Incorporating both TNH and WUNH’s choices, alongside my own personal favorites, this is a comprehensive best albums list from the year of 2025:
25 for ‘25: Our 25 Best Albums of 2025
24. Deadbeat - Tame Impala
Coming from the neo-psychedelic soundscapes that housed the Tame Impala moniker for more than a decade, Kevin Parker found that his newest studio album was the time for change. In pulling inspiration from the West Australian rave scene, some saw the album as a repetitive exploration of house music, while others felt it was “the euphoric listening experience [they’d] been yearning for” this year.
22. Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party - Hayley Williams
Every so often, a solo record from a member of a popular band can be just as interesting as the band’s material. Hayley Williams, lead singer of Paramore, made her third album as an attempt to diverge as far from Paramore’s usual styles as she could, and from as many directions as possible. Versatile songwriting and some truly bizarre lyrical topics make this handily her most captivating album to date.
21. Guitar - Mac Demarco
The most chilled-out record on this list is without a doubt Mac Demarco’s sixth studio album, Guitar. As always, the singer-songwriter’s voice is relaxing and his grooves are wavy enough that any Mac Demarco fan could view this as a favorite of 2025.
19. DON’T TAP THE GLASS - Tyler, The Creator
Following the singer/rapper/producer’s ultra-personal CHROMAKOPIA from last year, few could’ve expected a follow-up so soon. In mid-July, Tyler, The Creator announced DTTG a mere two days before its arrival – a perfect length of hype-time for a sub-30 minute album that exists for the sole purpose of dancing to.
17. Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You - Ethel Cain
Willoughby, a prequel to 2021’s Preacher’s Daughter, sees Ethel Cain continuing to execute complex worldbuilding narratives, using her haunting vocals and intricate production to create atmospheres that at times are ambient, and at other times are nothing short of transcendent.
16. SABLE, FABLE - Bon Iver
A two-part record that tailors to many styles Justin Vernon has attempted throughout his lengthy career, with the first half being a skeletal EP from last year that includes some of Vernon’s most emotive songwriting in years, and the second being a multi-genre journey from contemporary R&B to glitchy soul; a perfect album for any kind of Bon Iver listener.
14. In The Earth Again - Chat Pile & Hayden Pedigo
The most unlikely collab of the year came from noise rock/sludge metal outfit Chat Pile and folk, americana guitarist Hayden Pedigo. I don’t know how this dreary, post-apocalyptic odyssey came about, or why it even works in the first place, but its excellent songwriting, symbolic lyrical themes, and its calming yet anxious tones make the project wholly unique in both artists’ catalogues.
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12. A Matter of Time - Laufey
AMOT is the third studio album by Icelandic singer-songwriter Laufey. Showcasing a honing of her jazz-pop sound into an emotional and vulnerable work of art, some songs are tragic, while others are uplifting; though, it’s Laufey’s soothing vocals that dictate precisely how the listener should feel at any given moment.
11. Pain to Power - Maruja
After a decade in the music industry, jazz-rock/post-rock band Maruja have seen fit to release their debut studio album, a work that is aggressive, but also deeply sensitive and human – heavily charged with contemporary social and political issues. Pain to Power is as important as it sounds.
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9. Forever Howlong - Black Country, New Road
The departure of lead vocalist Isaac Wood following BCNR’s last studio album, 2022’s Ants From Up There, created a cataclysmic rift in the center of the band, but it takes a group of true musicians to rise up from those ashes and rebuild completely anew. Forever Howlong represents the tried and true artistry at the heart of this group, because even with all the bumps along the way, they still managed to produce one of the most creative releases of this year.
8. Balloonerism - Mac Miller
In January, Mac Miller’s estate finally released the rapper/singer/songwriter’s long-lost album, Balloonerism, following his passing in 2018. Created around the same time as his iconic 2014 mixtape, Faces, Balloonerism contains a much more harrowing sound, tonally and lyrically reflecting the darker side of Mac Miller’s psyche that never even made it to the public. It’s an emotional experience, as if you’re hearing a tangled web of discarded memories.
7. LUX - Rosalía
Alongside Miley’s Something Beautiful, Spanish singer-songwriter Rosalía’s fourth studio album is the most daring release from a major-label artist in 2025. Recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra and sung in fourteen different languages, LUX is a triumph of female artistry and spiritual autonomy.
5. The Scholars - Car Seat Headrest
One of the defining indie rock bands of the 2010s are back with a record that makes up for lost time. It’s been over five years since the group’s last album, a mildly underwhelming blend of art rock and electronica, but The Scholars proves that CSH still knows how to do what they do best: writing sometimes lengthy, memorable, and emotional indie rock songs, this time with an ambitious, world-building concept to back it.
3. From The Pyre - The Last Dinner Party
The Last Dinner Party is one of the most exciting groups in the 2020s’ art rock sphere. With an all-female ensemble of five, the band’s sound is expansive, their harmonies are full, and the emotions stem from an amalgam of places. Anyone can find something meaningful in this sophomore record, and it’s obvious TLDP is just getting started.
2. Double Infinity - Big Thief
The sixth studio album by indie folk group Big Thief feels like the culmination of their artistic prowesses. Adrianne Lenker’s vocals are as calming as ever. The group’s instrumentation is lush, yet down-to-Earth. The album is brief, but its ideas are as maximalist as can be. It’s a consistently excellent 2025 album experience.
