21 August 2025
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 English model, singer-songwriter and guitarist
6.6
A whisper, sigh, prayer and somehow catharsis, Roses balms life’s harshness Read Review
Like all good second efforts, ‘Double Roses’ takes what worked the first time round, namely Elson’s gentle vocals and passion for the pastoral and forlorn, and amplifies the whole package with greater musicianship and composition Read Review
Elson as a woman who's ready for the next chapter of her life -- and an artist capable of writing it Read Review
Intensely personal. Print edition only
Its songs’ creative arrangements elevate them to great heights far from the great watery depths where Elson’s past love resides Read Review
A massive upgrade. Print edition only
A deftly delivered and subtle triumph Read Review
Tidy and tasteful rather than gripping Read Review
“I am alone, I am free no one to come and conquer me’’. If that’s what it takes to produce an album of this quality then long may it run! Read Review
Elson's look is strong: her sound, though, is slightly less fierce. Print edition only
Perhaps it’s turned out to be a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth, because ‘Double Roses’ feels weirdly half-baked Read Review
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Karen Elson: Double Roses
Wolf Alice The Clearing
A bell-bottomed soft-rock glaze courtesy of Greg Kurstin that gives their new songs real heft - "Bloom Baby Bloom" splits the difference between Spinal Tap and the Carpenters - but leaves some tumbling along like Elton John offcuts. Print edition only Uncut
Throughout, singer Ellie Roswell is a compelling presence, and the result is Wolf Alice's best yet. Print edition only Mojo
Now firmly in their thirties, the band are out of the woods of the chaos of their twenties, and settling into new levels of self-acceptance and self-assurance NME
Their boldest, most striking record yet. DIY
Laufey A Matter Of Time
Although this LA-based Chinese-Icelander gas woven a loose temporal theme through the loungey chamber pop of her third album, it's the waspish lyrical sting in the tail of these songs that sets her apart. Print edition only Uncut
The Icelandic singer not only invokes the traditions of the Great American Songbook; she indulges, interrogates, and goofs on them, adding a welcome spark to her retro mannerisms Pitchfork
Cements Laufey as a generational talent and far from simply a modern jazz darling Clash
Laufey’s A Matter of Time has many charms. Like a pretty girl who denies her attractiveness, she may try too hard to convince one of what’s not true PopMatters
Laufey conjures a fairytale world woven from jazz, pop and a ticking clock The Skinny
Deftones Private Music
Traversing dark claustrophobia and sprawling soundscapes, beautiful in both is composition and delivery DIY
The now viral Sacramento art-metal pioneers reunite with producer Nick Raskulinecz for a direct, soulful and *whisper it* sexy dose of what they do best NME
Deftly striking a balance between brutal and graceful, it’s a welcome reminder that Deftones are still more than capable of delivering the goods while showing us something new and vital Clash
The gravitational pull of Deftones gets stronger every year. Their 10th album shows them fully in control of their heavy, menacing, instantly recognizable sound Pitchfork
Conan Gray Wishbone
It’s exceptionally sharp emotional writing, making ‘Wishbone’ some of his most affecting work yet Dork
His not-quite-angst meets its musical equivalent in its not-quite-alternative sound DIY
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
Spiritbox Tsunami Sea
Kendrick Lamar Damn.
D'Angelo And The Vanguard Black Messiah
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Ghosteen
Self Esteem Prioritise Pleasure
Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree
Frank Ocean Channel Orange