The Best 30 Albums of 2025 (So Far)

One of them is technically an EP

Good morning, and welcome to the second half of the year. Now that 2025 is 2 times 25% over with, semi-professional opinion-havers on the subject of recorded music entertainment products are duty bound to share those opinions in the form of organized lists. I am not exempt from this obligation, and now that you’ve opened this email you’re not exempt from hearing about it! Unless of course you click away to some other schmuck’s list, but c’mon on, we’re buds. You wouldn’t do that to me, right? As a bud and dedicated reader you will have observed through my Listening Diary that I have not spent much time this year keeping up with new releases. Heck, before June I was only just starting to catch up on the albums I missed from *last year*. To make up for the deficit in attention, I spent the last month burning through my queue at high speeds. Operating at this sprint meant that I did not have time to revisit and revise most of my thoughts on these records, so instead of ordering them in accordance to my finely tuned critical criteria I am presenting them to you in alphabetical order. In order to make this strange assemblage easier to navigate I’ll offer short descriptions of each record and annotated emojis.

THE LAMNIFORMES EMOJI KEY

🦈 - The Lamniformes Shark Emoji of Approval. Expect albums with this lil guy beside them to show up on my true end of the year list.

🌸 - ~*My Girlfriend’s*~ Cherry Blossom Emoji of Excellence. This emoji marks the records that ~*My Girlfriend*~ also enjoyed listening to, or, in some cases, listened to before I did.

🌿 - The Herb Emoji of Ferrn-Adjacency. This is for albums discussed and enjoyed during breaks at Ferrn practice or on the private Ferrn Discord Channel.

🔮 - The Ponderous Orb Emoji of Progmatism. Not confined strictly to recordings of progressive rock, this illusive sigil denotes albums which carry the ineffable spirit of the oncoming moment.

💃🏻 - Salsa Spring, Baby!!

☢️ - The Radioactive Emoji of Extremity. I suspect not all of my readers want to hear loud, ugly sounding music that your figurative mom would call “death metal”. I suspect other readers only stick around because of the Heavy Stuff. Both varieties of readers should heed this warning.

🗡 - The Dagger Emoji of Classic Metal. Readers who might find themselves halfway between the two represented above or burdened with a romantic view of heavy metal’s golden age should consider these releases instead.

😎 - The Cool Guy Emoji of Full Disclosure. Some of the artists included on this list are people that I have spoken to in person, sometimes between sets of a show that we’re both playing. I want to tell you this because it absolutely shades of impression of their music, and, since I think their music is good, it makes me look like a cool guy.

🎙 - The Microphone Emoji of #Bars. Since moving to Chicago and getting a job on my feet instead of at a desk I’ve listened to a lot more rap music. I find it impossible to listen to rap and read or write at the same time¹. Here are the best 2025 rap albums I’ve listened to while getting my steps in.

Ambush by Fusilier (😎) - I’ve shared bills with Fusilier twice, first playing drums for Humeysha and then again playing drums for Shalom, and left both times with my “this person could be famous” alarm blaring. Fusilier take all the details of a good performance seriously, showing an almost anachronistic level of showmanship. The electro-rock on Ambush displays the same meticulous attention to the fundamentals.

Animaru by Mei Semones (🦈🌸🌿🔮) - This New York based Berklee Grad brings jazzy finesse and MPB-inspired rhythmic deftness to the smol bean sensibility of east coast indie, daring us to dream of greater legumes yet to sprout.

Aseurai by Phoebe Rings (🌸 🌿) - Gen Z New Zealand yacht rock. Makes for great cooking music.

Black Hole Superette by Aesop Rock (🌸🎙) - ~*My GF*~ beat me to this one while researching for the Lamniformes Intramurals Music League and then put it on in the car on a drive back from Kalamazoo, Michigan. The deeper Aesop Rock settles into his rap hermit middle age the more charming I find his music.

caroline 2 by caroline (🌿🔮) - Widespread critical adoration for this album made me approach it arms crossed, but I was quickly disarmed by the decentralized and wide ranging creativity of this post rock collective.

Collapsing by Stander (🔮😎) - If caroline remind you of Broken Social Scene, Stander might remind you of Tortoise, Russian Circles, or any number of other long running Chicago instrumental groups. They’ve earned their spot in that conversation.

The Convalescence Agonies by Weeping Sores (☢️😎) - Half of Pyrrhon slow down their death metal discordance and add keys and strings for a more ruminative form of extremity.

Cowards by Squid (🔮) - It took me a while, but I’m starting to find my groove with this now veteran act of England’s Windmill scene. Their freakiness only deepens.

Debí Tirar Más Fotos by Bad Bunny (🦈🌸🌿💃🏻) - Pop music as anti-colonial anthropology, it’s like Lemonade without the tacky reality TV relationship drama! The year’s most surreal musical moment for me is listening “BAILE INoLVIDABLE” in the middle of a snow storm this January.

Evergreen Plaza by Previous Industries (🦈🎙) - Though only a five song EP this collection wastes no time in giving you nothing but spooky beats and slick verses in continuous succession. Open Mike Eagle, not just a great YouTuber!

45 Pounds by YHWH Nailgun (🔮) - Damn, the drums on this record are bonkers. It is encouraging to see so many genuinely weird indie bands catching a wave right now.

GOLLIWOG by billy woods (🦈🎙) - The best rap album of the year continues the Backwoodz hot streak in horror-flavored fashion.

Gut by Baths (🦈🌿) - I apologize in advance for describing a record this good this way, but Baths’ “elevated emo” combination of millennial alternative rock tropes and Vespertine-worthy art pop sophistication is an early front runner for album of the year.

Hurry Up Tomorrow by The Weeknd (🌿) - Certainly too long, but a nonetheless inspired career summary from my favorite pop star of the last decade plus.

Instant Holograms On Metal Film by Stereolab (🌸 🌿🔮) - I’m still too much of a neophyte to say how this stacks up against Stereolab’s body of work, I’m just happy to enjoy more Stereolab.

Lonely People With Power by Deafheaven (🦈 ☢️) - Deafheaven return from their holiday writing shoegaze with renewed intensity and the newfound skill to write great songs under 10 minutes.

Lucro sucio; los ojos del vacío by The Mars Volta (🌿🔮) - Though it is not my favorite The Mars Volta by a long shot, I remain intrigued by Bixler & ORL’s journey. The world is better place for having this strange record in it.

Luminescent Creatures by Ichiko Aoba - I do not typically connect with Ichiko Aoba’s hyper-sparse ambient folk, hence the lack of emojis, but I must concede that this is an extremely well made and pretty record.

Magic, Alive! by McKinley Dixon (🔮🎙) - If you’ve ever found yourself pining for the spirit of pre-Wife Guy era Chance The Rapper, and if it wouldn’t too be greedy to ask maybe with a less annoying voice this time around please and thank you, then this record is for you.

Nothing Sticks by Pictoria Vark (🌸😎) - Bellows played a show with Pictoria Vark in Iowa City, which was briefly interrupted by a bat in the venue, and then had a good time chilling together after the show. She’s since settled in Chicago where her slow and downcast take on indie rock fits right in.

The Overview by Steven Wilson (🔮) - I’m not sure what the ol’ grouch is on about here but good lord can Wilson arrange his voice well regardless of what he’s singing about.

Portrait of My Heart by SPELLLING (🦈🔮) - SPELLLING embraces the grit and growl of 90s alternative rock without losing her theatrical touch. More of this record sounds like Dream Theater than you’d expect.

The Screaming of the Valkyries by Cradle of Filth (☢️) - Name-brand extreme metal bands are more Menudo-eqsue than the ‘heads would like to admit, as long as you keep cycling in new guitarists with fresh riffs these old dogs can run forever.

Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory by Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory (🌸) - Huge props to Van Etten for promoting her backing band to to co-billing. Bands rock, dude!

Southern Progress by Flummox (🔮☢️) - Absolutely bugnuts progressive metal from below the Mason-Dixon, answering a question I’m sure some of us have pondered for years: “what if BTBAM were like, hella gay?”

The Spin by Messa (🦈🗡) - This Italian doom group has improved so consistently as performers and songwriters that you’d be forgiven for thinking they were a new band entirely if their glow up were not so steadily documented. Sky’s the limit with this band.

Through the Looking Glass by Chaos Magick (🔮) - Downtown legend John Zorn conducts time bending rituals through the power of jazz.

Trainspotting by Rome Streetz (🎙) - Big coat, big boots, bespoke Yankee hat rap music for small business owners and hungry freelancers.

Verminateur by Animalize (🗡) - Old school metal refreshed with clever twists on the traditional playbook. Since I cannot speak French I can’t help you out with the lyrical conceit.

What Is Success by Open Head (🔮) - Bold and experimental post-punk delivered with high levels of precision thanks to some terrific drumming.

1. Yet somehow I have a YouTube video about video games on in the background as I write this.