12 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.
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Debut solo album of electronic pop from Kristin Welchez, lead singer and founder of Dum Dum Girls
7.0
‘X-Communicate’ would’ve been seen as too much of a stylistic divergence had it been released as a Dum Dum Girls record, but as a personal rebirth, subject matter and all? It fits the bill very neatly indeed Read Review
X-Communicate is all about Welchez allowing herself room to grow as a multifarious artist who has the drive, determination and talent to pull off anything she sets her mind to Read Review
With the synths upfront in the mix, Welchez makes several overtures to 80s and 90s alternative pop history - new wave, English guitar rock, Saint Etienne - but filters them through themes that feel very much of the moment Read Review
It’s an opportunity for Kristin to skin shed (great song by the way) her Dee Dee persona for another that also feels natural Read Review
In her latest transformation, Kristin Welchez leaves behind Dee Dee and the Dum Dum Girls for new alter ego Kristin Control, foregoing DDG's garage-band cool for sleek synth pop Read Review
It’s left the singer’s sonic presence stronger than ever Read Review
Her sound might be more poppier than in the Dum Dum Girls, but the one thing that matters is still there: she’s still trouble Read Review
While it may not be her strongest album, it’s an interesting new direction Read Review
The one-nature of the wracked, robotic torch songs does wear thin by closer Smoke Rings, however. Print edition only
It's hard not to think that either she just hasn't perfected this style yet or it's a one-off detour. Only time will tell, but wherever Dee Dee or Kristin goes, this album proves that it's well worth keeping up with her output Read Review
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Kristin Kontrol: X-Communicate
Twisted Teens The Holy Cross Tigers
They revamp the work of their progenitors while at the same time transcending it. Never wandering too far from the music that inspires them, Twisted Teens occupy a space that is distinctly theirs Beats Per Minute
Shygirl Swallow!
The UK electronica figurehead takes a sentimental turn on her tender but assured sophomore release Paste Magazine
U2 Carnaval de Luz
The Irish stadium legends’ latest is pedantic and ambiguous, rife with centrist pandering that ends up saying nothing at all Paste Magazine
On their sixteenth studio album, the Irish legends sound more playful than preachy for the first time in a long time NME
Ambitious but accessible, catchy but substantial, they've returned with a record that feels energized and alive, as though they have once again arrived at the start of something inventive and exciting Exclaim
Shygirl’s sophomore album is an idiosyncratic, heartfelt and interesting entry in the pop canon Spectrum Culture
As a burgeoning pop star, Shygirl is absolutely the real deal Slant Magazine
Lyrically, SWALLOW! is brutally romantic. Having turned 30 while writing the record, Shygirl revisits her past to write love songs with far more depth than her younger self could reach The Line Of Best Fit
In palpitating trip-hop and wind-tunnel big beat, the producer’s lovestruck second album seeks a softer, more romantic home on the dancefloor Pitchfork
Where her debut felt like the high, ‘SWALLOW!’ feels like the afters: the pulse hasn’t quite settled, and the feelings that were once easier to muffle are now impossible to ignore Clash
On album two, the London artist again shows she is able to combine genre-hopping experimentation with big pop songwriting NME
DIIV ZIRP!
ZIRP! is neither a radical reinvention nor a straightforward continuation, but an uneasy negotiation between the band's established identity and its desire for something new Spectrum Culture
What could have been a crash landing has instead pushed Twisted Teens to new heights Spectrum Culture
It’s not that 'Carnaval De Luz' is bad. It isn’t. It’s just humdrum The Arts Desk
PISS You Made Me / Skin on Linen
At once grueling, wounding, healing, intelligent, and poetic, you made me / skin on linen should also—it goes without saying—be played very, very fucking loudly Under The Radar
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