The Best Albums of 2025 (So Far)
Top 20 Picks from January–June
Here are my top 20 albums of 2025 so far — selected from 123 releases, with 66 rated and ranked. It’s been a rich and varied six months, full of surprises, comebacks, slow-burners, and instant obsessions.
Of course, this list is a snapshot — half the year still to come, and plenty of time for new favourites (and slow growers) to shake things up. Big-hitters on the horizon include new albums from Allo Darlin’, Wet Leg, Lana Del Rey, Wolf Alice, Big Thief, Suede, Baxter Dury, Wednesday, The Divine Comedy, and Sprints.
Enjoy listening… and disagreeing.
Sharon Van Etten – Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory
A raw, luminous collaboration that sees Van Etten dissect emotional memory with forensic intensity. Sparse, haunted arrangements give her voice space to break and bloom beautifully.
Heartworms – Glutton For Punishment
Surging post-punk with teeth. Jojo Orme's intense delivery rides razor-wire guitars and industrial electronics, turning alienation into art that’s both stylish and searing.
Manic Street Preachers – Critical Thinking
Righteous and reflective. The Manics sound invigorated again, offering widescreen melodies and bruised political commentary that feels both timeless and sharply of this moment.
Lael Neale – Altogether Stranger
An eerie and elegant dream sequence. Neale’s latest is stark yet affecting — field recordings, ghostly keyboards, and her unmistakable voice create something sacred and strange.
Craig Finn – Always Been
Finn continues to mine American mythos with literary flair. A quieter, warmer effort filled with reckoning, regret, and hard-won empathy. His storytelling just gets sharper.
Alan Sparhawk – Alan Sparhawk With Trampled by Turtles
The Low frontman finds new gravity in acoustic textures. Bleak but beautiful, this set leans into stillness while capturing grief, grace, and glimmers of light.
Doves – Constellations For The Lonely
Melancholic, majestic, and deeply textured. Doves return with a cosmic balm of chiming guitars and widescreen sorrow.
Hamilton Leithauser – This Side Of The Island
Leithauser blends chamber folk and coastal Americana, evoking longing and lost connections with cinematic flair.
Florry – Sounds Like…
Rough-edged charm and alt-country attitude. Florry keeps it loose, loud, and proudly DIY, crafting heartfelt songs with twang, fuzz, and unapologetic grit.
Divorce – Drive To Goldenhammer
Confessional and chaotic, this debut veers between irony and intensity. Divorce meld warped pop hooks with lyrical sharpness.
Pulp – More
A stunning return. Pulp meditate on middle age, memory, and desire with wit and wistfulness.
Deep Sea Diver – Billboard Heart
Electric, energetic indie rock with emotional bite. Jessica Dobson’s voice soars over intricate riffs and tight grooves.
Sparks – MAD!
Still weird, still brilliant. Sparks remain pop’s most theatrical provocateurs, mixing opera, synths, and satire into a deliriously playful set.
Van Morrison – Remembering Now
A surprising late-career triumph. Morrison drops the grumpiness and embraces soulful warmth, with arrangements that echo his classics and lyrics that reach for something kinder.
Peter Doherty – Felt Better Alive
A quietly redemptive set from the Libertines’ poet laureate. Rustic and reflective, it leans into longing and memory with a delicate touch and renewed focus.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Phantom Island
Another bold detour. Jazz fusion meets psych storytelling in a sprawling concept suite.
Spellling – Portrait Of My Heart
Otherworldly torch songs filtered through art-pop surrealism. Spellling conjures theatrical grandeur with warped synths, operatic vocals, and baroque ambition.
Matt Berninger – Get Sunk
The National frontman leans into noir moods and faded glamour. A cinematic, slow-burning album of inner collapse and clinging hope.
Sunflower Bean – Mortal Primetime
A sleek and angsty pivot into synth-laced pop. Less swagger, more self-doubt, but still sharp.
Patrick Wolf – Crying The Neck
Wolf’s return feels both ancient and futuristic — a slow-burning suite of personal myth, rich textures, and vulnerable grandeur.