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Let’s just get right into it – I mean, it’s January 2026 and you know the drill. These are my top 10 albums for 2025, but please bear in mind that I do have a full time job whilst larping as a movie reviewer so I have not gone through all the releases of the year. I’d wager that I haven’t even gone through 50% of the albums this year, but I have given most of the notable releases that I think would appeal to me a spin so this list is hopefully accurate to my tastes: 

1. Rosalía: LUX

LUX is a bit of a predictable pick to top off my end of year list, seeing how it’s rightfully received it’s flowers from all the major publications out there. It is a triumphant follow-up to Rosalía’s Motomami, her third studio album, and proves her ability to consistently reinvent her artistic identity whilst still keeping the flamenco influences from El mal querer (2018) and the brazen experimentation and attitude from Motomami (2022). Operatic, deeply emotional, and unlike anything released this year from all the big artists out there, I just wish it dropped a little earlier so I could do a proper review on this? I’m still familiarising myself with this album, but do expect to see a review on this soon.

2. FKA Twigs: EUSEXUA

If you’ve been following this blog, you’d know that EUSEXUA was one of my favorite albums from this year. I’ve always been a big Twigs fan, and this album is another great addition to her discography in my opinion. Clearly an ode to the rave scenes that Twigs has heavily immersed herself into, the thesis statement for this project is ‘eusexua’, which Twigs described in this article from Vogue as “being so euphoric that you transcend human form”. I’m aware this sounds like art school gobbledygook at first glance, but it does quite aptly describe this album’s unique mesh of industrial techno and Twigs’ uniquely haunting voice. I couldn’t stop listening to this album six months after it’s release, and even though it’s sort of rotated out of my playlist now, I have to give credit to an album of which I went out of my way to buy a physical copy.

For more, read my previous review here.

3. Lady Gaga: MAYHEM

What? I hear you say. Didn’t you give this album a 7.5/10? Yes. Even though I don’t think MAYHEM is Gaga’s best album, it is still a great Gaga album and a return to form after a long season of pop ballads and jazz covers. If you know me, you know I love pop music that sells a strong personality. With MAYHEM, I think it’s fair to say that it’s an album only she could deliver. Extremely catchy and without any skips (except for one clearly tacked on track).

For more, read my previous review here.

4. Blood Orange: Essex Honey

It honestly feels wrong for me to delegate this album to a spot on the list without giving it a full review, but I’ve given myself a bit of leeway because I had so many major life changes this year. Without derailing this review any further, this is the only project from English singer Blood Orange (or Dev Hynes) that I’ve listened to (prior to that I was only familiar with his biggest hit Champagne Coast and parts of Negro Swan (2018)) so I can’t comment on how it compares to his previous work, but the album is fantastic even without any prior context.

Chock full of features, Essex Honey still feels deeply personal, the personal grief that comes from the unfortunate loss of Dev’s mother weaves through the entire record. Despite the general groovy, sort of spacey, and beat-heavy production, the melancholy and loneliness comes through. Standout tracks (to me) are Vivid Light and The Field, but the rest of the album is beautiful too.

5. McKinley Dixon: Magic, Alive!

Having absolutely fallen in love with Dixon’s previous album Beloved! Paradise! Jazz! (see my review here), I had pretty high expectations going into this year’s Magic, Alive!. Indeed, Dixon himself seems to be committed to the lush soundscapes crafted by live jazz instrumentals to, but now with more of a narrative or even cinematic emphasis on the central concept of resurrecting someone who died too young back to life, with the various features meant to signify bringing different perspectives and literal ‘voices’. 

Even if I think I still prefer Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!, the album eventually did grow on me and the second half in particular is pretty spectacular, with tracks like “We’re Outside, Rejoice!” and “Listen Gentle” crafting these beautiful, lush soundscapes. Though both albums are entirely centered on the trials and tribulations of Dixon’s childhood and adolescence, Magic, Alive! feels darker and more lyrically complex, more focused on crafting a concept or world centered on grasping inter-generational pain and magic being more of a metaphor for the memories left behind by people who passed. The album takes some getting used to, but it is on the overall another high from an artist with a fresh artistic vision and real dedication to their craft. 

7. Black Country New Road: Forever Howlong

I know most people generally prefer their second studio album Ants from Up There back from 2022, but for some reason the album just didn’t, and honestly still doesn’t, click with me at all. Forever Howlong though, made me ‘get’ BCNR’s whole deal. I’m not sure why this album seems to have received none of the hype the band had built up over the years when sonically-speaking, Forever Howlong is more thematically-varied here, with more of the exuberant, luxurious live instrumentals that I liked from Ants from Up There. Perhaps it’s because the band has made a full pivot from indie-folk to chamber pop, and the change to delegate songwriting duties to all members instead of one guy made it feel a bit more impersonal.

Personally-speaking, I prefer the change to more melodic, jubilant, and instrumental-focused sound. Tracks like “For the Cold Country” with the ethereal choral introduction and the Western-inspired “Two Horses” that literally crafts the sounds of horse hooves really showcase what BCNR brings to the table with their instrumental soundscapes. Here’s me at their show to get a good feel of how the band sounds live:

At the risk of sounding cliché, hearing them live was what affirmed for me that they belong on my year-end list. I’m aware that the band has always had a very overt theatre-kid energy to them that might turn some people off, but I think the band has the skill and restraint to put the focus on crafting a cohesive sound instead of just showing off, unlike some other ‘prodigal talents’ that won’t shut up about being a classically-trained multi-instrumentalist (it’s up to you to decide who I’m referring to!).

6. Geese: Getting Killed

When Geese first dropped their third studio album, 3D Country back in 2023, I contemplated writing a review to give some props to what was then a small indie rock band. I liked the blend of hard, classic rock and country-adjacent Americana to create these sincere, sort of dramatic love-centered tracks, and frontman Cameron Winter’s vocals were undoubtedly memorable. I loved the explosive opener “2122“, the double whammy of the deeply sincere, rock ballad-esque “I See Myself” and the blues-y “Tomorrow’s Crusades” kept the band in the back of my mind since, but it didn’t feel the band was really doing something too special, and Winter’s style of frog-swallowing over-singing – even for dramatic effect, was a bit grating at times.

Fast forward to 2025, Geese had now fully popped off after Cameron Winter’s admittedly excellent solo debut Heavy Metal (2024) gained him and the band significant traction, coinciding with 2025’s Getting Killed. The band has really stepped up their songwriting game here, committing to full surrealism – the opener “Trinidad” starts with Cameron wailing about a bomb in his car and his family being dead, but the concept behind the album becomes clearer as you sit with it, as on tracks like “100 Horses” and “Islands of Men” make clear the themes of displacement and feeling lost. Though the instrumentals are perhaps less inspired here than 3D Country with the band going for a more straightforward rock sound over the previous blues influence, it caters more towards Winter’s lyrical/poetic quality and feels like a more confident release for that reason.

8. Wednesday: Bleeds

This might make me lose some indie cred but I genuinely have not heard of Wednesday until 2025 when I came across some Redditors raving about the lead single “Elderberry Wine” for the band’s upcoming album Bleeds. But hey, I am glad that I waste away half my life on the internet, because “Elderberry Wine” is a sweet, sentimental tune romanticizing the simplicity of the band’s rural roots.

Though the rest of Bleeds is decidedly less sweet than the single with more of a straightforward shoegaze / country-rock. The nuanced and authentic storytelling is what distinguishes Wednesday from other who have also recently honed in on the Americana imagery in their music, with many of the tracks dedicated to an emotional outpour of traumatic life events in a rural American small town in vivid detail, such as witnessing the fallout of tragic deaths on “Wound Up Here (By Holding On)” and “Carolina Murder Suicide” – it’s an ode to and a reconciliation with a faraway past that has irreversibly shaped and altered you.

9. Wet Leg: moisturizer

As a pretty big fan of their debut record, their 2025 album is a weird one for me – I think it’s a case of where the highs are much greater than their debut, but there are some lows here with blaring, sort-of nameless instrumentals that drowns out whatever Rhian is singing that make the album feel like it drags more than the debut (*cough* “don’t speak“).

However, I am still a massive fan of the off-kilter British quirk that characterizes Wet Leg’s sound. “mangetout” was one of my most listened to songs of the year, and I loved the personality and the more out-of-pocket lyrics on “pillow talk” and the lead singles “CPR” and “catch these fists“. moisturizer might not be the most innovative album of the year, but I did have a lot of fun listening to the album, and I could do a lot worse than choosing to spotlight some women-led bands on my year-end list.

For more, read my previous review here.

10. PARTYOF2: Amerika’s Next Top Party!

This album seems to be strangely absent from all the end-of-year lists despite being a very strong project from a group that was receiving a decent amount of traction from their previous debut album “I Was Mature For My Age, But I Was Still A Child“, back when the group was still going by the name grouptherapy, a reference to how all the members were former child stars. The obvious contributing factor is, well, the name change, following the departure of their former member TJOnline. The result of the change in lineup meant that the group would have to proceed as a duo despite having just signed to a major label.

This could spell disaster for some acts, but AMERIKA’S NEXT TOP PARTY! proves the group has enough talent to persevere through this change. Lyrically, it seems like the duo has moved on from contemplating the emotional impact of show business to general hip hop fare about their struggles growing up and fake friends. Though generally less funkier than the debut, the album instead leans on a bouncier, Outkast-inspired, late-90s hip hop sound, exemplified on the intentionally cheesy “JUST DANCE 2“. But what makes this album stand out is the synergy between Jada and SWIM, especially on “FRIENDLY FIRE” which sees the duo dissing each other. The obvious standout here is Jada, who keeps the album sounding fresh by switching up her flow and delivery on each track, but SWIM’s production and the group’s sharp, vibrant music videos for the album prove that the group works just as well as a duo.

Honorary Mentions:

Even though 2025 was a pretty dull year in terms of chart action, there were still a handful of great pop albums that I enjoyed: Addison Rae’s Addison (see my review here), Little Mix alumni JADE’s That’s Showbiz Baby! (see my review here) proved to be strong debuts that showed there were still new pop girls on the horizon. Similarly, Rebecca Black’s second studio album SALVATION, a great hyperpop project, solidified her reputation against all the people who still hold a song she recorded years ago as a preteen against her. I wasn’t crazy about Renee Rapp’s BITE ME, her follow-up to her subpar debut album, but it was such a huge step up and a much bigger step towards making music that actually caters to her primarily queer, female audience that I have to give some credit to her. 

The usual pop girlies also delivered this year, even if their efforts weren’t really reflected in the charts. PinkPantheress’ second mixtape Fancy That (see my review here) provided her best blend of Y2K and bedroom pop in her discography, and I like seeing Pink finding her confidence and artistic footing. Lorde’s Virgin (see my review here) and Miley Cyrus’ Something Beautiful (which I meant to review but ended up forgetting) were also very solid pop albums from established pop artists and a bit of a return to form even if it doesn’t reach the same heights as some of their previous projects for me. Honorary pop girlie (yes I know he’s more reggaeton/dembow) Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos was also a fantastic album that finally made his latin pop/reggaeton click for me with its latin music influences and explicit political content – I only wish I could make more accurate comments, as of now I have to rely on Google Translate and the very accurate annotations on Genius.

Honestly it was also a good year for alternative music. The Last Dinner Party’s second album From the Pyre was also solid even if I never really got into it (see my review here). Alex G’s Headlights would’ve probably also made the list if I was more familiar with his sound beyond Trick (2012) – another fantastic singer-songwriter indie album about his fears of selling out. I also absolutely adored the first half of Bon Iver’s EP SABLE, fABLE (see my review here), and it would be on this list if not for the second half. Personal feelings on Tyler the Creator aside, DON’T TAP THE GLASS was also a good record – one that was a bit more light-hearted than his previous two albums.

Kali Uchis, which friends of the blog will know is one of my favorite artists, also released Sincerely. The review for this album has been simmering in the drafts ever since the album dropped, but I don’t know – I never did form a solid opinion on this album unlike my previous reviews on her various projects. I swear the review will be published soon, but right now my general feelings on the album are that it was nice, pleasant, but a bit plain. 

As a bit of an out of left field recommendation, Greek pop artist Marina Satti’s (Μαρίνα Σάττι) POP TOO is also a fantastic pop album if you’re a fan of abrasive hyperpop. I’d been meaning to review but ultimately it didn’t seem fair since it’s literally all Greek to me. Just watch the video instead and see if its something you’d enjoy. 

Final Thoughts:

When color specification giant Pantone (stay with me here this is relevant I promise) recently announced that their color of the year for 2026 was a shade of white aptly named “Cloud Dancer” (which is on their website), controversy bubbled online. Indeed, Pantone’s decision to celebrate what I can best describe to be the epitome of the millennial grey trend amidst an increasingly extreme, conservative political climate is questionable, to say the least. Given the most uncharitable interpretation, it is reminiscent of *that* American Eagle advertisement featuring actress and bathwater saleswoman Sydney Sweeney (this NPR article should explain it), but I can’t help but think that – intentionally or not, it does capture the current cultural zeitgeist quite well. 

Pantone themselves describe the color as a tone that “provides scaffolding for the color spectrum, allowing all colors to shine” – a background color, essentially. It seems to fit with the increasing pushback against individuality or anything that might put a tiny dent in the coterie of shareholders that dominate our modern lives. Whether a result of choice fatigue from having almost all recorded music available at the consumers’ fingertips, or a result of algorithms pushing for the safest possible options, society seems to be becoming more and more risk-averse with artistic choices. 

This is evident in the musical scene of 2025. Whilst new releases from pop’s most established current acts like Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, and even to some extent, Taylor Swift, have failed to capture the same cultural dominance as their previous releases have, old hits from 2024 such as “Die with a Smile”, “APT”, “Luther” and “Not Like Us” have continued to linger on the charts, per the stats from this Wikipedia article detailing the top songs that peaked in 2025. 

Such a lapse isn’t inherently a bad thing – if the space could be filled by more interesting artists, that is. Instead, 2025 saw milquetoast hootin’ and hollerin’ singer Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” – the epitome of Pantone’s color of the year – absolutely dominating the charts and plaguing all the attendees of wedding receptions in the wretched year of 2025. Had I bothered to write a worst of list for 2025, him and Morgan Wallen (and maybe Benson Boone) would have absolutely dominated with the dull, inoffensive, “Cloud Dancer”-coded songs. 

But…is this constructive? As fun as it is to talk about bad albums, I find more value in talking about albums that people dedicated actual effort to. So in spite of the stagnant shared culture of 2025, I think this was still a good year for music, as I hope you’ll also come to the same conclusion from my top 10 favorites list and lengthy Honorable Mentions ramble.

But enough about me. What were your favorite albums or songs of 2025? Did I miss anything that should be on the list? Let me know – I could use the engagement. It’s pretty dead in here.