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?" 

 

2025 Favorite Albums (20-11)

Inching closer to my top ten:

20. Eterna - Debunker

A beautiful album of songs that feel like old friends. It's an evocative collection of dream pop and post-punk.

19. Gelli Haha - Switcheroo

This record is just bonkers; in a good way. It defies easy description, but it sounds like Tom Tom Club and Kelly Lee Owens got together to make music for Pee Wee's Playhouse. It's lunatic club music.

18. Amaarae - Black Star 

Party album of the year.

17. Daniel Avery - Tremor

Producer Daniel Avery dips his toes into goth-tinged synthpop on this glorious album.

16. FKA twigs - EUSEXUA/EUSEXUA Afterglow

I couldn't split these two records, as they work as a complex whole. FKA twigs is still pushing the boundaries of what pop music can be. 

15. Barker - Stochastic Drift

Icy, yet human, techno from the Berlin-based producer.

14. bdrmm - Microtonic

Blurring the lines between shoegaze and electronica.

13. Real Lies - We Will Annihilate Our Enemies

Swooning, propulsive synthpop that evokes a seedier version of the Pet Shop Boys.

12. YHWH Nailgun - 45 Pounds

Intense and lumbering mix of industrial rhythms, collage-like synths, and mantra-evoking vocals. 

11. Model/Actriz - Pirouette

The Brooklyn band expands on their debut record with a set of tightly coiled industrial post-punk mayhem.

 

2025 Favorite Albums (30 - 21)

 

And the list continues:

30. AFI - Silver Bleeds The Black Sun

AFI puts on their best Sisters of Mercy outfits and releases the best goth-rock album of the year.

29. Zanias - Cataclysm

Epically dramatic synthpop in the vein for Fever Ray and Bjork.

28. Maria Somerville - Luster

A gorgeous record of ethereal dream pop.

27. Saint Etienne - International

Allegedly, the trio's final album. If it is, they are definitely going out with a bang.

26. james K - Friend

Dream pop, shoegaze, and trip-hop merge together into a cohesive collection of tracks.

25. Suede - Antidepressants

Thirty-plus years into their career, the band has lost none of its swagger. This record easily stands with their best work.

24. Rose Gray - Louder, Please

Dance-pop at its finest.

23. Rochelle Jordan - Through The Wall

Beguiling R&B/club record that highlights Jordan's sultry vocals.

22. Lola Young - I'm Only F**king Myself

Lola Young's third album is a solid collection of alt-pop tracks buoyed by her strong vocals and acerbic wit.

21. Deafheaven - Lonely People With Power 

After a rather staid attempt at a shoegaze record, Deafheaven returns to form on this blistering album.

2025 Favorite Albums (40 - 31)

 

Continuing my list:

40. Blood Orange - Essex Honey

Dev Hynes continues his string of fascinating, thematically dense pop records.

39. Nick León - A Tropical Entropy

Drenched with aquatic-sounding reverb and echo, this record provides a late-night soundtrack.

38. Geese - Getting Killed

One of the most bizarre, yet thoroughly entertaining, rock albums this year.

37. Rocket - R Is For Rocket

Rocket wear their 90s alt-rock influences on their sleeve, but it never feels like pastiche.

36. Die Spitz - Something To Consume

The Austin quartet skillfully blends elements of grunge, alternative rock, punk, and noise, maintaining a delicate balance among these genres.

35. Blawan - SickElixer

Dark, cavernous, unforgiving techno.

34. Lifeguard - Ripped and Torn

A breathtaking rush of post-punk fury.

33. Double Virgo - Shakedown

Sam Fenton and Jezmi Tarik Fehmi, moonlighting from their band, bar italia, collect a ramshackle group of songs that recall the laconic sounds of Pavement and The Replacements.

32. Oneohtrix Point Never - Tranquilizer

Using a treasure trove of commercial sample CDs, Daniel Lopatin builds haunting and immersive new worlds.

31. Ghost Mountain - October Country

I'm always a sucker for some good witch house.

2025 Favorite Albums (50-41)

 

It's that time of year again, and here is the start of my list of favorite albums of 2025:

50. Austra - Chin Up Buttercup

Tampering the eccentricity slightly, Austra supplies one of the best synthpop albums this year. 

49. The Belair Lip Bombs - Again

Perfect alt-power pop. 

48. Agriculture - The Spiritual Sound

Intense black metal that has a subtle warmth. 

47. Tame Impala - Deadbeat

I will admit I loathed this record when it came out. But man, he knows how to create perfect earworms. 

46. Turnstile - Never Enough

I love when a band just hits everything perfectly. And I’m so thankful that this record catapulted them to greater popularity. 

45. Pinkpantheress - Fancy That

She doesn’t change her sound much, but she doesn’t need to. She just perfects it. 

44. bar italia - Some Like It Hot

Louche post-punk, filled with swagger and elan. 

43. John Glacier - Like A Ribbon

Introspective trip-hop that effortlessly moves between beauty and menace.

42. Perfume Genius - Glory

Effortless storytelling full of sadness, loneliness, but ultimately hope. 

41. NewDad - Altar

Crazy and quirky alt-pop. Each song builds on each other to a soon-to-be classic.