For fun, I’m highlighting a handful of records that I have enjoyed from 2025. To be honest, I don’t feel like making this all that formal, but I also wanted to highlight how impressive the year has been so far. It’s disappointing how my usual Top 25 is already finding some great titles dropping out of the bottom half, but that’s just a testament to this excellent year.
1. The Weeknd – Hurry Up Tomorrow
An incredible end to one of the most exciting musical projects of the modern era. While the film was whatever, this album is jam-packed with moments that haven’t left my mind since the first listen.
2. Various – Maybe Happy Ending
There’s a good reason that this won the Tony. Every track has this aching sincerity and longing for a deep romantic connection. After a lackluster 2024, it’s refreshing to have OBCRs that are really going for something more creative and original.
3. Quadeca – Vanisher, Horizon Scraper
It didn’t seem likely that he’d ever top “I Didn’t Mean to Haunt You,” but he’s at least found something to rival. The creativity on this is insane, and the way that he turns a boating metaphor into this grander study of mental health is phenomenal.
4. Ethel Cain – Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You
Too early to determine if this will go higher, but as an Ethel Cain fan, I am mostly relieved that this expansion of the story was a satisfying listen. Her atmospheric qualities alone make this an easy record to become immersed in.
5. Samia – Bloodless
A great confessional record where Samia finds herself relating to the feral side of life while trying to understand her past. There are so many great small moments that make it an essential listen.
6. Little Simz – Lotus
The versatility shines while exploring the many ways that we interact with our environments and their psychological impacts on us. Thankfully, the tracks are also nonstop earworms with striking subject matter to keep me invested.
7. Smerz – Big City Life
The biggest surprise of 2025 is a band whose lo-fi sound creates the sense of wandering around a city after dark while navigating to the next nightclub. Everything has this chill energy to it that makes you feel cool for being in their secret club.
8. Lucy Dacus – Forever Is a Feeling
As the world burns, it’s a relief to have a record like this that is infatuated with nothing but the people she loves most. While this is an earnest record that maybe strays too often into blush-worthy territory, the joy is still refreshing.
9. PinkPantheress – Fancy That
While it can be argued that this is more of an EP than a proper album release, it’s still an excellent collection of pop tracks. It’s nonstop hits here that continue to prove why her brand of early 2000s throwbacks has been a welcome addition.
10. Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out
The rap duo has returned after a lengthy hiatus and done so without missing a spring in their step. Their vitality shines through as every line’s urgency encourages one to spend a few minutes figuring out the multiple entendres and emotional depth that drives the group into a high point of rap music in 2025.
11. Oklou – Choke Enough
Another great discovery for 2025 that finds a light hyperpop influence creating a dazed listening experience full of eclectic numbers. Even in their bashfulness, this delivers on the earworms of your favorite alternative girl.
12. Ludwig Goransson – Sinners
The movie is a sensation for a reason. The way it uses music recontextualizes over a century of the blues and updates it with creative force. This score, thankfully, accompanies it with one of the most thrilling pieces of score seen this year.
13. Japanese Breakfast – For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women)
A record that proves the power of effective songwriting has less to do with length and more with the execution. The joy and introspection on every track continue to reflect why she’s been an essential voice in pop music.
14. Clipping – Dead Channel Sky
A sledgehammer of creativity that finds the experimental hip-hop mixing a lot of digital influences with lyrics that are violently political and funny. Every track brings enough surprises to warrant at least one listen.
15. Lady Gaga – Mayhem
One of the modern queens of pop returns with an album of nonstop absurdity that finds her embracing the offbeat personality we came to love her for. The only thing more ridiculous is the talent on display to make love songs out of the silliest of metaphors.
16. Saya Gray – Saya
Following a string of memorable EPs, Gray has released an album that finds her eccentric personality turning to a more accomplished production that continually delights with risky choices. One of the best alt-pop records of 2025.
17. Youth Lagoon – Rarely Do I Dream
A one-of-a-kind listen that finds the singer reflecting on his hometown with a painstaking attention to detail. Add in elements of archival audio, and it creates one of the most beautifully nostalgic listens of the year.
18. Jane Remover – Revengeseekerz
For the third record in a row, she pivots to a new genre and delivers an album so aggressive and worthy of a mosh pit. This is raw, unfiltered emotion that is best experienced as loudly as possible.
19. Daniel Pemberton & Bobby Krlic – Eddington
I’m unsure why Ari Aster decided to cast two composers in this role, but they do a great job playing off each other. It also creates an eerie, dissonant tone that never fully settles the listener into a comforting pattern, much like the film it accompanies.
20. Men I Trust – Equus Caballus
One of two Equus albums from the band in 2025, and a great record to just get lost inside. A relaxing journey full of sweet harmonies and melodies that capture a sense of introspection and hope.
21. Wet Leg – Moisturizer
The band’s follow-up is an even greater, more passionate record where they lean more heavily into love and produce some of their most thrilling work to date. Every track works at capturing the longing feeling of youthful romance and the reckless abandon that comes with it.
22. Lia Ouyang Rusli – Sorry, Baby
While not the most elaborate record in the mix, it’s a very consistent score that captures the highs and lows of its story. The eclectic choices for the upbeat melodies are especially enthralling and have some of my favorite moments of the year.
23. Yeule – Evangelic Girl Is a Gun
The good news is that after several records of some truly dark pop, this record is turning towards upbeat nods to 90s stalwarts. What it lacks in meaningful depth, it more than makes up for with memorable hooks.
24. More Eaze & Claire Rousay – No Floor
Rousay has quickly become one of my favorite ambient artists, and while this doesn’t match the highs of her concept record “Sentiment,” it includes enough feeling of being out in an abandoned parking lot in the middle of the night. It’s a great mood setter as well as some of her best work.
25. Larry June, 2 Chainz & The Alchemist – Life Is Beautiful
Maybe not the most substantial hip-hop album to come out in 2025, but it’s one of the most carefree. The low stakes allow for the two rappers to exchange bars that reflect on their lives and everything they’ve achieved. It may seem ridiculous, but it feels genuine and silly in a way that’s not condescending.
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