No matter how jangled—10 Best Albums of 2025

As a one-person music website, I’m unable to cover everything. I’ve reviewed about 75 albums from 2025, slightly inflated by covering the seven albums of Springsteen’s Tracks II box set. Here are my favourites from the year.

It seemed like a slightly weaker year than usual. Three of these albums were released in January 2025 and remained near the top of the list throughout the whole year. My favourite album of 2025 isn’t even my favourite album by that artist.

As per tradition, I’ve included each album’s rankings from the end-of-year aggregator Album of the Year. The rankings show where my choices register among the general critical consensus. Three of these albums rank high on the aggregator, but the rest are unranked. Maybe I’m becoming old and predictable, but most of these artists are in their 30s and 40s, rather than the hot young things and living legends that dominate many lists.

10 Best Albums of 2025

#10 Flock of Dimes—The Life You Save

Genre: Singer-Songwriter, Indie Folk
AotY ranking: not rated

Jenn Wasner’s third album as Flock of Dimes is elegant and autumnal. It’s deeply personal – Wasner made the record about her struggles with codependency. The Life You Save is gorgeous, particularly the opening track ‘Afraid’.

Wasner also appeared on the #3 album on this list, as well as Bon Iver’s Sable/Fable.

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#9 Bad Bunny—DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS

Genre: Reggaetón, Caribbean Music
AotY ranking: #6

Bad Bunny is the biggest star on this year’s list. However, he’s creating fascinating music that updates the traditional music of Puerto Rico. Opening track ‘Nuevayol’ overshadows the remainder – it’s a perfect mix of tradition and aggressive modernity, authentic yet bombastic.

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#8 Ezra Furman—Goodbye Small Head

Genre: Indie Rock, Singer-Songwriter
AotY ranking: not rated

Furman’s been around for a couple of decades, but recently she’s embraced an intense, psychedelic sound. She describes Goodbye Small Head as “orchestral emo prog-rock record sprinkled with samples.”

Standout track ‘Sudden Storm’ was written about the “mystical quality” of some epileptic seizures. The record barely lets up – even the gentle songs like ‘You Hurt Me I Hate You’ feature intense vocal performances.

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#7 Brìghde Chaimbeul—Sunwise

Genre: Scottish Folk Music, Avant-Folk
AotY ranking: not rated

From Sleat, on the Isle of Skye, Brìghde Chaimbeul plays the Scottish smallpipes. She appeared on Caroline Polachek’s Desire, I Want to Turn Into You, while Sunwise is her third solo album.

Sunwise tells of the onset of winter, and of songs and stories told around the fire. It’s largely instrumental, but Chaimbeul sings on the standout track ‘A Chailleach’.

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#6 The Weather Station—Humanhood

Genre: Art Pop, Art Rock
AotY ranking: not rated

Toronto’s Tamara Lindeman has mastered sophisticated folk, somewhere between the confessions of Joni Mitchell and the textural experimentation of Talk Talk. 2021’s Ignorance enjoyed critical acclaim, but Humanhood slipped under the radar.

But it’s again excellent. The jazz-flavoured ‘Mirror’ is rhythmically sophisticated, while ‘Sewing’ is plaintive and minimal.

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#5 These New Puritans—Crooked Wing

Genre: Art Pop
AotY ranking: not rated

 George and Jack Barnett grew up in the East of England, playing “karaoke microphones, old bongos and guitars too large for their tiny hands.” Their fifth album refines their ornate and moody art-rock.

The band delves into industrial textures on ‘A Season in Hell’, with its post-punk clatter. But they excel with exquisite balladry on Crooked Wing, like ‘Industrial Love Song’, a love story between two cranes, with Caroline Polachek on duet vocals.

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#4 Ela Minus—DÍA

Genre: Electropop
AotY ranking: not rated

Colombian-born Ela Minus left the New York apartment where she’d lived for seven years because she couldn’t afford the rent. So she recorded DÍA in different studios and locations. Minus created ‘Abrir Monte’ on a mountain in Mexico, started ‘Combat’ in Colombia, while she recorded ‘Onwards’ in the Californian desert in between Coachella weekends.

Día is just as strong as Minus’s acclaimed debut. There’s a great opening one-two punch. The brooding ‘Abrir Monte’ leads into the abrasive ‘Broken’, where the building tension is suddenly released. 

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#3 Dijon—Baby

Genre: Alternative R&B, Neo-Psychedelia
AotY ranking: #12

Even if you don’t recognise his name, Dijon Duenas has exerted a significant influence over 2025’s popular music. He’s also involved with Justin Bieber and Bon Iver’s 2025 albums, while his second solo album presents his fractured, visionary R&B.

His R&B is deconstructed – pretty melodies and hooks jostle with aqueous production and emotive vocals. Dijon’s raw vocals were often recorded late at night. But the songwriting shines through on pretty songs like ‘Yamaha’ and ‘Kindalove’, and more energetic workouts like ‘Higher!’ and ‘Fire!’

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#2 Cass McCombs—Interior Live Oak

Genre: Americana, Singer-Songwriter
AotY ranking: not rated

California singer-songwriter Cass McCombs has been making albums since 2003. But Interior Live Oak might be his best record. It sprawls over 75 minutes and 16 tracks, and it’s full of great tracks.

McCombs is often inscrutable – he jumps from a seven-minute song about 19th-century actress Lola Montez to the jokey ‘Juvenile’. ‘Priestess’ is a tribute to a fallen friend, while ‘Peace’ is smooth and melodic.

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#1 Rosalía—Lux

Genre: Art Pop, Classical Crossover
AotY ranking: #1

Rosalia Vila Tobella deserves kudos for making four entirely different albums. She’s come from the traditional flamenco of 2017’s Los Ángeles to collaborating with the London Symphony Orchestra on the grandiose Lux. 

It’s ambitious, split into four movements. The lyrics are in 14 languages, each corresponding to a different female saint. There’s a lot to like in the songwriting and arrangements, but arguably Rosalía’s virtuoso vocal performance is the key ingredient. She travels all over her vocal register with supreme control and personality.

What was your favourite album of 2025?

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