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25 April 2024

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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New

Still House PlantsIf I don't make it, I love u

"A truly brilliant piece of work" (10/10 - The Skinny). "One of the best rock records of the year" (9/10 - Exclaim. "Eschews typical song forms in favor of a kind of collective flickering" (8.5/10 - Pitchfork)

New

Taylor SwiftThe Tortured Poets Department

"A terrific reminder of the intense, personal connection Swift can conjure in song" (10/10 - The Independent). "Surprisingly flat and, at times, cringeworthy" (6/10 - NME)

New

Pearl JamDark Matter

"It’s thrilling. It’s moving. It’s surprising. It’s a band still operating at the peaks of their powers" (10/10 - Kerrang!) "Experiment with new sonic avenues after years of playing it safe" (8/10 - NME)

Highest Recent Ratings

Albums to watch

RideInterplay

"When they delve into the big guitar histrionics of yesteryear, as on “Light in a Quiet Room,” the results are breathtaking" (9/10 - Under The Radar). "One of the most intriguing albums of their career to date" (8/10 - Clash)

ElbowAudio Vertigo

"This is phenomenal stuff" (10/10 - The Arts Desk). "An album that further cements their legacy" (9-10 - Clash). "It’s nice to see Elbow stepping outside their comfort zone" (8/10 - Under The Radar)

Kacey MusgravesDeeper Well

"Revels in Laurel Canyon folk and psychedelic pop on her fantastic sixth album" (10/10 - The Independent). "Ring it up as another jewel in the crown" (8/10 - The Irish Times)

Kim GordonThe Collective

"An astonishing work that’s at least as good (if not better) than some of the albums with which she made her fame and fortune" (10/10 musicOMH)

Yard ActWheres My Utopia?

"Wry, riveting, chaotic, and infectious throughout, Where's My Utopia? easily upstages what was an impressive debut" (All Music). "A resounding, charismatic and dance-heavy sophomore LP" (Paste)

Liam Gallagher & John SquireLiam Gallagher John Squire

"This is too much fun to be a one-off" (Mojo). "The half-inched tunes come and go rather forgettably but they’re charged with an electric vigour" (The Independent). OR "An excruciating exercise in bluster and swagger" (The Irish Times)

IdlesTangk

"The sound of a band who’ve finally arrived" (Northern Transmissions). "A raucous expression of love, TANGK is raw, vulnerable and inimitably IDLES" (The Skinny). "Their best yet" (The Irish Times)

ken

Destroyer

ken

Album number eleven from the Canadian indie rock band fronted by New Pornographers member Dan Bejar

ADM rating[?]: 7.4
Label: Dead Oceans
UK Release date: 20/10/2017
US Release date: 20/10/2017

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Sort by most recent review

10.0 100295
10.0 | The Independent

Never one to stick to the same musical path, Bejar has abandoned the poised string arrangements and rolling jazz horns that backdropped his tales of the city on 2015’s Poison Season, mostly in favour of a grim electropop
Read Review
8.8 100462
8.8 | Gig Soup

Regardless of one’s first-take evaluations of ‘ken’, repetition will inevitably draw listeners closer to this underrated gem
Read Review
8.5 100297
8.5 | The Line Of Best Fit

ken is Bejar’s best work since his masterpiece
Read Review
8.0 100298
8.0 | All Music

His typical existential outlook combined with a heavier presence of New Order-like industrial timbres make this a somewhat darker album, but still delightfully Destroyer
Read Review
8.0 100296
8.0 | Slant Magazine

ken showcases the most commercially appealing elements of Destroyer frontman Dan Bejar’s oeuvre
Read Review
8.0 100293
8.0 | Exclaim

With ken, he has once again delivered an excellent record that offers both sonic surprises and familiar idiosyncrasies
Read Review
8.0 100294
8.0 | The Guardian

Ken isn’t quite as cohesive as 2011’s outstanding breakthrough, Kaputt, but makes another fine addition to the canon
Read Review
8.0 100339
8.0 | DIY

While ‘ken’ is more accessible than its predecessor it seems unlikely to affect the Vancouver musician’s cult name status
Read Review
8.0 100342
8.0 | The FT

Features surreal lyrics, eccentric singing and wilfully unpredictable structures
Read Review
8.0 100417
8.0 | Drowned In Sound

It’s not going to immediately colonise one’s affections in the way the best Destroyer records do, but it will slowly get there
Read Review
8.0 100421
8.0 | The 405

Bejar is never one to fully sprawl across his laurels, always seeking to challenge himself just enough to keep his work fresh
Read Review
8.0 100569
8.0 | The Quietus

While Poison Season sounded like the kind of late-career ‘mature’ album that Bejar could be content to make for the rest of his life, ken shows that he is still full of the potential to surprise – and long may he continue to do so
Read Review
8.0 100856
8.0 | musicOMH

Comfortably surpassing Poison Season, ken is hugely listenable throughout, and with so many ‘80s touchpoints in evidence, it often sounds like it could actually have been made at that time
Read Review
7.9 100302
7.9 | Pitchfork

He remains one of the most evocative songwriters of his generation
Read Review
7.5 100308
7.5 | Consequence Of Sound

One of Destroyer’s most accessible albums
Read Review
7.5 100396
7.5 | Under The Radar

This isn't much of a change of direction for Bejar; it's just Destroyer. What more can a person want?
Read Review
7.0 100299
7.0 | Loud And Quiet

Rather irresistible
Read Review
6.0 100347
6.0 | The Observer

Shot through with scorn
Read Review
6.0 100360
6.0 | Mojo

There are some sumptuous moments. Print edition only
5.0 100306
5.0 | Tiny Mix Tapes

The lyrics can’t support the music, and vice-versa
Read Review
5.0 100582
5.0 | Pretty Much Amazing

Usually, when a reliable act like Destroyer puts out a disappointment, you hold out for the next one. This is the kind that makes you want to go back and listen to his older stuff, if only to remind you he’s capable of wonders
Read Review
5.0 100492
5.0 | God Is In The TV

There are glimpses of what makes Bejar a talented songwriter and arranger, but these moments don’t outweigh the parts where he sounds uninspired. ken is one of the year’s biggest disappointments from someone capable of much more
Read Review
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