24 March 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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Second studio album of pop rock from the Welsh quartet
6.4
Buy this album and turn your happiness all the way up to 11 Read Review
It's straightforward rock'n'roll and it's done with irresistible vim and contagious melody. Print edition only
Amid all its big, primal energy there are enough ideas to suggest the fans' early faith is justified. Print edition only
No-nonsense indie-rock with an anthemic touch Read Review
When these boys get the chance to write in tandem with Bond, the sky's the limit Read Review
Leaves you wanting more; there are real touches of magic laced throughout that make you think they have unfulfilled potential Read Review
This album feels like it’s trying too hard to get me to sing along, to partake in transforming its songs into soccer field-sized anthems Read Review
For a band hellbent on world domination, Catfish & The Bottlemen appear strangely at ease with just being good Read Review
They know how to follow a blueprint without missing a beat Read Review
Populist swagger and gruff sentimentality predominate, delivered by an old-fashioned guitar band with punchy riffs and yowling vocals Read Review
There is little original here. But McCann has his moments Read Review
Catfish and the Bottlemen have made a record that will sell, but not one that will linger Read Review
A gutsy and riff-centric, gallery pleasing alt/garage-rock hybrid. Print edition only
Crushingly prosaic indie rock Read Review
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Catfish and the Bottlemen: The Ride
Ladytron Paradises
Ladytron have produced an album that, from its inception, sought to invoke the same spirit that the band had 25 years ago Far Out
Gorillaz The Mountain
The strongest case in years that Gorillaz can still make records that matter as records Dork
Kim Gordon Play Me
'Play me' doesn’t try to comfort. It tries to provoke, energise and outlast the scroll Dork
The Orielles Only You Left
These songs come from months of demo-hoarding and forensic listening, the band archiving every practice-room spark before lovingly picking through the results Dork
James Blake Trying Times
Blake sounds energised by the room he has carved out for himself Dork
Harry Styles Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.
This isn’t an album built like a straight line from hook to hook. It moves in waves, often favouring texture and atmosphere over immediate release Dork
Underscores U
It’s technical excellence as a musical product cannot be overstated. For a pop album to be this busy yet possess a pocket as deep and rich as underscores displays here is simply amazing Sputnik Music (staff)
Indie rock icon Kim Gordon acerbically wrestles with the state of the world over hip-hop and industrial beats on Play Me PopMatters
The former electro-pop enfant terrible swings big on her latest album, compressing all her split personalities and eclectic tastes into a high-gloss, high-stakes gamble to remake pop on her own terms Pitchfork
On U, she finds a clearly-defined, rounded-out identity in her music for the first time, and she delivers the most immediate and the most robust work of her career The Line Of Best Fit
Performing, writing and producing everything herself, April Grey pares back her hyperpop electronics for an LP in thrall to 90s pop-R&B, with songs that big stars would die for The Guardian
April Harper Grey’s latest hits all the beats of a classic pop record — a choreo-primed single, a power ballad, a post-breakup closure anthem — without overstaying its welcome Paste Magazine
A tour-de-force of production chops that cements April Harper Grey as a key auteur in the future of the genre NME
Alexis Taylor Paris In The Spring
Paris in the Spring is a gem of a record which, while never over-reaching its ambition, sparkles with electronic ingenuity as it takes in all seasons of human experience Spectrum Culture
It's a beautiful collection of genre-hopping songs. Print edition only Uncut
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