The 80 Best Albums of 2025

80. Bartees Strange – Horror (4AD)

Bartees Strange‘s Horror has its own theme and sensibility. As the title suggests, to borrow from another brilliant artist operating at their peak, he’s got so much trouble on his mind. With his star continuing to rise, Strange is aware of the critical moment that Horror is for him. Will it expand his audience further?

The bigger the swing, the greater the need for something to show. That is the focus of “Wants, Needs”, an explosive track in the middle of Horror. He seems to be singing directly to his fans. The unquiet mind has delivered many great songs and records, and fortunately, Strange continues his streak. Horror is a refinement of the best parts of him–genre-hopping pop and confessional lyrics. Opener “Too Much” is of a piece with some of the best songs on his previous record, Farm to Table. – Brian Stout

79. Hedvig Mollestad Trio – Bees in the Bonnett (Rune Grammofon)

One guitarist who deserves the kind of publicity push being deployed on behalf of Grace Bowers is that fiery fret melter from the icy north, Norwegian Hedvig Mollestad. Bees in the Bonnet, the eighth album by her long-running trio with bassist Ellen Brekken and drummer Ivar Loe Bjornstad, is once again proof of her massive and singular talent, with a sound that one critic colorfully labeled “Jazz Sabbath”. It’s a blend of progressive rock, metal, free jazz, psychedelia, and dark ambient, all rolled into one exquisitely heavy yet organized whole. According to Mollestad, the six tunes on the trio’s latest represent a return to the mercilessly metallic style of their 2011 debut album, Shoot! – Sal Cataldi

78. Fieldwork – Thereupon (Pi)

This trio — Tyshawn Sorey on drums, Vijay Iyer on piano, and alto saxophonist Steve Lehman — last released an album in 2008. Since then, each has become a highly influential figure in 21st-century jazz. Their recorded reunion, however, is not “heavier” for all of their weight on the scene. It is better described as buoyant and open, building on the idea that animated the three previous recordings: that daring music in the jazz tradition can be propulsive and carefully structured even as it radically expands that tradition. This is the best of the four albums: ferociously focused and remarkably accessible for music that remains abstract and harmonically dense. Indeed, parts of this record are exceptionally grooving and full of joy. – Will Layman

77. Sami Galbi – Ylh Bye Bye (Bongo Joe)

There’s nothing plastic or inauthentic about Sami Galbi’s debut for the Swiss label Bongo Joe. It’s as earthy as a DIY block party, sweltering with the scent of street vendors and the sound of battery-powered sound machines. Coming from a background in anarchist punk squats, Galbi approaches his unique take on North African folk music and international club pop with revolutionary vigor, leaving you a sweaty, breathless, exhilarated mess by the time it’s all said and done.

Although it’s rooted in real life and a folk sensibility and fired with a punk rock spirit, there is nothing archival or archaic about Ylh Bye Bye. Any of its three-minute bangers would sound as at home in a modern Middle Eastern dance club as it would at a wedding party. – J. Simpson

76. Swans – Birthing (Young God)

Has there ever been a band with a stranger trajectory than Swans? From the anarchic, post-metal noise terrorist roots in the 1980s to the sublime Gothic sound architects in the 1990s to out-and-out critical darlings in the 2010s. The fact that Michael Gira’s dense, relentless, existentialist noise symphonies would ever catch on outside of black box Goth clubs is strange enough. That they alsoenjoyed a moment as a viral phenomenon is either proof that the simulacrum is finally shutting down for good or that we’ve collectively lost our damn minds. 

Either way, Birthing would deserve recognition for being the final installment of Swans’ legendary Big Band era alone. The fact that it’s as challenging, punishing, relentless, intoxicating, frightening, and exciting as any of their most challenging works earns it a place at the top of the list. – J Simpson

75. The Devil Makes Three – Spirits (New West)

The Devil Makes Three’s Spirits is a spellbinding mix of foot-stomping rhythms, soul-stirring storytelling, and their triumphant return after a seven-year hiatus since the 2018 Chains Are Broken release. Spirits is a celebration and a reckoning. Each song unfolds like a parable, interconnecting striking imagery and hardscrabble truths to portray loss, addiction, and resilience. Musically, it reflects Americana’s lively spirit, blues’ melancholic essence, and folk’s grounding nature. Each genre contributes to Spirits’ testimony of the pain and perseverance that define the human experience. The Devil Makes Three let listeners lose themselves in song, but not without losing sight of the deeper truths. – Elisabeth Woronzoff

74. McKinley Dixon – Magic, Alive! (City Slang)

At the other end of the spectrum, despite being inspired by tragedy, is Magic, Alive!, a spiritual journey through mourning. Dixon bounces from being fully locked in to on the verge of collapse, and his collaborators are up to the uncompromising vision. Featuring live instrumentation that leans hardest into jazz, Magic, Alive! Is nonetheless varied and thrilling, from the heavy “Recitatif” to the loose “Run, Run, Run Pt. II” and the title track.

“We’re Outside, Rejoice!” has me wishing for one of the breezy summer afternoons when I had this record on repeat. “Listen Gentle” might get us seasonal affective disorder sufferers through another winter. Art healing wounds isn’t exactly a novel concept, but it gets traction because it takes shape again and again, and life requires us to find ways to save ourselves over and over. Magic, Alive! is a life-affirming experience that marks another high point for Dixon. – Brian Stout

73. Jesse Welles – Middle (Independent)

In Middle, Welles seeks to balance the personal with the collective. “Anything But Me” and “Every Grain of Sand” are deeply introspective as he wrestles with themes of self-determination and our limited time on earth. “War Is a God” considers humankind’s natural inclination toward bloodshed, eventually surrendering to it: “And that’s the story of the whole world / I can’t seem to make it stop.” With the songwriter’s penchant for the philosophical, nuggets of Buddhist existentialism can be found sprinkled throughout the LP.   

If listeners thought Jesse Welles was one-dimensional, he proves to be well-versed in many of the hallmarks of Americana, ranging from front porch strumming to loose and freewheeling rock and roll. Like many of the masters before him (Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Neil Young), he incorporates history, mythology, and religion with ease, proving he’s not just a songsmith for contemporary times. On Middle, new and old fans alike will find plenty to appreciate in what feels like Welles’ first fully formed effort. – Patrick Gill

72. Whatever the Weather – Whatever the Weather II (Ghostly International)

For the video to accompany the track “9°C”, from Loraine James‘ second release under the Whatever the Weather moniker, the artist focuses on Japan, featuring grainy shots of Tokyo’s infamous Shibuya crossing, apartment buildings, scenes of a plane taking off from a sun glare-filled window seat with a shot showing the enormity of Tokyo from the air, and the Kyoto-bound bullet train as Mt Fuji appears in the distance beyond the endless suburban detritus of the city.

Listening to James’ minimal synth wanderings, interspersed with field recordings of children, makes for a natural soundtrack. However, rather than a seeming juxtaposition of sound and visual, the music evokes a certain peacefulness that is reflected in the city. – Bruce Miller

71. SASAMI – Blood on the Silver Screen (Domino)

SASAMI’s much-anticipated third LP, Blood on the Silver Screen, has arrived, and while the sound is quite different, it’s another creative triumph. Sasami Ashworth continues to take chances by altering her sound in another bold new direction, downsizing the heavy guitars in exchange for intricate sonic landscapes that layer trippy synths with a range of danceable beats.

Yet the LP still retains an impactful quality thanks to another batch of big melodic hooks, her impressively emotive voice, and a vibrant production with cinematic overtones. SASAMI is like a shamanic medicine woman here, sharing tales of trials and visions to help the tribe explore those feelings within their own souls. – Greg M. Schwartz

70. Water From Your Eyes – It’s a Beautiful Place (Matador)

Ursula K. Le Guin’s celebrated 1974 tome The Dispossessed has been known to inspire generations of science fiction authors, and now it’s documented that the anarchist author’s radical yet practical ideas have been seeping into vocalist Rachel Brown’s psyche as well. The singer of Water From Your Eyes carried around LeGuin’s book on tour, and as a result, their latest album captivates the listener with genre-defying songs sculpted in a utopian sci-fi vein that envision a more hopeful universe. Brown’s voice has a quality that draws you into its secretive sphere, and the song arrangements, courtesy of multi-instrumentalist Nate Amos, have a similarly familiar aspect, but also reveal a stunning musical maturity. 

With the new album, the duo have been fleshed out into a foursome, adding members who help augment the sound to encompass elements of stoner metal, jazz, disco, funk, and more. The Brooklyn-based outfit thrillingly contain multitudes; every song exudes a contagious vigor, and yet there is a studied intensity to their worldly music as well.

Art rock can sometimes be preciously pretentious and esoterically alienating. Water from Your Eyes are neither. They draw you in with their vibrancy and dynamic revelry in the freedom of discovery. They make you notice their experimental edge, yet the final result is that they summon reverence for the musical forms that came before without sacrificing a startling individuality. – Alison Ross

69. Perfume Genius – Glory (Matador)

While touring his seventh album as Perfume Genius, Mike Hadreas made a habit of collapsing himself over furniture on stage, tangling himself up in cords and cables, contorting between the legs of chairs, inverting his body into angular headstands, and– and this part wasn’t new– writhing around on the floor. 

On stage and in the music, he’s like a cat grazing its cheeks on every possible surface: like it’s his first time feeling the world and he can’t get enough. The euphoria laces every edge of the album: “It’s a Mirror” cries out for a blossoming field to run through; the sensual mystery of “Capezio” runneth over; the celestial flourishes of “Full On” wouldn’t be a bad thing to hear when you first get to heaven. It’s another bold reinvention, shedding the metallic and confrontational for something warmer, more grounded. It’s a sigh of relief after a lifetime of holding your breath. – Nick Malone

68. Irma Thomas & Galactic – Audience with the Queen (Tchuop-Zilla)

Two New Orleans legends, soul singer Irma Thomas and funk band Galactic, joined forces in 2025. The resulting album, Audience with the Queen, is stellar. It opens in a meditative mode with “How Glad I Am” (popularized by pop/jazz vocalist Nancy Wilson in 1964). Immediately thereafter though, it explodes with a statement of purpose anthem, “Where I Belong”, Thomas declaring, “I still got a love affair / With music in the air.” 

Audience with the Queen doesn’t directly tackle specific political and social concerns, but Galactic and Thomas confront the current state of the union, particularly on “Lady Liberty”. Thomas remains hopeful though, noting in another track that “Love’s Gonna Find a Way Again”. The record finds Irma Thomas and Galactic inviting all of us to have a funky good time. Now more than ever, that’s an invitation to treasure. – Rich Wilhelm

67. Nate Parrish – Make Me a Mountain (Independent)

In a clear contender for pop-punk album of the year, Nate Parrish’s Make Me a Mountain advocates for whatever strength and steadiness one can muster amid insecurities, opposition, and injustice. The central image of a mountain varies in meaning across the album, appearing as an object associated with strong faith and as a metaphor for self-possession and for being aware of serving as an example for others. Parrish is a self-described “song surgeon” who spends his time shepherding other songwriters as they write hooks and melodies, so it is no surprise that these are abundant on his latest album.

What is a revelation is how vital Parrish continues to sound, while working in this genre, this far into his career. Make Me a Mountain is a more sanguine version of PUP’s Who Will Look After the Dogs?; two fine punk albums of 2025 that contend with the same harsh world even as they offer different perspectives on how to exist within it. – Thomas Britt

66. The Ophelias – Spring Grove (Get Better)

The Ophelias have been building to a record like Spring Grove (named for a cemetery in their hometown) for years now. There were glimpses of a level-up on their brilliant Ribbon EP last year, but Spring Grove is the best Ophelias record to date. Everything is just better in this collection; the hooks are catchier, the lyrics are more powerful, and lead singer Spencer Peppet has never sounded more sure of herself. The band sound fuller and heavier, too, and that matches Peppet’s unsettling images of out-of-body experiences and eating organs in service of the central theme of revisiting the past in order to leave it where it belongs.

Songs like “Cumulonimbus”, “Sharpshooter”, and “Salome” crackle with an energy and propulsion that the band hasn’t previously captured in the studio. Credit must be given to producer Julien Baker for so fully capturing the balance of explosiveness and delicateness of the Ophelias’ live shows. But they don’t entirely abandon their trademark melancholy. Songs like “Parade” and “Vulture Tree” are enhanced versions of the classic Ophelias sound. For fans of melancholy indie, this is one of the key releases of the year. – Brian Stout

65. Nation of Language – Dance Called Memory (Sub Pop)

New York City trio Nation of Language have sometimes been more notable for their throwback, unabashedly synthpop aesthetic than their actual music. Their fourth album, Dance Called Memory, though, is the one where the songs make an undeniable case for themselves. Shearing off some distracting tendencies and adding subtle new twists like shoegaze-inspired guitar, Nation of Language refine their sound and play to their strengths, never more so than on the resplendently uplifting “Inept Apollo”. – John Bergstrom

64. Suede – Antidepressants (BMG)

What were the odds that 1990s British indie survivors Suede would still be making the most consistently thrilling music of all the bands from that era? There’s an argument that if they were a new band today, new album Antidepressants would see them heralded as one of the most exciting, fresh acts around. Their tenth record offers something unique for the band as they rub up against the dark edges even further, exploring their post-punk influences more directly. It’s the sound of a band sticking two fingers up to any notion of nostalgia as they push themselves to produce something as vital, urgent, and alive as they ever have.

Thematically, the record finds singer Brett Anderson exploring the importance of connection in an increasingly atomised society. His lyrics cut through the darkness as he delves into contemporary themes of anxiety, technological displacement, and the sheer volatility of the modern world. This is most apparent in songs like  “Disintegrate” and “Antidepressants”, which perfectly sum up both our struggles to remain connected while numbing ourselves with technology.

Other tracks sound more defiant. “Dancing with the Europeans” and “The Sound and the Summer” confront the modern world face on and refuse to be bowed. The songs sound free and confident, as widescreen choruses and gliding melodies intertwine with juddering bass and razorwire guitar lines.

Perhaps Antidepressants can best be summed up by its centrepiece, “Broken Music for Broken People”. A rallying cry to those who still see music as a medium to change society for the better. The stunning, closer “Life Is Endless, Life Is a Moment” ends with a timely reminder that life is fleeting and should be lived to the fullest. A sentiment that feels particularly relevant on an album from a band that have existed for almost 35 years and delivered their best album yet. – Paul Carr

63. Momma – Welcome to My Blue Sky (Polyvinyl)

What was it about 1990s alternative rock that was so enduring? The deeply emotive chord changes, the crisp production, and the matter-of-fact lyrics all combined to strike a nerve, setting the groundwork for the emo-goth boom of the early 2000s. Yet as legacy acts like Everclear continue to tour nearly three decades after their commercial peak, groups like Momma have carried on the proudest of rock traditions. 

Welcome to My Blue Sky is Momma’s fourth full-length studio album, and just so happens to be their best. Every drum fill, guitar squall, and chorus-exclusive bass lick comes together to craft a record that’s propulsive as it is reflective, catchy as it is cathartic. Gorgeous closer “My Old Street” walks through the pain of revisiting the memories of the house you grew up in (“My dad is getting older / Got a lot on his cold shoulder”) over a lithe and emotive mid-tempo thump. Band founders Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten continue to hone their craft in a way that’s true to the spirit of the era without once coming off as reductive.

“Ohio All the Time” could’ve been a throw-away pop-rock confection in the hands of a lesser group, but Momma captures the wistfulness of summer love in the mire of Midwest boredom. Welcome to My Blue Sky is so expertly, deftly locked into its ideal era; tracks like “Bottle Blonde” feel like they existed long before 2025. Friedman and Weingarten are so confident in the album that they released a deluxe edition the same year, featuring five additional songs, many of which are worthy standouts. Under this Blue Sky, everyone is welcome. – Evan Sawdey

62. Loyle Carner – Hopefully! (Island EMI)

Loyle Carner is a master of introspection and leaning into his identity. Moments of reflection and rousing lyrics have defined Carner’s music to date. Yet, he never preaches to fans. He speaks his mind in a stream-of-consciousness style that’s quietly powerful. With every release, he’s become more self-aware, and his journey of growth has continued on his latest effort, hopefully !.

The album marks a shift toward a more subdued, indie-inspired sound. Carner leans into a more optimistic outlook than past releases, but it’s still grounded in introspection. Crucially, the London-born songwriter has moved away from his comfort zone, expanding his range and even revealing his singing voice. That shift, in many ways, reflects the change in Carner’s own life. Entering his 30s, he’s become a father and uses the record to explore the theme of parenthood. – LiamSpringate–Jones

61. Lily Allen – West End Girl (BMG)

As if a (second) messy tabloid divorce wasn’t enough, Lily Allen in 2025 also faced a listening public that seemed to think she’d lost her touch. After the lukewarm reception of the limp Sheezus and the near lack of reception to its follow-up, No Shame, the Britpop enfant terrible faced a make-or-break career fork: the path of the pop luminary with 20 years of public fascination under her belt, or that of the snarky mid-tier podcaster. Luckily for us, Lily has always favored the road less traveled.

Though West End Girl boasts the same soapy, salacious, high-concept breakup drama that rebranded Beyonce as an auteur, its greatest success lies in Allen’s trademark wit properly landing for the first time in 15 years. It’s a reminder of what made her so transfixing in the aughts: her breezy and aloof delivery, giddy pubescent shock tactics, her ability to slice her targets to ribbons and cut herself down to size in the same breath. It doesn’t hurt that it’s catchier than anything since “The Fear”, overflowing with melodies lovely and delicate enough to swaddle an infant in, carrying stories of butt plugs and 4chan threads.

Though the album doesn’t sport the radio-ready hits of her early days, it’s a mature career step achieved through the utmost immaturity – the most Lily Allen way to begin a new chapter imaginable. We’ll get back to wondering what’s next for her soon, but until then: who the fuck is Madeline? – Nick Malone