29 January 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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Fourth album from the Copenhagen-based synthpop band led by Swedish producer Hannes Norrvide
5.9
The melodies are joyously simple and memorable, and nearly every song on the album is infectiously catchy Read Review
While Compassion crosses over unapologetically into the realm of pop and new-wave, it still feels tethered to the post-punk and noise scenes from which Norrvide and synth player Loke Rahbek emerged Read Review
It’s a largely fat-free collection of club-ready Danish synth-pop Read Review
The band has some exciting years ahead Read Review
They save the best for last and In Return explores the more experimental side of the band Read Review
Lust for Youth's Compassion is danceable and hypnotizing, to the point where their songs' clichés of mystery and jealousy become erased in the trance Read Review
With incremental steps, Lust For Youth are evolving into far more than a facsimile of their influences Read Review
Lust For Youth have spent the last six years refining lo-fi darkwave into club-ready synth-pop. Compassion is the end product of that evolution, a once rough stone polished into a lustrous crystal Read Review
It’s a purposeful record that shows a trio holding on to the makings of something quite special Read Review
Compassion is at its most gripping when it decides to go against the grain Read Review
When the pace slows the group’s very affected 80s-evoking style becomes a bit overbearing Read Review
Channel their inner new romantic. Print edition only
Sees the Danish act rummage through a list of influences of the alternative, electronic and European varieties, and they’re doing it with lots of style, and some flair Read Review
While the second half of the album almost makes up for its flaws, it doesn't quite manage to make Compassion a memorable whole Read Review
For the most part plodding, unimaginative 80s-inspired synthpop Read Review
Compassion feels like a cover album of some lost early Depeche Mode EP Read Review
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Lust for Youth: Compassion
Ari Lennox Vacancy
Neo-soul elegance and late-night vibes define the R&B star’s most inviting record to date NME
Lennox’s music often nods to the past, but her new album feels more in tune with the zeitgeist Slant Magazine
The singer’s first album for Interscope is honey-sweet, grown-up R&B that’s looking for a little something missing Pitchfork
Lennox balances jazz-soaked tradition with flashes of unruly humour and a surefire viral hit The Guardian
Jenny on Holiday Quicksand Heart
Feels more like a steady progression than a revolutionary rebrand No Ripcord
Megadeth Megadeth
Megadeth's self-titled swan song is weighted down by its own sense of importance No Ripcord
The Cribs Selling A Vibe
They're truly at their best when their tuneful choruses come paired with a raw, stripped-down treatment No Ripcord
Westside Cowboy So Much Country ‘Till We Get There
Island imprint Adventure Recordings appears to be giving Westside Cowboy a hefty push, and the early signs are that they have the chops to make the most of it No Ripcord
Cast Yeah Yeah Yeah
This is Cast sounding comfortable, confident, and settled. The songs are strong, the production is polished without being overworked, and the band sound like they know exactly who they are at this stage XS Noize
With as many albums in this century as in the last, ‘Yeah Yeah Yeah’ finds Cast building on the momentum of the previous two years with both confidence and quality. Refusing to trade solely on nostalgia, it’s a beefed-up version of their best selves. Long may their positivity last Clash
The Liverpudlians’ eighth album is the sound of a band determined to prove they’re more than a Britpop legacy act musicOMH
Power's voice is improving with age, especially confident and commanding on the closing, psych-baroque "Birds Heading South". Print edition only NME
The excellent PP Arnold featuring lead single Poison Vine is a good indicator of the move towards a very Stones-y type of uplifting soulful rock and blues; the swelling gospel rock of Don't Look Away is the most stirring thing they've done yet. Print edition only Record Collector
Instead of going out with a nuclear bang, Megadeth serves lean sides that won’t clog the final tour’s setlists Beats Per Minute
Louis Tomlinson How Did I Get Here?
The songs on the former One Direction member’s over-referential, sometimes uneven third album don’t shrink down for anyone, and he sells his disappointment and anxiety with nuance, refusing to bemoan his own celebrity 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
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