The 25 best albums of 2025
2025 was a special year for music: here is our look back at the very best listens of the year...
2025 has been a strange year for music. On the one hand, we have had Taylor Swift singing about the size of her husband's 'you know what', an AI-written song (Walk My Walk) getting to number one in the Country Music charts and Benson Boone backflipping his way into the hearts — and laps — of mums the world over.
All very depressing.
But on the other hand, as the following best albums of 2025 list showcases, it has been an energetic and eclectic year for music.
We've witnessed latin and country infused albums dominate the charts, a resurgence in old school hip-hop, indie bands from yesteryear bring out their best ever work and proof that rock'n'roll is still alive and as vital as ever.
In no particular order, here are the 25 albums that have been on repeat in Shortlist Towers. We hope you enjoy them as much as we have...
1. CMAT: Euro-Country
After releasing two albums that reached number one in her native Ireland, CMAT’s third album finally turned the rest of the world on to the brilliance and charm of her music. The album, accompanied by a super successful festival stint which culminated in a barnstorming Pyramid Stage performance, was on repeat everywhere and rightly so. Single release Take a Sexy Picture of Me sets the stage nicely, with its upbeat poppiness that masks lyrical sadness. This song is a cutting centrepiece of an album, where comedy and tragedy will have you smiling and crying in equal measure.
2. Dave: The Boy Who Played The Harp
The Boy Who Played The Harp marks Dave's third number one album in a row. No other British rapper has achieved this and, boy, does he deserve it. This album is a showcase of just how you can make your words matter. Whether it’s wondering where his life is going next on Selfish, charting the life of a drug dealer in Marvellous or tackling sexual assault with Fairchild, Dave does it with a lyrical deftness that resonates long after the music ends. The album isn’t big on beats, it’s introspective, bleak in places — James Blake has had a say in the feel of the record — but bursts with beautiful poetry.
3. Suede: Antidepressants
Despite being one of the bands that were thrown into the Britpop blender, Suede never fitted that moniker. Their music is much darker, post-punk with a sprinkling of glitter, and this is apparent on the superb Antidepressants. Opener Disintegrate and second track Dancing With The Europeans is a good as album openers get — all stomp and bravado, with sing-your-heart-out choruses. And things don’t ever let up from there, until sixth track Somewhere Between An Atom And A Star gives you a little bit of calmness to breathe. But the feeling of the album is summed up in the title of the seventh song — this is indeed broken music for broken people, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
4. Wet Leg: Moisturizer
Wet Leg have had a stunning rise to the top of the rock world. Track Chaise Longue, released in 2022, was an immediate ear worm. It wasn’t their first music release, but a clever strategy of wiping their Spotify slate clean and making it look like it was worked, as did the ever-present festival appearances, endless radio play and the fact their music is Capital-F, Eff U fun. Moisturizer is a fantastic second album. The songs have been beefed up nicely, as seen on the garage rock brilliance of Catch These Fists and Pond Song. If anyone was questioning Wet Leg’s staying power with their first album, Moisturizer is a fantastic, angry answer back.
5. FKA Twigs: EUSEXUA
Remember that recent, terrible Crow remake? It’s a mess, but one good thing came out of the movie: its star FKA Twigs fell in love with the Prague techno scene while filming and EUSEXUA was born. An album so good, FKA Twigs released it twice in 2025 (the second release in November was a re-imagining of the album originally released in January). EUSEXUA is as dance-y as FKA Twigs gets, but as with her other albums nothing is quite what it seems. Take the title track: it starts off haunting and gentle, with hints of Portishead, then mutates into a balearic beat that will have you reaching for your stilettos and finding the nearest dance floor. Girl Feels Good sounds like Madonna in her William Orbit era, while Drums of Death is what would happen if Kylie got lost in Berghain for a few nights and made a record out of it. Lovely stuff.
6. Deafheaven: Lonely People with Power
The heaviest record on this best-of list by a mile but also one of the most melodic. Lonely People With Power is one of those albums that initially sounds abrasive but with repeat listens you start to get a glimmer of lyrics among the howls, a crunching guitar riff that lifts everything from the darkness and a drum beat that will be cause of many bruises in the moshpit. While the album’s quieter moments are soon drowned out by a magnificent wall of noise, it is these instances that allow you to get your breath back and make you appreciate just how intricate Deafheaven’s music is.
7. Blood Orange: Essex Honey
For many, Essex conjures up Turkey teeth, TOWIE and wide boys. Not for Blood Orange (musician Dev Hynes), though, who has used his upbringing there to create a haunting album that turns past trauma into beautiful melody. And he’s brought his friends, too, with Turnstile’s Brendon Yates, Caroline Polachek and Lorde helping on vocals. It all makes for an uplifting, woozy sound that deals with the heavy subject matter of the death of his mother. Her being ill brought Dev Hynes back to live in his childhood home and reminisce, and this album is testament that even in the darkest of times, glimmers of light can shimmer through.
8. De La Soul: Cabin In The Sky
What joy it is to have De La Soul back, even if their latest album is steeped in sorrow due to the death of founding member Trugoy the Dove while making it. His verses are limited but vital throughout an album that manages to find the love in death. There’s not much room to mourn here but celebrate — just listen to Will Be which is one minute 26 seconds of utter joy. And Cruel Summers Bring Fire Life!! will bring a similar smile to your face. For De La, three will always be the magic number but they are doing pretty damn well now there are just two. But with the album ending on a Trugoy verse, it’s clear their rapping brother will never be forgotten.
9. Rosalía: LUX
On paper, melding 13 different languages, the London Symphony Orchestra and Bjork into one album is asking for chaos. But Rosalia manages to create an operatic opus that is endlessly listenable. Fusing latino roots with classical musical training — she studied at the Catalonia College of Music — LUX is one of the most ambitious albums of recent years, which takes you on one helluva journey. This may not be the album you put on when you are looking for a party, but grab a drink and your headphones and immerse yourself in the lavishness of LUX.
10. Mogwai: The Bad Fire
The last few years have seen Mogwai find some unlikely commercial success, with the band’s last album As the Love Continues hitting number one in the UK album charts. Instead of rushing to capitalise on this, though, Mogwai gave themselves four years to make The Bad Fire and it shows a softer side to the post-rock stalwarts. The synth-heavy God Gets You Back sets the mood, with warm rich melodies where a drone used to be. Things still build up nicely — Hi Chaos is fittingly, and ear-splittingly, chaotic — but these songs don’t act as fulminations but the sound of a band that has gone through the dark times and are out the other end, resulting in songs that soar rather than roar.
11. Geese: Getting Killed
The cover of Getting Killed is a perfect summation of the album it’s illustrating. It’s a person holding both a gun and a trumpet, with the sun blazing in the background. Take first song Trinidad — packed with warm rhythm and rich melody, but singer Cameron Winter decides to snarl “There’s a bomb in my car” throughout the track. And it’s glorious. This is an eclectic album that only alt-rockers Geese could make. Now three albums in, and a successful solo album from Winter (which is also on this list), this is Geese in their unabashed stride, making rousing rock music in their own inimitable style.
12. Oneohtrix Point Never: Tranquilizer
Another one that works best with headphones on, Oneohtrix Point Never’s latest album is based on a cache of royalty free beats that the music maker found while trawling the web. All from Y2K, these beats are manhandled and manipulated by Oneohtrix to create an ambient album of sorts that doesn’t quite calm as it does put you on edge. While much of the album is dipped in strange soundscapes, Oneohtrix doesn’t forget to add a beat now and again. Lifeworld and Rodl Glide have a propulsiveness to them, while Cherry Blue is pure 'close your eyes and let the music take you away' bliss.
13. Pulp: More
There is a time in a band’s life, no matter how big they are, when they become a nostalgia band. Pulp, having spent the last few years touring their fantastic back catalogue, were heading that way. And then they dropped a surprise album, 24 years after their last, that contained some of their best songs to date. Opener Spike Island is an instant Pulp classic, a rousing ode to the famous Stone Roses gig. It’s a fitting antidote to Sorted For E's And Wizz’s comedown tale, full of uplifts rather than comedowns. Then there’s the sex-tinged Tina that brings out the smut and sordid side ol’ Jarvis is famed for. Got To Have Love is a disco epic that sounds like it’s been around forever and The Hymn Of The North has Jarvis going full Scott Walker (or should that be Scott Yorkshire?). It turns out that, when it comes to Pulp, the world definitely needed More.
14. Panda Bear: Sinister Grift
We waded into Sinister Grift expecting a bonkers bag of experimentation. This is, after all, an album by Panda Bear, the captain of chillwave and part of Animal Collective, a band which brought psychedelic pop to the Millennial masses. Instead, though, the bag is filled with bittersweet beauty. It starts off poppy and Beach Boys bouncy and shifts near the midway into a darker, more melancholic album that shows off a new, fascinating side to Panda Bear that’s neither sinister nor a grift.
15. Clipse: Let God Sort Em Out
It’s been 16 long years since a Clipse album, so when rumour spread that they were back in the studio with Pharell Williams providing the beats once more, it caused a lot of excitement among hip-hop heads. And for good reason: Let God Sort Em Out is an assured record that cements the relevance of Clipse. Both rappers Pusha T and Malice bring fantastic menace and fun to their bars. The collaborators all bring their A game, too, with Kendrick Lamar (whose appearance on the album saw the duo dropped by their label), Tyler The Creator and Nas all stand out.
16. Big Thief: Double Infinity
Before Double Infinity, Big Thief lost a member — bassist Max Oleartchik left the band in 2024 — but seemingly gained a bigger sound. Lead singer Adrianne Lenker is in fine fettle here, even if there are just nine songs, compared to the 20-song double album opus that was their previous record. Experimentation has made way for jamming in Double Infinity, producing folk music with a shimmering pop tinge — we dare you not to get a lighter out while listening to Los Angeles. There’s even a choir thrown in for good measure which elevates the whole thing wonderfully.
17. Alex G: Headlights
Being only 32 and having 10 albums under your belt is an impressive feat — and having the 10th being up there with the best, and your big label debut at the same time, is even more of an achievement. That is what we have with Alex G and his latest release Headlights, a lush and layered record that is packed with gorgeous guitar melodies and sometimes despairing lyrics. Highlights include Afterlife, sounding like a lost R.E.M classic, Spinning which is all electric guitars and a lament about love that’s lost, while Bounce Boy is full of frenetic fuzzed up guitars. Hitting the big time may have softened his sound but there’s still loads to love here.
18. PinkPantheress: Fancy That
It may only be 20 minutes’ long, but Fancy That is far from slight. It’s a mixtape marvel that shows off the pop power of PinkPantheress, who flits from genre to genre to create a sparkling sample-heavy bop. There are familiar sounds from the ‘90s and early 2000s: Basement Jaxx, William Orbit, Just Jack and Underworld all bump into each other, accompanied by PinkPantheress’ diary-like lyrical confessionals. The melodies throughout are to the point, satisfying the TikTok crowd that crave immediacy, and making instant earworms for the rest of us.
19. Little Simz: Lotus
When it comes to British hip-hop in 2025, it’s been a year of soul searching. Three years after the grandiose No Thank You, we have Lotus — a more stripped back affair by Little Simz that tackles anger. Anger at her former producer and the subsequent money issues (Thief), anger at being underestimated (Lion), anger with trust issues (Point and Kill). It’s an album full of verve that moves shark-like through genres and, once again, proving that Little Simz is one of the very best around.
20. Wednesday: Bleeds
Indie rock with a smattering of country is all the rage right now and the band who is doing it best is Wednesday. Bleeds is their sixth album and it comes off the back of their best, Rat Saw God. It starts anarchically. Reality TV Argument Bleeds is a blistering earworm that harks back to the grunge of Hole. Country takes over for the cutting Townies and when you reach Elderberry Wine, you’d be forgiven in thinking that you were listening to a new band. But that’s the brilliance of Wednesday, ratcheting their music up and down the loud scale depending on what a song demands.
21. Bad Bunny, Debí Tirar Más Fotos
Bad Bunny has been on an incredible run of late, releasing five albums in just six years and given he’s poised to headline 2026’s Super Bowl, his music is something that resonates with much of the world right now. His latest Debí Tirar Más Fotos is a majestic mix of the old and the new of Puerto Rico. And this is felt from the very beginning, sampling the unmistakable sound of Un verano en Nueva York. Adding big beats to this classic sets the stage for a Latino masterclass. VeLDÁ and EoO offer up a heady dose of Reggaeton, LA MuDANZA brings the salsa sass and things are turned down nicely for the ballad TURiSTA. Right now Bad Bunny is one of the biggest music stars in the world and he’s taking it all in his stride.
22. Japanese Breakfast: For Melancholy Brunettes
Four albums in and Japanese Breakfast have created another dreampop masterpiece, albeit one with a little less experimentation and a little more Jeff Bridges. Seriously, The Dude crops up to duet on Men In Bars (which is itself a cover of previous song Ballad 0) and does a pretty decent croon. The rest of the album is an intimate look at life through the lens of singer Michelle Zauner. Her fantastic lyrics touch on many of the themes her best-selling autobiography did — mainly love, loss and longing, all set to a beautiful acoustic backdrop.
23. Tyler The Creator: Don’t Tap The Glass
Tyler brings the fun with Don’t Tap The Glass, with the beats channeling Off The Wall era Michael Jackson, Rick James and Prince — sometimes in the same track. His own rapping on this record also feels nostalgic. He is definitely playing up to the macho sex-fuelled rapping of the likes of LL Cool J with a knowing nod that turns into a dance when it comes to tracks such as Ring Ring Ring. At 28 minutes, it’s a short but slick retro rush that will have you dusting off your ‘80s hip-hop collection and lacing up your Adidas.
24. Wolf Alice: The Clearing
The Clearing marks something of an about turn for Wolf Alice. Where their previous records were packed with rock’n’roll bravado, here the music shifts closer to ‘70s Americana in tone. But while their guitars are more heavenly than heavy, singer Ellie Rowsell’s lyrics still cut deep. Opener Thorns is packed with self-inflicting barbs, Just Two Girls tackles the honesty of friendship, Sofa reveals the need to embrace your primal urges now and again. Each song is a gem that still feels like Wolf Alice even if the ferocity is dialled down, proving that some things are best said in softer tones.
25. Turnstile: Never Enough
![TURNSTILE - LIGHT DESIGN [OFFICIAL VIDEO] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-4PqfyMA968/maxresdefault.jpg)
Another band to file in the category of ‘shit name, amazing music’ Turnstile have spent the last 15 years immersed in the US hardcore scene and have come out the other side with four fantastic albums, a handful of EPs and the sound of experimentation. Never Enough is their latest and it’s a momentous mishmash of styles. It begins anthemic, with the titular song Never Enough, jumps into harder territory with Sole and then slides into indie with the excellent I Care. From then on the band genre flips throughout while still retaining their rebellious roots but inching ever closer to the mainstream.
And a bonus mention (because it came out right at the end of 2024)…
Cameron Winter: Heavy Metal
2025 was Cameron Winter’s year. Not only has his band Geese created one of the best rock records of recent times, but he also started the year (well, it was officially launched December of ‘24) releasing a solo effort that showcases just what a brilliant, unique vocal he has when he’s not screaming down the mic. There are echoes of Nick Cave, Julian Casablancas and Rufus Wainwright throughout this album, which means that this is one 23 year old who is made from old stock. Nausicaä (Love Will Be Revealed) will roll around your head for days after listening to it, $0 is a piano lament that ends with “God is real” sung in what sounds like drunken hilarity, then there’s Love Tales Miles, a beautiful and blistering take on what love does to you.
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