’s toned down the confrontation musically on this follow-up, lyrically it cuts even sharper Read Review
Persuasive R&B with strident lyrics and sharp sonics. Print edition only
Themes of race, gender and identity recur, categories that are negotiated as ingeniously as the musical genres Read Review
It also sounds gorgeous; largely produced by BJ Burton (Low, Sylvan Esso, Poliça), the album is full of unexpected turns and immaculate codas Read Review
Sounds like the work of someone too tireless to limit herself to genre lines or defined boxes Read Review
A sonic and symbolic sweet spot Read Review
A couple of intense stand outs Read Review
There may be only a small coterie of rappers digging into these topics, yet Lizzo shows you can do so and still have a good time Read Review
There’s a greater musicality afoot this time and a more generous emotional palette; less rage, more nuance Read Review
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Lizzo: Big GRRRL Small World
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