2025 Favorite Albums (10 - 1)

And here we are, my top ten albums of 2025:

10. FACS - Wish Defense 

Angular and haunting post-punk from the Chicago trio. I got to see them live this year, and they are a formidable live act.

9. Just Mustard - We Were Just Here

Heady mix of shoegaze, dream pop, post-punk, and noise rock with ethereal vocals layered over.

8. DJ Kose - Music Can Hear Us

Fever dream of a record. Though it is a cliché, he honestly takes you on a surreal, contemplative journey.

7. Addison Rae - Addison

The best pure pop record of the year. So many great songs, so many great melodies and hooks.

6. Smerz - Big City Life

Quirky, surreal, and captivating synthpop.

5. Erika de Casier - Lifetime

The perfect mixture of trip-hop, R&B, and ambient electronica. The best Sunday morning record.

4. Deftones - private music

This might be the nu-metal legends' best work. It hits hard.

3. Purity Ring - Purity Ring

This is a soundtrack to an imagined video game, and it does take you on a fascinating journey. It's softer and more polished than their earlier records, and it lingers long in your mind.

2. Rosalía - Lux

Mother.

1. aya - hexed!

This record is absolutely batshit crazy. It's a car crash of styles (hyper-pop, industrial, noise, collage, ambient), sometimes all at once. It's never more than fascinating, and a record I consistently came back to, just to say, "How the hell did she do that?"