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16 December 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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Unlisted recent releases

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New

Dove EllisBlizzard

"With shades of Jeff and Tim Buckley, the Galway-born artist writes tunes so strong they seem as familiar as old friends" (10/10 - The Guardian). "The sound is entirely his" (8/10 - DIY)

New

Melody’s Echo ChamberUnclouded

"The music is immaculate and interesting throughout" (8/10 - Northern Transmissions). "A record that is just as impressively crafted as anything she has done" (9/10 - All Music)

New

Oneohtrix Point NeverTranquilizer

"An impossibly dense and transportive electronic album that takes impermanence as its inspiration" (8.6/10 - Pitchfork). "A demonstration of Daniel Lopatin’s mastery of structural tension" (9/10 - Slant)

Highest Recent Ratings

Albums to watch

SnocapsSnocaps

"They are back playing pop that is pretty darn unmatched" (8.6/10 - Northern Transmissions). "A hailstorm of warm, exceptionally-written country-rock bangers backed by MJ Lenderman and Brad Cook" (8.5/10 - Paste)

Florence + The MachineEverybody Scream

"Florence Welch enlists horror and magic to harness hope" (10/10 - NME). "An urgent and vital testimony to survival and rebirth, Florence Welch’s sixth album is a defiant middle finger to doubters" (9/10 - musicOMH)

Lily AllenWest End Girl

"Her best album in 16 years, an incisive diary of a marriage in freefall" (10/10 - The Independent). "A hard-hitting pop exposition, while also providing an endless supply of hooks" (8/10 - Clash)

The Last Dinner PartyFrom The Pyre

"Insanely rich with ideas, hooks, smart artifice and real emotion, From The Pyre is a feast of giddy raptures" (10/10 - Record Collector). "Both thematically and sonically richer" (10/10 - DIY)

BrògealTuesday Paper Club

"2026 is there for Brogeal’s taking, they’re gonna be a lot of people’s new favourite band" (8/10 - God Is In The TV). "This is what it sounds like when a band get it right the first time" (10/10 - Dork)

Jay SomBelong

"With ‘Belong’ serving notice of Jay Som’s continued abilities" (8/10 - Clash). "Will undoubtedly solidify her reputation as your favourite pop singer's favourite pop singer" (8/10 - Exclaim"

IdlewildIdlewild

"The fact they are producing some of their best work seems almost absurd, and yet here we are" (9/10 - The Line Of Best Fit). "Idlewild is no nostalgic LP—it’s the sound of a band rejuvenated" (10/10 - XS Noize)

PopMatters : recent releases

The ADM rating is a weighted average from our survey of more than 50 sources , taking into account the number of reviews

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9.0
ADM Rating

Rosalía

Lux

Fourth album of experimental, flamenco-flavoured pop from the Catalonia-born Rosalia Vila Tobella includes guest appearances from Björk and Yves Tumor

Added: 12/11/2025
9.0

Mavis Staples

Sad And Beautiful World

Album number fifteen from the veteran gospel and soul legend is a covers album featuring contributions from Katie Crutchfield, Buddy Guy, MJ Lenderman, Bonnie Raitt, Derek Trucks, Jeff Tweedy and Justin Vernon

Added: 11/11/2025
8.0

Whitney

Small Talk

Fifth album from the Chicago indie rock band featuring contributions from Malcolm Brown, Colin Croom, Whitney Johnson, J.J. Kirkpatrick, Vivian McConnell, Will Miller, Brian Seyler and Macie Stewart

Added: 20/11/2025
7.0

Danny Brown

Stardust

Sixth full-length album from the Detroit experimental hip hop artist including collaborations with Bruiser Wolf, Kassa Overall and Mike

Added: 01/12/2025
7.0

The Mountain Goats

Through This Fire Across from Peter Balkan

Album number twentythree from the lo-fi indie folk band led by John Darnielle was produced by Matt Douglas

Added: 13/11/2025

Latest Reviews

This is Lorelei Holo Boy

Amos has been an expert popsmith for years; the world is finally catching up, and not a moment too soon All Music

This is Lorelei Holo Boy

One half of Water From Your Eyes re-records songs from the back catalogue of his other band, resulting in acoustic fare touched with regret and darkness The Guardian

This is Lorelei Holo Boy

Nate Amos’s latest solo album consists entirely of songs written in the years prior to 2024’s Box for Buddy, Box for Star. The music presents us with yet another robust block of material that allows his idiosyncratic songwriting to truly shine Paste Magazine

More reviews

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Fresh stuff

COSPLAY by Sorry

"Hooks arrive, then shift; masks slip, then hold; references flash, then vanish. The common thread is control: even at its most unruly, the placement of parts feels deliberate" (10/10 - Dork)

Keaton HensonParader
"An increase in volume paired with a new immediacy and confidence make this his most accessible album to date" (8/10 - musicOMH). "A huge step forwards" (8/10 - Mojo)

Mavis StaplesSad And Beautiful World
Sad and Beautiful World is much more than a mere collection of Staples’ incredible gospel and soul-soaked mastery; it is a reminder of what has been before and what the future could be (8/10 - Far Out)

Anna Von HausswolffICONOCLASTS
"All of the different influences on Iconoclasts just blend so well and it never sounds messy" (9.4/10 - Sputnik). "A marriage of opposites: automaton-like discipline and total abandon" (8/10 - Slant)

The Belair Lip BombsAgain
"Establishes them as a new great hope" (8/10 - NME). "For a band whose influences range from Queen to hardcore, it’s impressive how coherent it all sounds" (8/10 - Dork)

CreeperSANGUIVORE II: MISTRESS OF DEATH
"Never a band to shy away from making their songs as huge as possible, their fourth record features some of their most monumental tracks to date" (8/10 - Clash)

The LemonheadsLove Chant
"Cleverly, it retains a rough-shod production and avoids digital polish" (7/10 - Far Out). "The sound overall mostly evokes the primordial, punky, pre-grunge Lemonheads" (8/10 - Uncut)

Demi LovatoIt’s Not That Deep
"Feels like a homecoming to her electronic-pop roots" (8/10 - Rolling Stone). "It’s not that deep, but it might just be Lovato’s best effort yet" (8/10 - The Line Of Best Fit)

Sudan ArchivesThe BPM
"A vibrant, energetic atmosphere on her bustling house party of a third album" (9/10 - musicOMH). "Pulses with the kind of euphoria that comes from letting loose on the dance floor" (8/20 - Slant)

All-time top 10

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.

See full list