12 December 2018
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 album from the Tupleo, Mississippi hip-hop duo produced by Mike WiLL Made-It
7.1
The core of the album remains the Brown brothers: it's a precision-engineered depiction of two young men having the time of their lives, no more, no less Read Review
A rarely relenting party with more substance than the last Read Review
SremmLife 2 should have been a washed-over retread of past success. Instead, it might be the album that pushes pop-rap forward Read Review
Stranger, artsier, and flat-out ballsier than its predecessor Read Review
There are real signs of musical development on Sremmurd 2 that point to longevity for the duo Read Review
Far from one-note, Rae Sremmurd have the chops to sustain a long and varied run going forward Read Review
Lacks the incredible singles of the first album (few things are as transcendent as 'No Type'). In no way does this mean the album lacks good songs, it just lacks great songs Read Review
Hotter singles make their debut a better buy, but for a group pegged as a one-hit wonder early on, SremmLife 2 dispels that myth with style Read Review
There are pleasures to be found on SremmLife 2 once you adjust your expectations and realize that it’s not a “No Flex Zone” sequel Read Review
Much of SremmLife 2 is basically a modern reboot of high-octane Southern crunk music, complete with cameos from vintage champagne sprayers like Lil Jon and Three Six Mafia's Juicy J Read Review
An enjoyable enough party record by dexterous rappers, but the expected depth isn’t quite reached Read Review
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Rae Sremmurd: SremmLife 2
Daniel Knox Chasescene
The production is old Hollywood by way of Weimar Berlin: tipsy pianos, swooning strings and debonair melodies Evening Standard
Vera Sola Shades
Vera wrote, played and arranged all of the parts herself, creating layers of sounds using traditional instrumentation that is both complex and sparse. Shades is a world of lone marching drums with choirs hidden in the shadows God Is In The TV
There's much to admire. Print edition only Uncut
Think Jolie Holland, or P.J. Harvey's To Bring You My Love, and prepare to be entranced. Print edition only Mojo
Ultimately Sola's muse remains rooted in the nocturnal. Print edition only Q
Using music as an outlet for often irresolvable frustrations that we can all share in, Vera Sola establishes herself as a unique talent The Line Of Best Fit
Christine and the Queens Chris
This is one of the finest pop works of the year Paste Magazine
Indi Precipice
Precipice is an impressive foundation for an artist seemingly unafraid to try to break her own musical boundaries The Skinny
There is something emotionally charged about this album as if it has been created from a very powerful source, urging you to take control of your own thoughts God Is In The TV
A beautiful and unconventional album to give yourself fully, a soundscape illuminated further by each repeated listen from an artist who has real potential to develop into creative treasure Drowned In Sound
Indi’s foundations in trip-hop are barely recognisable here, as the album often combines sparse atmospherics with rousing chamber pop that takes Force’s sound into unprecedented sonic territory Loud And Quiet
Precipice proves an engaging callback to mid-90’s post club chill-out music with hints of something deeper rather than the blaring immediacy of the new The 405
The 1975 A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
This is a content-saturated album for a content-saturated world. Here, there’s real substance and there’s total fluff, and it’s up to us to find out what’s worth listening to Slant Magazine
Selling On Reflection
Selling is an album that to me felt like branches of electronics, constantly moving and evolving, but also as nine trailing individual works that are steady and individual The Line Of Best Fit
A striking attention to detail ensures On Reflection will be a record that you're drawn back to again and again The Skinny
Since we've been around, that is. So, the highest-rated albums from the past eight years or so. Rankings are calculated to two decimal places.
Kendrick Lamar To Pimp A Butterfly
Kendrick Lamar Damn.
D'Angelo And The Vanguard Black Messiah
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree
Frank Ocean Channel Orange
Anaïs Mitchell Hadestown
Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Leonard Cohen You Want It Darker
Sufjan Stevens Carrie & Lowell
Mount Eerie A Crow Looked at Me