Albums of the year

There’s a joy in discovering new music - those moments when a song you’ve never heard before hits your ears and imprints itself on your soul, destined to live with you forever. Each year offers the promise of this magic, the thrill that at any moment, a tune can redefine your world. Equally exciting is the art of listening to an album in full, as the artist intended—a journey through soundscapes and stories that demand your attention, offering a deeper connection to the craft. In a world of fleeting moments, these experiences remind us of music's timeless power to transform, to heal, and to stay.

2025

Albums of the year 2025

black country, new road

forever howlong

The genre-defying British six-piece return with an album that doesn’t immediately click. The freeform structures, the shifting arrangements, and a refusal to sit neatly within one genre can feel disorienting at first. But once it landed with me, it was so rewarding.

This is a genuinely brilliant and beautiful album - an essential listen for 2025. It’s bold, strange, deeply rewarding, and I can’t wait to live with it through the summer.

★ Evening Standard – 100

“…they feel liberated in a new triple frontwoman set-up which takes them to new heights.”

★ Dork – 100

“It opens up glorious new dimensions entirely.”

★ DIY – 100

“A jubilant rebirth.”

bon iver

sable, fable

Having followed Bon Iver since For Emma, Forever Ago, it’s a joy to see Justin Vernon return to his folk roots on this stunning new release. While he’s become known for pushing sonic boundaries in recent years, this album feels like a homecoming — warm, earthy, and emotionally expansive.

What’s striking is the sense of unashamed joy that runs through each track. Acoustic textures ground the record, but there’s a spiritual optimism woven throughout that feels both refreshing and sincere. Every song is brilliantly crafted — soulful, spacious, and rich with feeling.

The Arts Desk and DIY both awarded it a perfect 100, calling it an “album of exquisite wonder” and praising its “soulful, warm, spiritual” delivery. Expect to see this one featuring in end-of-year lists — and deservedly so.

GREENTEA PENG

TELL DEM IT’S SUNNY

Greentea Peng's second album is a captivating blend of psychedelic R&B, soul, dub, breakbeat, and reggae.

It’s both spiritual and experimental, yet remains grounded throughout.

Listening to it on a journey through London felt incredibly fitting; the album resonates perfectly with the city’s vibe. It’s packed with standout tracks, and critics have showered it with praise.

DIY rated it a perfect 100, while Art Desk hailed it as a righteous contender for album of the year.

The album is mesmerising, defiant, graceful, funky, soulful, and brimming with swagger. A must listen…

Hot Wax

hot shock

Seeing Hot Wax live on their album release day - at Resident Store in Brighton - was a brilliant experience.

Their debut album perfectly captures that frenetic live energy, packed with swagger and brilliantly catchy tunes.

One of the most exciting rock outfits today, NME rated it a perfect 10, calling it "scuzzy, snarling, and a whole lot of fun

Divorce

drive to the goldenhammer

Gorgeous, heartwarming lyrics, tunes that grow and grow on you, huge variety, and a raw, honest energy that makes every track feel personal. It’s the kind of album that stays with you long after the last song ends.

The Skinny
With their debut album an early contender for album of the year, Nottingham outfit Divorce are jumping to the front of the next-big-thing-queue.

God is the TV

Divorce have created something truly special here – a record that captures both the beauty and the mess of being human. With their most personal and ambitious work yet, Drive to Goldenhammer proves that Divorce are here to stay, and they’re just getting started.

Squid

Cowards

I've dipped into Squid's music over their past few albums, but this one is by far their best. It took me five listens to really click, but once it did—obsession! It’s an album I want to consume from start to finish, the full journey. And Building 650 might just be my song of the year!

The Skinny
Squid graduate the post-punk revival with an exceptional record, proving them more than worthy of recognition as Britain's new rock innovators.

Northern Transmissions

Squid’s tertiary album Cowards is a transformative masterpiece that is as expressive and instrumentally dense as it is dark and poetic

Under the Radar

Cowards is the strongest album Squid has released to date. It feels like a distillation of their nine-year existence into 45-minutes of music

Murder capital

blindness

Murder Capital was a band I really liked, but it wasn't until my mate Rob dragged me to one of their shows at the 2023 Great Escape Festival in Brighton that I got completely hooked. Honestly, no band has ever changed my opinion of them as much as they did after seeing them live. They’re electric. This album is packed with raw, uncompromising energy and, most importantly, massive tunes.

DIY

With ‘Blindness’, The Murder Capital have crafted an album that feels both urgent and timeless. Simply put, it’s nothing short of a triumph.

mandrake handshake

earth-sized worlds

Mandrake Handshake sit somewhere in a psychedelic, cosmic, hippy indie, jam-band space—and I love it. The riffs and choruses are so catchy, so infectious, that I’m 100% sure they’ll be the soundtrack to my summer. I was so excited about this album—it just feels like me. I don’t even know why exactly, but the vocals, the jams, the whole vibe just clicks.I just want everyone to be part of the journey….

The Line of Best Fit

Without appearing arcane, Earth-Sized Worlds snapshots the group in their element, continuing to breathe new life into the remnants of often overlooked sub-genres in a brain-frying madcap patchwork.

Heartworms

Glutton For Punishment

Jojo Orme's debut album as Heartworms, Glutton for Punishment, is a remarkable nine-track journey that masterfully blends darkness and light. Each song is meticulously crafted, showcasing a depth, euphoria and intensity that buid to uplifting crescendos. Put simply it’s an extraordinary debut.

Critics have praised the album’s innovative genre fusion. NME calls it "laser-focused and completely thrilling," The Quietus highlights its "well-crafted" nature and military themes, and Clash Magazine describes it as "impressively vibrant and straight-up fun," blending electro, industrial, and post-punk elements.

In Glutton for Punishment, Heartworms delivers a debut that is both haunting and exhilarating, offering a listening experience that is as emotionally resonant as it is musically compelling.

Maribou State

Hallucinating Love

I caught Maribou State in November at their album launch show in Brighton’s Chalk— a huge contrast to their sold-out Alexandra Palace gigs. I’ve sometimes found their music a little too smooth, but this album hit differently. Six years in the making, it’s an ambitious, intricate blend of anthemic vocals from Holly Walker and Andreya Triana, woven into their signature warm, organic sound. It feels tailor-made for summer sundowns, the kind of record that will soundtrack golden evenings and hazy beach trips. If you’ve been waiting for something both intimate and expansive, this is it. I can’t recommend it enough.

Lambrini Girls

Who let the dogs out

Lambrini Girls deliver an absolute powerhouse of an album, tackling issues like sexism in the workplace, toxic masculinity, homosexuality, Sarah Everard's death, and neurodiversity with raw honesty and sharp wit. Their track 'Special Different' resonates deeply, addressing autism and ADHD with such charm, empathy and humour. The Brighton duo seamlessly blend laugh-out-loud humour with serious, relevant topics, creating an album that’s both fearless and perfectly pitched. Having followed them since their stunning 2022 performance at The Great Escape, I had high hopes, and they delivered in spades. Bold, unflinching, and impactful—this might just be the album of the year already! January 2025