Top 20 Albums of 2025

The milestone has been passed - this is the 10th time I'm presenting my albums of the year. I actually had the ranking ready in January but took me much longer than usual to write these blurbs, not sure why.

Not much has changed in my methodology, but I am slowly noticing the effects of getting older and settling in my tastes. I might have to think about how to counteract it. But for now let's begin.

This year I actually don't have many singles I'd want to share, most of my favorite songs were from my favorite albums. The only exceptions would be Midlake's The Calling and Mon Laferte's Vida Normal. However I do have honorable mentions, which would be:

30. Adrian Quesada - Boleros Psicodelicos II
29. Joseph Allred - Old Time Fantasies
28. Dove Ellis - Blizzard
27. Hot 8 Brass Band - Big Tuba
26. Anna B Savage - You & i are Earth
25. Yttling Jazz - Illegal Hit
24. The Reds, Pinks and Purples - The Past Is a Garden I Never Fed
23. Huremic - Seeking Dangers
22. Galactic, Irma Thomas - Audience With the Queen
21. Mountain Realm - Stoneharrow

And without further ado... Actually there is one - each album cover links to a representative song from it.

20. The Warlocks - The Manic Excessive Sounds Of

I hope I never get tired of space prog rock. I do wish I could love the records more evenly throughout, but they often seem to split into tracks I love and tracks I could very much do without. In this case it doesn't begin to shine until the double closer "Don't Blame It On The Band" and "Don't Blame It On The Jam", where it gets into that wonderfully noodly and wavy territory wherein the magic of prog lies. Although probably the most interesting track is "We Are All Lost" which feels like a lost remnant of 2015 indie pop, something I'm all ready for a revival of.

19. Ideal Living - This Big House

Strong debut EP from an English art rock outfit that shows a lot of promise about their future endeavors. It very much fits into the ongoing postpunk revival with its overall dark but warm tone, maniacal vocals and a particular style of brass that characterizes the genre. I do like its range, at times it goes more into jazz, at times more into prog reminding me of Mark Lanegan, it even gets somewhat post-rocky in "Chocolate and Wine". I got to sample a lot of things I like, now I'm just looking forward to an album that expands on these ideas.

18. Other Lives - Volume V

My first encounter with this chamber pop/folk band. My closest points of comparison would be Andrew Bird and Fleet Foxes, but there's also aspects where I would say Manchester Orchestra, Modern Nature, and maybe The National? It's just very layered both in arrangement and in emotion, it feels cinematic, poetic and painterly in all the best ways. Though it can also get almost dance-y on tracks like "Cisa Cisa". All that to say, the album definitely doesn't suffer from lack of variety, but it also has a strong identity and I appreciate both those things.

17. Olivia Cuttill - ...And Writing and Singing And Tunes To Be Swingin'

I'm half-convinced this is an album that everyone would enjoy no matter what genres they're into. There's just something so universal about this boogie/jazz/soul style firmly planted some 100 years ago. In fact it's so faithful that it's almost jarring to hear this kind of music in clear, well-produced hifi. In terms of pure production polish and clean playing, this might be my favorite album of the year. I will say that the first half works better for me - as a trumpet lover I deeply appreciate its domineering presence, or stuff like the broadway-y manner of delivery of "Busy" that works fantastically with the lyrics painting a very vivid picture of someone making the most of a simple life. Olivia immediately takes a strong foothold in my heart.

16. North Sea Radio Orchestra - Special Powers

Now we get a proper chamber folk record and I'm not sure what to say about it. It's a very light and pleasant record, playful but not too silly. It feels very mature and thoughtful, revealing band's 24 years of experience. They make good use of dynamics, something nearly lost to the loudness war. Everything harmonizes with everything meticulously, arrangements work like an intricate machine. The melodies are interesting, but easy to follow - something like "Hearty" is a great example of this, with continuously changing vocal line that alone takes the listener on a great journey, which then gets reprised with a very satisfying instrumental followup. It's all classic stuff really, but put in a very fun package, the kind of I haven't encountered in a while.

15. HighSchool - HighSchool

It's been so weird watching internet take such an interesting and eclectic genre like post-punk and distill it down to a preset of effects and EQs, and then sort of go from there and reinvent the wheel. The result is something simultaneously very familiar and yet there's novelty to it, an alien component keeping things interesting. On this self-titled debut there's a lot of repetition, a lot of nostalgia, a sense of disconnection coming mostly from vocal effects making them near unintelligible. There's a steady rhythm that keeps the listener anchored across its dreamy soundscape, with just enough variety to never get irritating. It also occasionally strays into more emo-garagy territories like on "Peter's Room", not becoming too predictable in its repertoire. It's just a solid one of these, and this one happened to strike my fancy.

14. The Budos Band - VII

The Budos Band has become very proficient at playing the style of music that defined them - funk-jazz with a strong psychedelic tinge. Where the brass creates that big band feeling, but guitar and organs tie it to prog tradition. Tonally it's simultaneously very palpable and yet difficult to put into words - an adventure that is dangerous, but the heroes are perfectly equipped to handle it? Every song is solid but that also means none of them really stand out, so it's a very even listening experience without much excitement or anything grabbing listener's attention. Which is perfectly valid, pulling the listener into a comfortable groove that never gets tiring.

13. Bielizna - Bagno

Few bands I ever wrote about deserve the "cult classic" moniker as much as these legends. Te band Underwear shows no signs of slowing down in the 40th year of their career with this album titled "Swamp". It's shocking how much it has in common with their early ones, but it doesn't feel hackneyed in the slightest. It's still that uniquely polish artpunk/postpunk/alternative rock movement, with a sense of class, dignity, and poetic soul. It's intelligent but not exclusionary, it gives respect to the silliest subjects but without getting stuffy or sappy. At the same time it's not afraid to tackle really serious subjects, like on the epitaph to a man who self-immolated in protest. I think what makes this style work so well lies somewhere between unobvious compositions, a laid-back-but-serious style of singing, and sort of drawn-back production that invites the listener in rather than overwhelming them. Unfortunately a lot is lost in translation if you don't speak Polish, even with lyric translation - but I still think it's worth checking out just to see if the uniqueness of the style I'm declaring really comes across.

12. Nancy and the Jam Fancys - Swan Songs

Man, I'm just a sucker for a proper gravely voice belting over pretty guitars. It's an incredibly well produced album, somewhat stonery, but also lively and immediately attention-grabbing - I think it would have a lot of success played on rock music radio stations. I found it to be a very light and pleasant listen which I could return to as many times as I want without getting bored. The tracks are very cohesive, all the elements fit extremely well together, telling a clear emotional story. But simultaneously at any point you can focus your attention to them and find something interesting about how individual elements contribute. Nothing groundbreaking, but one of the best "meat-and-potatoes" rock albums I've heard in years.

11. Gwenifer Raymond - Last Night I Heard The Dog Star Bark

I listened to quite a bit of Tommy Emmanuel and Rodrigo y Gabriela back in the day, and for a long time I felt like that was everything there is to acoustic guitar music, that every other virtuoso is doing something similar to either of them. But in recent years I've seen Marcin Patrzałek redefine the percussive "one-man-band" approach, and I also felt awe from Richard Dawson's violent string yanking. Compared to all of the aforementioned artists, Raymond's style may not be as radical or experimental - but I found it very compelling nevertheless. I think what works for me here is the richness of the sound and the variety of compositions - but also that it manages to feel fresh and modern without seeming gimmicky. Sometimes it has almost a metal ballad sensibility like on "Banjo Players of Aleph One", in other places it goes more cinematic such as with "Last Night I Heard the Dog Star Bark", not to mention more obvious folk and chamber inspirations. Overall it's an album that shines in details and artistry and meant I could happily throw out my presumption about the genre's limit.

10. Niechęć - Reckless Things

For me, Niechęć is easily the most interesting Polish jazz project today. "Reckless Things" is mostly traditional in form, instrumental tracks about 6-7 minutes long that require some attention from listener, but I wouldn't really call them demanding, just maybe not quite pop-y. But the compositions are certainly eclectic, presumably taking inspiration from trance, neo-psychedelia and post-rock. There's some tricks in production and instrumentation, but it mostly comes down to the atmosphere, the intensity of playing, the density of sound. It operates on anxiety and excitement, nervousness and awe, and just lots of creativity, just on the edge of being accessible and appealing. It simultaneously puts the listener in reverie and disrupts them with strong playing. A soundtrack for a dystopia. Just overall fascinating, puts me in a specific mood and it's hard to find a comparable band.

9. Brighde Chaimbeul - Sunwise

"What if drone, but bagpipes" is the question that Brighde seems to be asking. And "hell yeah" is the answer apparently. The album opens pretty much with a single continuous sound that lasts for 6 minutes - and it only gets better from there! While the record overall is definitely an exercise in minimalism and taking things slow, it's not quite ambient - there are in fact melodies and harmonies to come, and beautiful singing in Gaelic adding an even more ethereal feeling to the whole thing. But the textures of the instrument definitely stand out as the most characteristic element, perfectly complimenting the repetitive, almost primitive compositions that give it an almost ritualistic feeling. It's a brave and fascinating album that hits all the right spots.

8. Messa - The Spin

I've always liked my metal on more of a melancholic, atmospheric end. S&M, Paranoid, Fear of the Dark, Nightfall in Middle-Earth, maybe something from None or Candlemass if I venture outside of the most popular bands. "The Spin" plays right into that, with its drawn-back, almost post-punky production that accentuates the bass and overall creates the feeling of space. The compositions are almost sensual, they compliment Sara Bianchin's singing really well, giving everything this story-like, emotional vibe. There's plenty of variety, with a more percussion-driven "Fire on the Roof" followed by a more ballad-y "Immolation" and each track being fairly unique and memorable in its structure and the elements it emphasizes, while remaining firmly in a very particular style and sound. It feels like it's drawing out a deep memory from somewhere inside me - Garbage's "Strange Little Birds" comes to mind, but on back-to-back comparison they're hardly alike. Maybe Messa is doing something unique and special that is filling a niche that I've only been able to partially touch before. Even though "The Spin" is only #8 on this list, the band overall might be my most important musical discovery of the year.

7. Grandma's House - Anything For You

Savages meets Fontaines DC? Except with more deep, hoarse and pugnacious vocals? I'm kinda obsessed. It's the kind of post-punk that firmly remembers its punk roots, not trading in aggressiveness for melancholy, but rather enhancing it with deeper, complicated emotions and more interesting sound. You know, good use of reverb, some brass, nice harmonies, more than two chords, pulled back highs and nice intentional muddiness. Emotionally I would say this EP is an interesting take on the feeling of disappointment and I refuse to elaborate on that. Extremely good first impression, I'm low-key obsessed and eagerly awaiting their debut album.

6. Floodlights - Underneath

The fact that this album starts with a trumpet solo is not insignificant, but there's way more to it. It's the kind of stadium indie rock I find really appealing, smooth and pleasant, but not entirely toothless. You have songs more on the pop spectrum utilizing distant vocalizations like "Cloud Away" and "Horses Will Run". You also have a very fun, distinctive element in the presence of harmonica doing its best to fit with distorted guitars. You have even somewhat theatric singing at times - particularly the chorus of "The Light Won't Shine Forever" sounds almost like a Protomen song to me. It's a super polished album with tons of fun ideas and variety that remains entirely coherent. A balance that I think is little undervalued, and it's a quality that I've noticed almost always lands albums a high spot on my yearly lists.

5. Naxatras - V

Where The Warlocks snuck onto this list primarily through the two tracks I really dig, Naxatras' V is a complete package. All of the songs flow incredibly well together, taking the listener straight into outer space, maybe even taking few turns through other dimensions once we're there. Vocals are properly stonery, guitars as hypnotic as necessary, drums probably the most modern out of everything here, with a very clean and sharp sound. However something like "Sand Halo" with its classic organs and epic guitar solos could very well fit on a 60s prog compilation. Not much else to it, a strong representative of its genre and sometimes that's all I need.

4. Maruja - Tir na nÓg

Maruja finally released their first album - this is not it. As they continue the trend of British post-punk revival band disappointing me with their debut longplays, they also released an EP based on an improvised session. Wow, what can I say - intense saxophone, distanced singing and screaming, and the rock trinity of guitar, bass and drums, forming a unified backdrop for this pure expression of freedom. It answers the question "what if post punk was performed like a free jazz improv session" by performing post punk like a free jazz improv session. Full of emotions, passion and artistry, mixed to perfection, it's exactly what I want out of this band. Still holding out hope they'll do amazing things.

3. Forest Spirit, Sun on Your Back - winnowing

"music for long drives, short walks, and medium-length mass transit trips". What makes this album interesting is not just its sound, but also how it got there. Their self-titled debut from 2023 was firmly in midwest emo tradition, loud and energetic and full of red emotions. The last thing I expected of their sophomore was fuzz folk melancholy, somewhere between Car Seat Headrest and early Microphones, actually very close to my beloved We Are Only Human Once. It's these strangely powerful songs that are neither quiet nor loud, or maybe they are simultaneously both. Great use of distortions and other effects makes every track very interesting to break down, there's lots of pleasant guitar buzz and lots of experimentation with different sounds from that general indie folk area, from weird synths to just plain acoustic. Achieving fascinating rhythmic timbres on something like "autopilot", but also finding place for some power pop energy between tracks like "mandy says" and "spidery". I'm just really amazed, the most surprising change of direction I've seen this year and the result is pretty much a bullseye for my tastes.

2. TAKAAT - Is Noise vol. 1

One more EP, not even 20 minutes long. If you haven't heard of TAKAAT, which is the Tamashek word for "noise", you probably heard of the chief tishouramen representative Mdou Moctar, author of my 2021 AOTY. And TAKAAK is simply his rhythm section's side project, taking their tuareg tradition and combining it with specific punk/post-hardcore style, naming Fugazi and Unwound as two particular inspirations. It's maybe just a tad more aggressive, just ever so slightly dirtier and more distorted, but we still have the characteristic distant singing and meandering guitars combined with strong african rhythms. Filling the space left from having one fewer member with, well, noise. But the blues soul is definitely still present and it ends up being a different take on the familiar - but a very welcome one and just what I needed to continue my streak of including a tishouramen artist every year.

1. Ciśnienie - [angry noises]

"Note: this album is designed to be played loudly. Listen as loud as you can or as loud as you’re allowed." I don't know about you, but it rarely feels to me like music "imposes". This straight up puts me at attention pretty much from first notes - and then it somehow gets louder than I realized my speakers are. It's a cursed/blessed album that offers a visceral experience unlike anything else I've heard this year, or honestly I don't know how long. Post rock that got corrupted by jazz and turned to the dark side. Swans if they were trv. An experience that defies categorization, super interesting composition, walls of overwhelming but pleasant noise. Somehow no guitar necessary. Supposedly recorded live, but with this kind of production how could you ever tell? Incredible, amazing, one of a kind.