With 2025 almost behind us, it's time to… overlook most of it ever occurred? However at the very least some good got here out of those previous 12 months — specifically, the stuff that emanated nonstop from our audio system and earbuds. Along with the long-awaited return of Mom Monster (lastly making pop once more!), we noticed sensible pivots from a few of music's biggest poets and visionaries, plus a smattering of recent voices who refuse to be outlined. All of it supplied a much-needed escape from the headlines (excluding EW's) and a galvanizing soundtrack for these occasional highs that saved us urgent on.

Right here, Leisure Weekly's high 10 albums of the yr.

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The ten finest albums of 2025

10. Djo, The Crux

After years spent demolishing demogorgons with a nailed baseball bat, Stranger Things' Joe Keery (a.okay.a. Djo) reintroduced himself to the world as the subsequent indie-rock darling together with his weak, diversified third full-length, The Crux. A nostalgia-drenched exploration of affection and grief following the tip of a relationship, the 12-track album sees Keery marrying his conflicting feelings with a medley of various genres, setting his sorrows to the tune of dreamy '80s pop on "Delete Ya," recreating late-night loneliness via Fleetwood Mac–esque fingerpicking guitar on "Potion," and expressing his devotion to his household, each lyrically and thru a hovering orchestral association, on "Golden Line." The shoulder-shimmying doo-woppers of the Sixties weren't mendacity after they sang that breaking apart is difficult to do, however Keery manages to make it via to the opposite aspect together with his coronary heart nonetheless intact — and his music sounding higher than ever. —Emlyn Travis

9. Sudan Archives, The BPM

On her thrilling third LP, singer and violinist Brittney Parks saws via her psyche and follows her id to the dancefloor. Her thoughts is messy and unrelenting, stuffed with sharp left turns and limitless detours, as she and her cybernetic alter ego-cum-savior, Gadget Lady, crisscross eras and genres in an try to transmute the wreckage of heartache right into a superhuman armor. Standout "A Bug's Life" finds the idea album's heroine forging fearlessly forward, shattering her rearview mirror with sampled house-diva yelps that evoke the Black Field basic "Experience on Time," whereas the chakra-shaking bass of "She's Obtained Ache" abruptly surrenders to a frisky interlude from Chicago string quartet D-Composed, leading to the perfect use of Irish folks on a pop document since Kate Bush's "Jig of Life." However this polymath continues to be right down to celebration. "Put it in my mouth," Parks chants on "Ms. Pac Man," a blippy, raunchy hip-hop banger wherein she additionally threatens to "eat these bitches too," punctuating her flex with the crunch of a potato chip. You exit The BPM feeling charged, a little bit exhausted, and a bit extra enlightened, such as you've simply left the wildest, sweatiest membership on the town — or an excellent remedy session. —Jason Lamphier

8. Olivia Dean, The Artwork of Loving

Followers of her tender 2023 debut, Messy, knew Olivia Dean had the expertise, however this yr the younger British neo-soul singer turned a full-fledged international drive. Her shuffling U.Okay. No. 1 hit, “Man I Want,” wherein she calls for that her love curiosity step up and provides her what she deserves (compliments! bossa nova all evening!), turned one in every of 2025's defining singles, however she shines all through her sophomore album,its minimalist manufacturing permitting her velvety voice to take heart stage. "So Straightforward (To Fall in Love)" drifts on a breezy, Burt Bacharach-y melody; "Good to Every Different" charms with a chugging beat and metal guitar; and the rhythmic chorus of "ba-ba-ba-baby steps" in "Child Steps" is as addictive as it’s easy. A triumphant research in restraint, The Artwork of Loving has a tender contact, however nonetheless hits arduous. —Alamin Yohannes

7. Alex G, Headlights

There's a tiny mythology inside Alex G’s work in the event you pay attention carefully. Recurring characters and autofiction usually translate the artist's non-public experiences, that are more and more, refreshingly mundane on Headlights. In "Beam Me Up" an getting old soccer participant (maybe the athlete from 2014's DSU) muses that "life will go you by," whereas in "Actual Factor" a singer hopes he can "make it via to April on no matter's left of all this label money." It's a sobering perspective from a DIY Bandcamp artist–turned–veteran indie darling, who did certainly make his major-label debut this yr together with his tenth LP. Deploying harsh guitars, tense strings, and jangly synths to ponder the burden of his mounting tasks, the 32-year musician has crafted a twinkling, extra polished, extra mature folk-rock document that also bears the scratchy lo-fi sensibilities of his early days. The Alex G of the current appears to be the man, actual or fictional, within the album's closing monitor, "Logan Lodge": a shaggy-haired Peter Pan perched on the piano together with his mates on the bar, beginning to settle for that it's time to develop up. —Allaire Nuss

6. Geese, Getting Killed

The primary really nice rock album for the Anxious Technology got here this yr courtesy of Geese, a ragtag group of twentysomething Brooklyn neo-no-wavers led by elusive frontman Cameron Winter. Their violent, unstable model of guitar music has an simple swagger, a lot so that you simply really feel a perverse pleasure listening to Winter yelp "there's a bomb in my caaaarrrr!" as a trombone implodes on Getting Killed's opening monitor, "Trinidad" — like getting a swift kick within the tooth and smiling as blood dribbles down your chin. The hooks are few and much between, although wonderful on the rollicking singles "Taxes" and "100 Horses." As a substitute, the band unravels odd, turbulent track constructions like tangles of yarn set ablaze. The entire affair is steeped in ambivalent spiritual imagery and anchored by Winter's elastic bellow, his voice careening from a honey-sweet Elvis-like drawl to commanding, animalistic shrieks harking back to Jim Morrison. It's sufficient to make you imagine you've seen the sunshine, harsh and blinding as it might be. —Allaire Nuss

5. Woman Gaga, Mayhem

After experimenting with stripped-back Americana on Joanne and cyberpunk dance music on Chromatica, Woman Gaga triumphantly emerged from the quicklyforgotten shadow of Joker: Folie à Deux with Mayhem, her most eclectic album up to now. Throughout 14 intensely energetic tracks, our preeminent gonzo pop princess delivers her tackle Prince- and Bowie-inspired funk ("Killah"), industrial grunge (“Good Superstar"), retro glam rock ("Vanish Into You"), flirty Halloween celebration bops ("Zombieboy," "The Beast"), moonstrucksoft rock ("Die With a Smile"), and the perfect Taylor Swift track not written by Taylor Swift ("How Unhealthy Do U Need Me"). In the meantime, the album's opening trifecta— "Illness," "Abracadabra," and "Backyard of Eden" — finds Gaga revisiting the Gothic theatricality and hyper-catchy, stuttering choruses of her earliest hits. The result’s each a return to kind and a breath of contemporary air from one of the crucial dependable voices within the biz.—Wesley Stenzel

4. Fragrance Genius, Glory

Over the previous 15 years, Mike Hadreas' discography has developed from sparse, lo-fi piano ballads to baroque-pop mosaics and again, and on his seventh LP as Fragrance Genius, he’s as soon as once more a conduit for the chic. Although stylistically elastic, Glory stays thematically constant as Hadreas, a vocal contortionist, tightens his breathy bellows right into a whimpering falsetto as he sings about being hopelessly tangled in his previous traumas ("I nonetheless run and conceal when a person's on the door"). His output has at all times felt uncannily intimate, like secrets and techniques shared in confidence, however this albumis his most collaborative. Together with longtime producer Blake Mills and his co-writer and romantic associate, Alan Wyffels, Hadreas brings New Zealand folks artist Aldous Harding into the fold for the standout single "No Entrance Enamel," which teeters between quaint Americana and rapturous rock. Your complete document is a high-wire balancing act, nevertheless it by no means buckles beneath the burden of its stunning contradictions. —Allaire Nuss

3. FKA Twigs, Eusexua

"I'm obsessive about different cultures and subcultures," FKA Twigs instructed visitor host RuPaul on an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Dwell final yr, describing how she discovered herself within the thrall of Prague's underground techno scene whereas filming her film The Crow there. The British singer, producer, dancer, and actress has at all times operated from the periphery, eschewing straight-up bangers for steely, alien temper items; what her songs lack in high 40 attraction they greater than make up for in imaginative and prescient. However her third studio album strikes the proper steadiness between accessibility and experimentation, with Twigs slipping snugly into no matter style she tries on earlier than bending it to her will. That features, sure, techno but additionally home, drum and bass, industrial, trip-hop, new age, Ray of Gentle–period electronica, and, with the early single "Good Stranger," glossy, low-frills pop. Eusexua's energy lies in its interaction of the cerebral and the seductive, of dominance and submission, of pressure and launch. It was sufficient to lastly push Twigs from the outer limits to the useless heart. —Jason Lamphier

2. Unhealthy Bunny, Debí Tirar Más Fotos

Unhealthy Bunny could also be a world celebrity, however he's by no means forgotten the place he got here from. After years of being swept up within the limelight, the three-time Grammy winner returned to Puerto Rico and allowed his roots the house to bloom in vivid shade for his genre-defying sixth album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos ("I ought to have taken extra photographs"). Recorded fully on the island, the 17-track reggaeton and Latin pop grasp class not solely serves as his love letter to his homeland, but additionally captures the 31-year-old singer deftly mixing his trendy stylings with music close to and pricey to its cultural identification, together with plena ("Debí Tirar Más Fotos"), salsa ("Baile Inolvidable"), and jíbaro ("Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii"). A joyous opus binding an artist to his heritage, Debí Tirar Más Fotos will solely really feel extra significant — for him and his listeners — as time goes on. Not in contrast to {a photograph}. —Emlyn Travis

1. Rosalía, Lux

On "Cowl Me," an evocative monitor off her trailblazing 1995 album, Publish, Björk introduced that she was going attempting to find mysteries, vowing to "show the unattainable actually exists." She arguably by no means returned, delving deeper and deeper into her provocative avant-pop excursions, confounding and illuminating us all alongside the best way. Björk reveals up on her non secular descendant Rosalía’s fourth LP, Lux, a staggeringly bold work that, like Publish, detonated the restrictions of style to ship a number of the most compelling, colossal music of the yr. Within the document’s lead single, the operatic and opulent "Berghain," the Spanish artist contends with concern, rage, and a fervent want that threatens to eat her, whereas Björk hovers above the proceedings like some omniscient soothsayer to declare that solely "divine intervention" can save her. The Icelandic icon is one in every of many holy figures who information Rosalía in her personal journey into the unknown; every track on Lux was impressed by a special feminine saint, and it options contributions from composer Caroline Shaw, fado singer Carminho, flamenco singer Estrella Morente, and Charlotte Gainsbourg in addition to an excellent cameo from Patti Smith. Backed by choirs and the London Symphony Orchestra, the classically skilled vocal powerhouse particulars her quest in additional than a dozen languages, in search of solutions to questions on religion, devotion, lust, and love — and the that means of life itself — over the course of 4 actions and 18 tracks. In an period of fast hits and on the spot gratification, which will sound like a tricky promote, however Lux is greater than price your time. Possibly the unattainable does exist. Or at the very least the impossibly stunning. It's all proper right here. —Jason Lamphier

Honorable Mentions

Bon Iver, Sable, Fable

Within the opening strains of final yr's Sable, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon stares into the mirror and sees an anxious stranger trapped in a jail of his personal making. However that EP, which additionally serves because the prelude on his fifth full-length, was a crimson herring. Over the 9 tracks that observe, Vernon — a lonesome troubadour who launched his profession with an album he recorded in a secluded Wisconsin cabin within the useless of winter — sheds his pensive unhappiness. Backed by pedal metal, lapping beats, and gospel-style vocals, he turns his gaze outward with gratitude and childlike marvel ("Rattling, if I'm not climbing up a tree proper now," he declares within the exultant "All the pieces Is Peaceable Love"). He's hopeful, elated, even a little bit sexy ("Get your high quality ass on the street," he instructions within the Danielle Haim collab "I'll Be There"). On Sable, Fable, the winter frost has melted. Vernon is able to face the world and, extra vital, face himself. —Jason Lamphier

Destroyer, Dan's Boogie

Three a long time into his profession, Destroyer's Dan Bejar stays a dependable purveyor of dense, dazzling compositions. The band's 14th LP, produced by bassist John Collins, clocks in at simply 36 minutes however feels sprawling. An onslaught of orchestration fuels the title monitor, whereas others ("Bologna," "Cataract Time") are languid and layered. Bejar's smoky alto is our anchor, sounding like an omniscient ghost serenading us in a liminal house. His trustworthy, usually sardonic observations ("girls fill out and males crumble inwards") echo via a thick cloud of dizzying pianos, jazz horns, and glistening synths. Maximalist and mesmerizing, the document unfolds like reside commentary for a bustling metropolis — ah, have a look at all of the lonely folks! It makes a compelling case for stopping to breathe within the city smog. It might odor like s—, however at the very least you're dwelling within the second. —Allaire Nuss

Haim, I Stop

Although it registers as a breakup document, the breezy fourth LP from Los Angeles' foremost sister act embraces all the emotional spectrum of messy trendy romance, channeling frustration ("Relationships"), want ("All Over Me"), heartache ("Attempt to Really feel My Ache"), and unabashed sentimentality ("Million Years") into near-impeccable pop-rock tunes. I Stop doubles down on the summery sounds that populate Haim's finest work, drawing focus to their reside drums, slick guitar riffs, bouncy basslines, and fuzzy synths. However the wealthy, sunny manufacturing, from former Vampire Weekend multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij and lead vocalist Danielle Haim, regularly modulates over the course of a monitor, leaving many songswith strikingly totally different preparations than they began with. Plus, it's beautiful to listen to the trio’s different siblings take the wheel, with Alana shining onthe album's bubbliest track ("Spinning") and Este driving dwelling its most melancholy ("Cry"). —Wesley Stenzel

Turnstile, By no means Sufficient

Turnstile is your favourite band's favourite band. A well-kept Baltimore secret for much too lengthy, the hardcore heavyweights made huge waves with 2021's Glow On, propelling them past the purview of die-hard insiders and introducing them to the rock-starved plenty. Anticipation was sky-high for his or her subsequent outing, and By no means Sufficient delivers seismic items. Like its predecessor, the album is a genre-bending odyssey, skating via home music ("Look Out for Me"), bubblegum for bruisers ("I Care"), ceremonial woodwinds ("Sunshower"), disco ("Seein' Stars"), and, after all, livid, breakneck guitar riffs. These are kinetic and kaleidoscopic songs seamlessly woven collectively like a tapestry that retains altering shade. By no means Sufficient by no means feels bloated or overly bold; on this fable, Icarus flies away. —Allaire Nuss

Kali Uchis, Sincerely

What a f—ed-up time to be alive. Kali Uchis' resolution? Shut the curtains, pour the Cab, draw the tub, and spend the subsequent hour basking in impossibly horny, subtle sluggish jams that conjure Motown, doo-wop, golden-age R&B, and the soundtrack to some non-public striptease. The Columbian American artist has mentioned her fifth album is about "discovering magnificence within the ache and taking the great" — it’s devoted to her late mom and impressed by the start of her son — and it’s best appreciated as an entire. This can be a document to get misplaced in. That's by no means extra obvious than on the spotlight "Lose My Cool," which switches tempos midway via to luxuriate in lush, spine-tingling harmonies that think of Ultravox's '80s basic "Vienna." Give up to Sincerely’s charms and also you'll swear you've brushed shoulders with a spot excessive above the earthly chaos. —Jason Lamphier

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