The 33 Best Albums of 2025 So Far
Liner notes, music videos, and vinyl variants on the best of the year at the halfway mark.
Today is the official halfway point of 2025, which means it’s time to argue over arbitrary rankings of art! That’s right: here lies my midyear roundup of the best albums so far, and I take this nonsense deadly seriously.
For the uninitiated, I do this annually. My year-end 100 Best Records lists live on as PDFs and paperbacks (shameless plug: go buy the 2023 and 2024 editions and prop them next to your turntable). But right now, we’re dealing with the present, and despite what the naysayers mutter, 2025 has delivered plenty of instant classics. You just gotta know where to look, and luckily, you’re in the right place.
As always, I track everything on my Album of the Year Leaderboard, a living, breathing, frequently-updated playlist where new releases battle for dominance. Stream it at the bottom of this list and follow along all year.
So whether you’re here to argue, discover, or just nod along in vindication, let’s settle in. The best of 2025 awaits.
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The 33 Best Albums of 2025 So Far
33. Cymande - Renascence
Get Vinyl: Coral | Black
In what may be the most surprising return this year, afro-soul icons Cymande shatter a 51-year silence with a record that slips right back into their pocket-deep grooves, turning Renascence into the spiritual successor to 1974’s Promised Heights. It’s funky, politically tuned-in, and full of warmth, like they never left the stage.
32. Tennis - Face Down in the Garden
Get Vinyl: Cobalt Blue | Sea Glass | White
One band returns as another bows out. Face Down in the Garden is Tennis’ final serve after a quietly prolific 15-year run. It’s everything they do best one last time: dreamy melodies, slinky basslines, and jazzy flourishes wrapped around Alaina Moore’s ever-lovely, late-night vocals.
31. Uwade - Florilegium
Get Vinyl: Orange Vinyl, Signed Insert | Cream
Uwade’s Florilegium—Latin for "a gathering of flowers"—lives up to its name: a radiant debut where soul, folk, and West African rhythms bloom under her luminous voice. Few first albums feel this assured, or this alive.
30. The Mars Volta - Lucro sucio; Los ojos del vacio
Get Vinyl: Black
Call me a contrarian, but Lucro Sucio; Los Ojos del Vacío might be the most misunderstood album of 2025. Critics shrugged, but I’m sold: The Mars Volta trade their usual fireworks for Latin-tinged psychedelia, smoky jazz grooves, and mini-suites that reward full immersion. The final three tracks are the highlight, blooming into a lush, sax-laced crescendo. This isn't the Volta you remember, but it might be the one you need right now.
29. Bill Fox - Resonance
Get Vinyl: Black
Cleveland enigma Bill Fox returns after a 13 year absence with Resonance, a lo-fi gem of folk-pop melodies and quietly devastating lyricism. Still as elusive as ever, he lets the songs do the talking, and they speak volumes.
28. Perfume Genius - Glory
Get Vinyl: Cobalt | Black
Blake Mills’ third production of 2025 finally sticks the landing after two misses with Japanese Breakfast and Lucy Dacus. On Glory, he frames Mike Hadreas’ voice in raw, cinematic detail, as experimental folk and haunted Americana alchemize anxiety into transcendence.
27. John Michel & Anthony James - Egotrip
Get Vinyl: N/A
I have no idea who John Michel and Anthony James are, but they just dropped perhaps the best hip-hop debut of the year. Egotrip sounds like two friends dared each other to make a classic — and then actually did it. Warm jazz rap, sharp conscious bars, and East Coast grit collide with a confidence most major-label acts couldn’t fake with a million-dollar budget.
26. Cloakroom - Story of the Egg
Get Vinyl: Green Orange Splatter | Black White Split with Splatter
Story of the Egg, Cloakroom’s fourth LP, is a dreamy, shape-shifting triumph that drifts between alt-rock grit, twangy Americana, and hazy dream-pop with ease. It carries their signature melancholy grandeur, but with a looseness that makes it feel like it was a joy to make and an even better one to play.
25. Mei Semones - Animaru
Get Vinyl: Pink Marble
If there’s a more charming debut this year than Animaru, I haven’t heard it. Mei Semones blends samba, math rock, and chamber pop with sweeping strings, bilingual lyrics, and guitar work that feels both effortless and virtuosic. It’s graceful, self-assured, and dazzling from start to finish.
24. Sam Fender - People Watching
Get Vinyl: Blue Eye Yolk | Black and White Striped | Picture Disc | Black
With Adam Granduciel (The War on Drugs) co-producing half the tracks, Sam Fender's third album soars on sprawling guitarscapes and widescreen production. The result is heartland rock with Springsteen-sized ambition and a distinctly British soul.
23. Hotline TNT - Raspberry Moon
Get Vinyl: Celestial Cardinal | Black
After landing high on my 2023 list with Cartwheel, Hotline TNT continue their hot streak with Raspberry Moon, their fuzz-drenched “next phase of New American Shoegaze.” With a full band lineup behind Will Anderson for the first time, the wall of sound hits harder. File this under 2025's most satisfying guitar record so far.
22. Hannah Cohen - Earthstar Mountain
Get Vinyl: Translucent Yellow
After six years away, Hannah Cohen returns with Earthstar Mountain, a radiant, genre-blurring record that feels like sunlight through leaves. Co-produced with partner Sam Evian at their Catskills studio, it stretches her folk roots into warm ’70s rock, dreamy pop, and subtle funk. With sticky choruses, rippling guitars, and cameos from Clairo and Sufjan Stevens, it’s a comeback worth the wait.
21. Horsegirl - Phonetics On and On
Get Vinyl: Crystal Clear | Black
Horsegirl dodge the sophomore slump with Phonetics On and On, a crisp, Cate Le Bon–produced gem that swaps their debut’s noisy scrappiness for shimmering clarity and plangent vocals (first time typing the word plangent lets goooo). This set of swooning harmonies, rich guitar layers, and earworm melodies feel timeless.
20. Ribbon Skirt - Bite Down
Get Vinyl: Cloudy Clear
Bite Down is a debut that grabs you and doesn’t let go. Fronted by Anishinaabe singer-guitarist Tashiina Buswa, Ribbon Skirt channel post-punk tension into nine sharp, urgent tracks produced by Scott Munro (Preoccupations, who also dropped a killer new album) and Marlaena Moore. Buswa’s lyrics cut deep, delivered with a swagger and presence that mark this as a breakout worth paying attention to.
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19. Jane Remover - Revengeseekerz
Get Vinyl: White | Black
Jane Remover pulls off a genre-jumping hat trick with Revengeseekerz, a glitchy, confessional, and wildly unpredictable ride through crushing techno, hyperpop, and EDM. It’s a maximalist thrill, full of sharp turns and sharper production, with Remover sounding like a whirlwind tearing through their own digital dreamscape. Catch them on the road opening for Turnstile all summer long.
18. Little Simz - Lotus
Get Vinyl: Electric Pink | Moonstone | Black
A phoenix rising from friendship betrayal and self-doubt, Lotus finds Little Simz at her most raw and refined. Over lush orchestrations and pulsing noir beats, she excoriates former allies while wrestling with her artistic identity. The stellar supporting cast (Sampha's ghostly croon, Michael Kiwanuka's soulful warmth, and Yussef Dayes' jazz percussion, plus Wretch 32 and Moses Sumney) form a constellation around her brilliance.
17. McKinley Dixon - Magic, Alive!
Get Vinyl: Orange
Chicago’s McKinley Dixon cements himself as jazz rap’s modern torchbearer with Magic, Alive!, a cinematic concept album where harps, horns, and live drums collide with poetic force. Framed as 11 short stories touched by grief, memory, and survival, each track feels urgent and alive. It’s a masterwork that honors the genre’s roots while pushing it forward.
16. Florry - Sounds Like…
Get Vinyl: Apple Red | Black
Florry's Sounds Like… is a raw, rollicking blend of alt-country and early ’70s rock, led by Francie Medosch’s vivid storytelling and a band that absolutely cooks. Fiddles, pedal steel (you know I love me some pedal steel), and fuzzed-out guitars collide into a glorious murk, delivering the most epic, heart-on-sleeve jams to come out of Philly this year. More from Philly in a moment…
15. quickly, quickly - I Heard That Noise
Get Vinyl: Frosted Coke Bottle
In Liz Pelly’s Mood Machine, we learn that Graham Jonson, aka quickly, quickly, was one of the casualties of Spotify’s shift toward AI ghost artists in their ambient playlists. I Heard That Noise is his spirited rebuttal—a charming, detail-packed record where lush instrumentation crashes into jagged guitars, especially on standouts like “Enything” (a song so dense it broke his computer). More than just surviving the algorithm, Jonson reminds us why real musicians still matter.
14. Gigi Perez - At The Beach, In Every Life
Get Vinyl: Picture Disc | Black
Gigi Perez’s self-produced debut faces the grief of losing her sister with raw power, pushing her folk roots into stormy electronics and string-streaked indie rock. From the billion-stream breakout “Sailor Song” to the wrenching swell of “Normalcy,” each track brims with poetic intensity that hit you straight in the tear ducts.
13. caroline - caroline 2
Get Vinyl: Blue (Signed) | Red | Black
On their sprawling second album, UK octet caroline push deeper into avant-folk, post-rock, and ambient collage. The appropriately titled caroline 2 is disorienting in all the right ways—an immersive, slow-blooming record that rewards your full attention.
12. Loaded Honey - Love Made Trees
Get Vinyl: Marbled
Imagine Sade covering Moon Safari at a poolside jam session: Loaded Honey’s debut floats on jazzy chords, soulful whispers, and the chemistry of two new lovers (Jungle’s J Lloyd and Lydia Kitto, seen embracing on the album art) composing in real time. The perfect summer album.
11. Larry June, 2 Chainz, The Alchemist - Life is Beautiful
Get Vinyl: Coming Soon 👀
The rap album I’ve spun the most this year is Life is Beautiful, a collab where Larry June’s effortless cool meets 2 Chainz’s boundless energy, all gliding over The Alchemist’s masterfully crafted beats; the producer remains the ultimate cheat code for elevating any rapper’s game.
Before I reveal the top 10, here’s a reminder that I send out this newsletter once a week. For those looking for up-to-the-second vinyl news, drops, and deals, follow my other project, Vinyl on Sale, the Internet’s #1 vinyl resource! Expect 5-10 tweets a day.
Now back to the list…
10. Turnstile - NEVER ENOUGH
Get Vinyl: Snow | Orange Clay | Purple | Black
NEVER ENOUGH is Turnstile’s victory lap and reinvention all at once—the sound of a band refusing to stand still after breaking through. If GLOW ON cracked the hardcore ceiling with dream-pop haze and rhythmic ambition, this one fully breaks free, fusing dancefloor bounce with pit-starting energy. Basically, if Fugazi made a record in 2025 that could soundtrack both a Taco Bell ad and a basement show, it might sound like this. The summer belongs to Turnstile.
9. Home Is Where - Hunting Season
Get Vinyl: Green, Purple, Brown | Splatter | Green
Hunting Season cements Home Is Where as one of the most thrilling, unclassifiable bands working today, doubling down on their southern-fried screamo and conceptual ambition. Across 13 songs of 13 doomed Elvis impersonators, Bea McDonald’s lyrics cut deeper than shattered glass. It’s a masterclass in turning Americana’s rot into gory punk poetry.
8. Panchiko - Ginkgo
Get Vinyl: Sweet Tart | Clear with Blue and Pink Splatter
Panchiko’s second act keeps getting more surprising and sublime. Ginkgo transforms their myth (abandoned ‘90s demos turned internet lore) into meticulous indie-rock, with Radiohead’s ghost humming through glitchy lullabies, a wild Billy Woods appearing to spit bars in the haze, and melodies that feel both intimate and infinite. It’s the kind of record that makes you marvel at how far a once-forgotten band has come.
7. Colin Miller - Losin’
Get Vinyl: Black
Colin Miller, best known as MJ Lenderman’s touring drummer, steps into the spotlight with Losin’, an unshakably human album about grief, memory, and the weight of love. Written after the loss of his close friend and father figure, and produced by Alex Farrar (Wednesday, Lenderman), the record pairs warm, lived-in instrumentation with tender, communal lyrics. Losin’ made me miss my best friend, but more than anything, it made me grateful for the time we had.
6. Friendship - Caveman Wakes Up
Get Vinyl: Black
Caveman Wakes Up is Philly band Friendship’s finest work yet, a slow-burning collection of cracked Americana where Dan Wriggins delivers surreal, sorrowful dispatches in a voice that barely rises above a whisper. With key players from 2nd Grade and Dear Life Records in the mix, the band drifts somewhere between David Berman’s wit and Jason Molina’s ache—alt-country for the quietly unraveling.
5. Benjamin Booker - LOWER
Get Vinyl: Clear | Black
Eight years after his last album, Benjamin Booker returns with LOWER, a bold reinvention that swaps blues-rock grit for grungy, beat-driven fire. With Kenny Segal (Billy Woods, Armand Hammer) behind the boards and a sharpened focus on systemic injustice, Booker channels personal trauma into raw, righteous fury. It’s the sound of an artist with nothing left to lose.
4. Saya Gray - SAYA
Get Vinyl: Clear | Black
If I’m handing out Rookie of the Year honors right now, Saya Gray’s name is etched on the trophy. SAYA is a wild, genre-resistant debut that slips between psych-folk, art-pop, and glitchy prog like it’s second nature. No two people will have the same favorite track, usually a sign you’re hearing something special.
3. Panda Bear - Sinister Grift
Get Vinyl: Curacao Blue | Black
The psych-pop alchemist delivers his sunniest, most immediate work in over a decade, trading Animal Collective’s kaleidoscopic sprawl for Beach Boys-worthy harmonies and crystalline hooks. Sinister Grift is a career highlight, proving Noah Lennox’s gift for warping nostalgia into something blissfully new.
2. Fust - Big Ugly
Get Vinyl: Black
Here’s Asheville and Alex Farrar’s latest gift to the alt-country canon. Fust’s Big Ugly blends folk and cosmic Americana with the heartfelt storytelling of Wild Pink and Trace Mountains. With a seven-member band and guests like Merce Lemon and Dave Hartley (The War on Drugs), Big Ugly is rich with steel-pedal swells, dynamic rhythms, and vivid soundscapes that’ll have you dreaming of misty Blue Ridge Mountain mornings.
1. Car Seat Headrest - The Scholars
Get Vinyl: Colored (Sold Out) | Black
No album this year has lit my brain up quite like The Scholars, Car Seat Headrest’s first record in five years and easily their boldest yet. It’s a full-blown rock opera—theatrical, messy, and gloriously over-the-top. Think Ziggy Stardust by way of American Idiot. The band sounds bigger and tighter than ever, and the record delivers both narrative sweep and immediate bangers. It’s the kind of album that begs for repeat listens and keeps giving more every time you come back.
Album of the Year Leaderboard
🎧 Stream Playlist on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube Music
Hey friends, thanks for stopping by! Let me know what your favs of 2025 are so far; comment and send some record recs my way!
Do me a solid and forward this newsletter to any music lovers in your life! 🙌
Thanks as always.
I’m super happy that we have three overlaps (all will be revealed tomorrow) and there are a few others I love, too! What a great year for music.