16 July 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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Third studio album from the New York rapper with guest appearances from FKA twigs, French Montana, Juicy J, Kid Cudi, Kodak Black, Moby, Frank Ocean, Skepta
6.4
The Harlem rapper's latest is loud, frenetic, and about as vibrant as hip-hop gets Read Review
Sonically, Testing is an experimental project. A shedding of the 29-year-old artist's old skin and a rebirth of something more profound and slightly more complicated Read Review
On his third studio album, Rocky is more experimental and personal. But for music that relies on the New York rapper’s artful intuitions, it’s unfortunate his intuitions are often very basic Read Review
An intriguing mix of garbled white noise and amp interference interspersed with splashes of instrumentals and a smattering of A-list features Read Review
ASAP Rocky takes to more experimentation in his music to match up with his style of fashion Read Review
Testing is what it says it is, though this far into his career, he should be doing better than merely a passing grade Read Review
The rapper’s aversion to the mainstream takes his third album to some glorious heights, with the help of Skepta and Frank Ocean. But is his swaggering decadence wearing thin? Read Review
Testing’s title might suggest experimentation, but it delivers more on tentativeness, with a smattering of solid songs mixed into aesthetically interesting but unresolved experiments Read Review
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Yard Act You're Gonna Need A Little Music
Yard Act prove themselves to be far more malleable than you might expect as they continue to push the sonic envelope, while grounding their songs in relatable kitchen sink wit The Skinny
This is the sound of a band in maximum flight, not afraid to change direction, still with the open and fun storytelling but immersed in a darker soundscape The Line Of Best Fit
The Rolling Stones Foreign Tongues
It demonstrates the timelessness of the blues, especially when in the right hands. In the case of Richards and Jagger, this remains ever true as one of the greatest songwriting duos proves their worth once more Spill Magazine
Madonna Confessions II
CONFESSIONS II does a poignant job of capturing the pop star’s life both past and present in a way that’s uncharacteristically unguarded and deeply introspective Albumism
Kelela new avatar
Where Raven was interested in images of nature and vanishing boundaries, new avatar seems conscious of walls and windows, house fronts from which city life echoes. And again and again, the sound of a sole electric guitar in bedrooms. Indeed: everybody’s making rock music! Beats Per Minute
Jack White Frozen Charlotte
The former White Stripes man throws lightning bolts over his own '70s riff universe on his seventh solo outing – but it's nothing new NME
Foreign Tongues is good, even if it's overcrowded and occasionally over-eager; a feat most bands would kill for. They may lean into their strengths a little too hard at times, but the Rolling Stones are still coming out on top Exclaim
Panda Bear & Sonic Boom ? of When
This is a gorgeous, sweeping, summery experimental record that in my humblest of opinions deserves to see Panda Bear and Sonic Boom recognized far more than they currently are as a brilliant psych-pop duo Sputnik Music (staff)
mary in the junkyard Role Model Hermit
Most upstart bands do not reach, let alone commence with, such strong thematic unity and the uncanny ability to express it through every single instrument used Sputnik Music (staff)
Though the sixteen-track LP plays it safe sonically, leaning into commercial dance tropes rather than experimentalism, this lack of risk will be forgiven by a fanbase yearning to explore her back catalogue The Quietus
On their second new album in recent years, the Stones find a funkier, more robust rhythm in the Hackney Diamonds overflow Pitchfork
YHWH Nailgun Magazine
Even at 11 minutes, it felt somewhat tedious to discern the better ideas the band comes up with in these sketches No Ripcord
With such a compelling frontperson in Freeman-Taylor, the band is close to finding the spark that will make them stand out in a crowded field No Ripcord
Gloriously grungry blues rock that, at times, is the heaviest he's ever sounded makes for an unmistakably Jack White album musicOMH
Makes a strong case for the argument that R&B is the most versatile, wide-ranging genre on the block The Quietus
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