2025 - After last year, when I was tracking my favourite albums of the year alongside trying to work out my favourite album of the first half of the decade, it was nice to not be doing that. Much like the note on the live music blog, I don’t foresee me doing this again in a longform way after this year, though I might still track what I’ve listened to out of interest. If this sounds odd, I refer you back to the sentence you just read, in which I said I spent a good chunk of 2024 trying to work out my favourite albums of the first half of the decade. After all, who doesn’t love a spreadsheet?
Anyway, let us crunch the stats!
New albums listened to - 243
Total listens - 542
Average score - 6.93
New EPs listened to - 22
Total listens - 42
Average score - 7
Curiously, for me at least, the number of albums I’ve listened to this year have gone way up from last year but the EPs have gone down. I don’t often hear of many EPs getting released, so I have probably missed something excellent. Also, Spotify can be shithouses for many reasons, one of which being they occasionally will call a single an EP. I write this just after learning something in my Top 10 EPs has just been removed as it was just a collection of songs from an album that came out in October. Did that album make the cut? Who is to say?! Well, me I guess…
How this works is as follows - EPs first and then Albums. The section on EPs though is a bit of a cop out because I haven’t listened to that many.
Favourite EPs of 2024 - Honourable Mentions
anvilchandelier - anvilchandelier
EVERYBODY DIES - EVERYBODY DIES
Favourite EPs of 2024 - The Top 10.
10 - Ancst - Dominion
Ancst released two EPs this year, and this is the shorter one of the two - it is also (for me) comfortably the more enjoyable one.
9 - Clobber - God Loves, Man Kills
Oi! Bit lairy this
8 - heavenscoldhands - heavenscoldhands
Can’t remember where the recommendation came from for me to listen to this, but I’m glad it did.
7 - Trivium - Struck Dead
Trivium continues their hot streak with this EP, you love to see it.
6 - Soulkeeper - Join Us In Creating Excellence
I heard this described as “doing Code Orange better than Code Orange in 10 minutes”. I don’t know if that is entirely fair (certainly not of Underneath), but this is a very good EP
5 - COULDN'T BE ME - COULDN'T BE ME
Gnarly. That is all.
4 - Orville Peck - Appaloosa
I rather liked the Orville Peck album from 2023, which caught me by surprise. This feels like a continuation of that album, but doesn’t feel like offcuts from that album.
3 - Ninkharsag - The Black Swords of Winter
This is a perfect example of the sort of black metal I am into.
2 - Rolo Tomassi - In The Echoes Of All Dreams
If memory serves, this was a surprise release. I like this sort of surprise, the EP is ace.
1 - Vower - A Storm Lined With Silver
Vower are a band I’ve wanted to see live as soon as I heard they were a phoenix from the ashes of Palm Reader and Black Peaks. The first EP was great, this is just as great. I love this.
—
Last year, I wrote that I overdid it with honourable mentions. I’ve addressed that this year by going even more overboard. I like music, what can I tell you. What I have done though is not write notes for every honorable mention. The honest reason for that is that I could not be bothered.
Favourite Albums of 2025 - Honourable Mentions
Dave House - Nurses
Momma - Welcome To My Blue Sky
Bleed From Within - Zenith
Abigail Williams - A Void Within Existence
Bob Mould - Here We Go Crazy
Employed To Serve - Fallen Star
Coach Party - Caramel
Little Simz - Lotus
Haim - I quit
The Hives - The Hives Forever Forever The Hives
Maleovolence - Where Only The Truth Is Spoken
Creeper - Sanguivore II: Mistress of Death
Honningbarna - Soft Spot
Stick To Your Guns - Keep Planting Flowers
Spiritworld - Helldorado
Pulp - More
Bloodywood - Nu Delhi
Rivers of Nihil - Rivers of Nihil
Saor - Amidst the Ruins
Motion City Soundtrack - The Same Old Wasted Wonderful World
Arm's Length - There's A Whole World Out There
Favourite Albums of 2025 - The Top 20.
20 - Suede - Antidepressants
I saw some press for this album, including on The Rest is Entertainment (one of the hosts, Richard Osman, is the brother of the bassist I think), which was universally positive. I recall enjoying them at Victorious from across the road, and decided to give it a listen, though skeptically (I think I thought the universal positive press was because they were a legacy act). This was not the case as the album is very good.
19 - Tyler, The Creator - DON'T TAP THE GLASS
Honestly, this is the first Tyler, The Creator album I’ve listened to. I feel like I’ve missed out as this is great.
18 - Orbit Culture - Death Above Life
I saw Orbit Culture a couple of times before this album came out, and once afterwards. The material from the album is great live, but overall the album is really good.
17 - Scowl - Are We All Angels
Scowl’s debut and follow up EP are superb, and this is equally as superb, while also being a slight change in direction that I think really works for them. To my ear, it makes them sound still like Scowl but a bit more like Milk Teeth, which I am not objecting to at all.
16 - Pupil Slicer - Fleshwork
A new Pupil Slicer album makes my top 20? I for one am shocked. Well, aside from the fact it has happened twice before. This is another great album.
15 - clipping - Dead Channel Sky
I think at this stage, I much prefer clipping live to listening to their albums in full, but that is mainly because they are bloody great live. This is a really good album.
14 - Dave - The Boy Who Played The Harp
Dave is a top tier storyteller and artist. I really liked We’re All Alone In This Together, and didn't expect to like this more. It is on par with that album, if not better.
13 - Superheaven - Superheaven
.jpg)
Superheaven are a band I discovered when working out plans for Outbreak festival, and then listened more to this album and really liked it.
12 - Dimscûa - Dust Eater
I listen to Two Promoters, One Pod - and they raved about this album, so I thought I’d give it a go. It didn’t take me long to see why they were so high on it. Getting to see them at Damnation and play all of it was ace.
11 - Militarie Gun - God Save The Gun
The first time I listened to this, I remember thinking it was fine, and that was it. This has been a proper grower, and I hope to be able to hear a good chunk of it live in February (ideally this time without White Reaper dropping off the tour, and without the singer blowing his voice out early into the set!)
10 - La Dispute - No One Was Driving The Car
I saw this album was over an hour long and almost clicked away. I am very glad I didn’t as this album is absolutely worth the time commitment. Never really listened to La Dispute before, but this album made me want to go back. It is excellent.
9 - The Callous Daoboys - I Don't Want To See You In Heaven
I really like this album, and there is so much to like on it. It goes all over the place, and every turn it takes feels both deliberate and chaotic.
8 - The Last Dinner Party - From The Pyre
This is one of those albums that I like more each time I listen to it, and it was one I was favourable to immediately as well. A great listen.
7 - Blackbraid - Blackbraid III
Blackbraid II was remarkable, and Blackbraid III is a continuation of that. I really like it.
6 - A Day To Remember - Big Ole Album Vol 1
If you had told me that ADTR would be in the top 10 even last year, I would have scoffed at the very idea. This album goes in so many directions, but is undeniably ADTR (aside from the one track where they definitely go full-Gojira). It is such a good album.
5 - Deftones - Private Music
This is great. I don’t know where I’d put it in a ranked list of their discography, but I would say towards the top of the list.
4 - Deafheaven - Lonely People With Power
At points, this has been my favourite album of the year. Deafheaven are back to their best, I’d argue, with this album. Also, the stuff I heard live was superb.
3 - Wolf Alice - The Clearing
I was very excited when this got announced, as I really liked Blue Weekend. It is weird to reflect on this now but the first time I heard Bloom Baby Bloom, I thought “ah, maybe this will grow on me”. I can say that it did and then some. Once it had, the rest of the album was immediate. This was almost my favourite album of the year.
2 - Taylor Swift - The Life of a Showgirl
.png)
I’m going to keep this nice and short - this album is fucking great. Thank you for coming to my TED talk. This was so close to being my favourite album of the year, but one that had longer to worm into my heart kept it from the top spot.
1 - Slow Joy - A Joy So Slow At Times I Don't Think Its Coming
This album came out at exactly the time I needed to hear it, which sounds wanky but it is true. I cannot explain why I love this album so much, but it was immediate. Each subsequent listen has reaffirmed that it is my favourite release of the year.
—-
And there we have it, my favourite albums of 2025. Some of these would fit into the top 50 of the half decade I posted last year…I also booted an album out as tastes change and it hasn’t stuck with me at all. Again, the decade list is strictly vibes and is subject to change whenever I can be bothered (which is not often in the slightest!)
- Biffy Clyro - A Celebration of Endings
- Zeal & Ardor - Zeal & Ardor
- Run The Jewels - RTJ4
- Halsey - If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power
- Gojira - Fortitude
- Frank Turner - FTHC
- Hundred Reasons - Glorious Sunset
- Olivia Rodrigo - GUTS
- Code Orange - Underneath
- Slow Joy - A Joy So Slow At Times I Don't Think Its Coming
- Taylor Swift - The Life of a Showgirl
- Employed To Serve - Conquering
- Wolf Alice - The Clearing
- Deafheaven - Lonely People With Power
- Pupil Slicer - Blossom
- Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia
- Frank Turner - Undefeated
- Ithaca - They Fear Us
- Soft Play - Heavy Jelly
- Deftones - private music
- Green Lung - This Heathen Land
- Blackbraid - Blackbraid II
- Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR
- A Day To Remember - Big Ole Album Vol 1
- Idles - Ultra Mono
- Svalbard - When I Die, Will I Get Better?
- Svalbard - The Weight of the Mask
- Knocked Loose - You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To
- Blackbraid - Blackbraid III
- Touché Amoré - Spiral In A Straight Line
- Urne - A Feast On Sorrow
- Kneecap - Fine Art
- The Last Dinner Party - From The Pyre
- The Callous Daoboys - I Don’t Want To See You In Heaven
- Creeper - Sex Death and The Infinte Void
- Trivium - What The Dead Men Say
- Gaerea - Coma
- Loathe - I Let It In and It Took Everything
- Urne - Serpent & Spirit
- Bob Vylan - Bob Vylan Presents The Price Of Life
- Ihsahn - IHSAHN
- Palm Reader - Sleepless
- Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend
- Taylor Swift - Folklore
- Pupil Slicer - Mirrors
- Turnstile - GLOW ON
- Poppy - Negative Spaces
- The Dirty Nil - Fuck Art
- Spanish Love Songs - Brave Faces Everyone
- Martha - Please Don't Take Me Back
No comments:
Post a Comment