Rock
At the sinewy core of Bleeds are Karly Hartzman’s extraordinarily varied songwriting gifts that adapt to Wednesday’s crafty synergies. They have fashioned a focused tour de force that tops their last album, 2023’s classic Rat Saw God.
Singer Owen Williams (formerly of Joanna Gruesome) is clearly going through it on The Tubs' second album, Cotton Crown, but channels it into searing, highly arresting jangle pop.
mclusky fire on all cylinders on the world is still here and so are we, an album that shows a band that may be older and wiser, but also one that is miraculously angrier and less willing to put up with nonsense.
The emotional integers of The Bats’ Corner Coming Up add up to a reserved positivity that feels hard-won but resolute, with a quietly contemplative composure. While staying strictly unsentimental, the songs seem to insist upon keeping their feet in a small but steady-flowing pool of guarded positivity.
Can you ever recapture lightning in a bottle? Pulp’s eighth album, More—the band’s first in 24 years—makes a strong case for it. The whole band sounds great, even as there is the poignant absence of longtime bassist Steve Mackey, who died in 2023.
Classic Britpop was strikingly relevant again in 2025, and Suede’s Antidepressants continues the push of the “big four” Britpop bands (including the aforementioned Pulp), revealing their post-punk roots amidst glam rock fervor.
Jazz
Featuring a tight trio of Linda May Han Oh, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Tyshawn Sorey, Strange Heavens is unashamedly rooted in the groove-oriented interplay between the agile muscularity of Oh’s bass playing and Sorey’s kinetic drum work.
Charles Lloyd’s recent resurgence stands as one of jazz’s most graceful late-career evolutions. Lloyd has shown absolute refusal to ease into the nostalgic, play-the-standards-and-cash-the-check mode that jazz’s elder statesmen often do, and Figure in Blue, a double album as dense with ideas as it is ethereal in sound, continues in that vein.
Fully embracing the range of color, texture, and dynamics made possible by an expanded orchestral lineup, with alto and tenor saxophones by Immanuel Wilkins and Brian Settles joining the original sextet on three tracks (originally composed of Patricia Brennan on vibraphone, Nick Dunston on double bass, Tomas Fujiwara on drums, Jacob Garchik on trombone, and Adam O’Farrill on trumpet), Mary Halvorson, always surprising and iconoclastic, resolutely breaks with modern jazz’s codes and patterns without ever fully leaving her aesthetic terrain on About Ghosts.
As on their 2024 debut, The Cosmic Tones Research Trio use cello, saxophone, flute, piano, percussion and their voices to slowly unfold a sequence of minimalist compositions that source ritual, traditional and indigenous world musics with melodic new age reverberations on their self-titled sophomore release.
Ami Taf Ra’s healing voice holds strength and wisdom over funky, spiritual sounds composed, arranged, and produced by her frequent collaborator, saxophonist Kamasi Washington, on The Prophet and The Madman.
Tortoise’s Touch has a much more elastic and breathable sound [than their last album, 2016’s The Catastrophist] that’s kind of meditative, occasionally grand, frequently exciting, and—every now and then—a little rough around the edges.
OVER the MOONs, where Yuhan Su leads an octet, is a dense affair, marked by striking instrumental combinations, charged rhythms, and myriad surprising details.
Electronic
FKA twigs builds a dance floor in a new dimension with Eusexua that’s populated with songs that transport and cocoon. Named after a term the U.K. artist coined to describe a feeling of extreme euphoria that can transcend human form, Eusexua oozes with sensuality.
DJ/producer/instrumentalist Djrum showcases every talent in the bank—from classical-leaning solos to all out breakbeat assaults—on Under Tangled Silence, a complete and beautiful effort.
DJ Koze’s scattered dance repertoire is prolific enough within his albums that you barely have time to notice the long space between them; the Hamburg-based producer and label head returns with Music Can Hear Us after a seven-year absence.
From its opening seconds, Tron: Ares bears the sonic hallmarks of late-period NIN: brooding electronics, serrated synths, processed noise, and a production style that prioritizes texture and mood. Tron: Ares is not merely a functional soundtrack, but a work meant to sit alongside the band’s other work, even as it navigates the practicalities of cinematic scoring.
Stereolab deliver their singular shape-shifting electronic and chanson française explorations on Instant Holograms On Metal Film, the band’s first new studio release in almost 15 years.
Warning of the dangers of corporate conformity, Snapped Ankles constantly challenge convention on Hard Times Furious Dancing, their danciest post-punk effort yet.
Classical
Paavo Järvi manages not only to coherently present the richness of Arvo Pärt’s Credo in one fell swoop, but also to capture the universal appeal of one of the most important composers of our time. An expansive musical landscape unfolds before us courtesy of the Estonian Festival Orchestra, the Estonian Male Choir, as well as the Ellerhein girls’ choir and alumnae, who do not simply perform Pärt’s music, but reveal its spiritual depth—an echo that resounds the world over, far beyond his homeland of Estonia.
Steve Reich’s Jacob’s Ladder and Traveler’s Prayer draw on biblical episodes, and in their world premiere recordings showcase long-time collaborators: Jaap van Zweden leading the New York Philharmonic in “Jacob’s Ladder,” Colin Currie Group in “Traveler’s Prayer,” and Synergy Vocals in both works.
Former Qobuzissime awardee Julius Asal returns with the even more impressive SIENA TAPES, which features works by Ravel and Christian Badzura alongside three new improvisational pieces, “Cascades I–III," written by the pianist himself. The program fits together seamlessly, evolving from what began as a 150th-anniversary tribute to Ravel into something more personal.
Baroque violinist and musical director Rachel Podger leads her ensemble Brecon Baroque through a program spotlighting a composer who still feels underrepresented today: Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, a 17th-century figure whose music pushes the boundaries of Baroque violin writing. Podger’s interpretation of these pieces is so nuanced, with confident phrasing, tempo, and dynamic shaping.
Barbara Hannigan, David Chalmin, and pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque join forces on Electric Fields, a modern classical ambient album focused on the works of women composers including Hildegard von Bingen, Barbara Strozzi, and Francesca Caccini.
Seong-Jin Cho’s light, crystalline touch feels tailor-made for Ravel’s musical universe on The Complete Solo Works—a blend of childhood nostalgia, fascination with unusual timbres, and gothic or exotic literary influences.
Hip-Hop/Rap
John Glacier’s effortlessly cool flow hovers alongside, atop and through misty layers of synths and guitar on her debut album, Like a Ribbon.
On Mercy, the second teaming of The Alchemist and Armand Hammer, there are sounds not typically associated with the producer, but the rap duo brings out his strangest and best work. Few rappers remain so in touch with where they came from once their careers peak, and few are still so locked in on their seventh LP.
Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist’s Alfredo 2 is just as gorgeous and understated as the first. Gibbs’ best work has always been with one musical auteur overseeing the whole album and Alchemist both has a style and a bent, unpredictable streak.
On A City Drowned in God’s Black Tears Infinity Knives & Brian Ennals fearlessly bounce around genres, ideas, and sounds, and at times resemble the relieved sigh of admitting how hard it is to simply live a rough life.
It’s still Little Simz’ voracious musical vocabulary—from the bicycle bell-cum-music box of “Enough” to the muted Afrobeat groove of “Lion”—that sets her apart from not just any other rapper but any other musician on Lotus.
The members of De La Soul never let solo aspirations interfere with their legacy. To that same degree, Dave’s transitioning cannot break them either on Cabin in the Sky. To Plug Two and Three, Dave is not gone; he’s just on the other side that some call the ancestral plane.
Folk/Americana
Luminescent Creatures from Japanese singer/songwriter Ichiko Aoba is a quiet, immersive and contemplative dreamworld that absolutely commands and deserves your entire consciousness.
Natalie Bergman’s latest, My Home is Not In This World, is a masterclass in beautifully winding songwriting, delicately enclosed in lushly nostalgic production.
Former Carolina Chocolate Drops bandmates Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson reunite on What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, an album of traditionals, many which they learned from their late mentor Joe Thompson. The two continue their indefatigable stewardship of not just the music of their home state but of all folk and roots music.
On Caveman Wakes Up, Friendship emulate both the underground, experimental grooves of influences like Loren Connors and Kath Bloom, and the zinger-laden writing of rock gods.
Fust‘s Big Ugly is intensely personal but also so inviting. Its anthemic, Lynyrd Skynyrd-esque opening chords identify the album as what it is: straightforward, capital-S Southern, country rock.
Brooklyn-based indie-folk quartet Florist gets lost in the small details of life, finding revelation in the pure joy of simple reverberating sounds and gently sung words on Jellywish. This is heartbreakingly smart minimalist folk, greatly rewarded by repeated listens.
Soul/Funk/R&B
If it was challenging to fit Valerie June into a comfortable genre pigeonhole on her first five albums, Owls, Omens, and Oracles makes it clear that the Memphis-based singer-songwriter intends to make that task impossible. These 14 tracks span an enormous range of tonality and texture, with nearly half finding June exploring the quieter side of her style.
Mavis Staples’ Sad and Beautiful World ... sounds entirely contemporary while also crossing musical boundaries and genres going back decades. There is true grit throughout, and so many musical choices have been made properly: song selection, which famous people play on the record and, frankly, which do not, and when there’s a banjo playing atop a saxophone and some sort of keyboard hum.
Montreal’s Yves Jarvis is the ultimate one-man band on his Polaris Prize-winning All Cylinders, which hums and purrs, but also bops and grooves.
Artists working with older “classic” musicians could be its own genre; ideally, the result is an invigorating affair. Galactic and Irma Thomas' Audience With The Queen is a mini-manifesto on how to do this kind of thing properly, and a key component is that everyone sounds like they’re having a grand old time in the studio.
9days move deftly through different influences while intently sliding into the R&B lane on African Girls Do Cry,
Now on his sixth Blood Orange LP with Essex Honey, Hynes has already well established himself with a singular vision, albeit incorporating nods and collaborators from across the spectrum of music. Hynes is also a builder of worlds, incorporating his own ideas into something slinky and very catchy.
Pop
After her grand appearances in Times Square and Madrid’s Plaza de Callao, ROSALÍA unveils her latest creation. LUX doesn’t ask for permission—it hypnotizes. This is an album ritual, meant to be heard in full from introspection to catharsis.
Kali Uchis’ effortless gifts for stunning melody, impeccable vocal technique, and writing that’s both sensitive and witty consistently place her among the leading voices in pop. The Colombian-born musician releases Sincerely just over a year after the excellent Orchídeas, and she shows no sign of slowing down.
Gelli Haha match the vibrant, fun intensity of their live performances on the incredibly creative Switcheroo, one of 2025’s best pop debuts.
Schooled in the ways of Aretha, Gladys and Roberta—not to mention Adele and Amy Winehouse—26-year-old Olivia Dean is right on time for a new neo-retro wave. Dean’s soulful alto is silky smooth, no runs or frills needed, on her second album, The Art of Loving.
English singer PinkPantheress politely introduces herself on her second mixtape, Fancy That—even though her music can already be heard all over the world—earning her attention as one of contemporary pop music’s most fascinating hitmakers. It’s hard to confine her to a single genre, given how much her influences are melded together.
Ron Sexsmith imparts a highly likable kind of unshowy but evocative, from-the-heart songwriting that develops after forty decades of recording music on Hangover Terrace, his 17th album.
Metal
Deftones are in peak condition, with singer Chino Moreno leading the way with his signature sweet, melancholic vocals, punctuated by raw screams that feel on the edge of breaking. Private Music is the latest evidence that Deftones are still on top, and in a league of their own.
Deafheaven’s Lonely People With Power is defined by the return of unleashed guitars, weaving with genuinely melancholic post-rock atmospheres.
2025 marks the year that a Deadguy recording, Near-Death Travel Services, finally matches the metalcore intensity of their long-heralded live shows.
A purposefully Lovecraftian journey, The Great Old Ones’ Kadath is the black metal record of 2025, hands down.
Spain’s Summoning Hellgates knocked their debut through the wall; Spear of Conquest is a short, pummeling experience begging for an encore.
World
With a gentler approach than his peers and collaborators, Phylipe Nines Araújo contributes a distinctive self-titled debut album showcasing both the variety and the consistency of work from a fresh generation of Brazilian songwriters.
Kwashibu Area Band’s Love Warrior’s Anthem is an undeniably stellar instrumental record, one that transforms the mundane into moments of revelatory clarity—a reminder of the power of the here and now. The seven tracks—most under four minutes (and even the longer ones don’t stretch much beyond that)—move with purpose and bail when they should.
Enji sings of others’ lives and ordinary events in a way that’s underpinned with an immense sense of pathos. Sonor is a multilingual album but understanding the languages isn’t necessary to understanding its emotional pacing.
Ambient artist KMRU compiled 17 vibrant tracks from the archives of his namesake grandfather, Joseph Kamaru—the “King of Kikuyu Benga”—to create Heavy Combination 1966 - 2007, a vital introduction to the elder Kamaru’s highlife-inspired dance music.
On Sessa’s third album, Pequena Vertigem de Amor, which the singer/songwriter describes as “a bit more nocturnal, open-ended, crooked funky,” it’s clear that the magical way his homeland’s music can be woven together to create smooth, chill textures continues to inspire.
Blues
As the last of the second generation of bluesmen still playing and making records, 89-year-old Buddy Guy is still inspired by the musical form he’s been playing all his life and pays tribute on Ain’t Done With The Blues to many of his now-passed friends and contemporaries.
Taj Mahal, 82, and Keb’ Mo’, 73, are back with Room on the Porch, a collection of mostly originals that displays both their bone-deep experience and a vitalized energy.
The blues got a literal supersized boost with Ryan Coogler’s Delta vampires hit thriller, Sinners, which was filmed in 70mm to play on IMAX screens. Its accompanying soundtrack—produced by Ludwig Göransson, who also wrote the score, and performed by cast members and guest ringers like Rhiannon Giddens, Eric Gales, Brittany Howard and Lars Ulrich—is shaped by the same respect of genre’s history and significance that imbues the movie.
There’s something clearly special about the atmosphere at Antone’s—such an infamous musical underworld in a city full of places like it. Who knows how many pints of beer and sweat have spilled over the half-century that is celebrated by the 41-track compilation 50 Years of the Blues: Antones Records.
Country
Tyler Childers’ seventh album, Snipe Hunter, is a thrill—full of fury and mischief, fun and a looseness we don’t always see from the country music rebel.
Although Margo Price doesn’t cover “Hard Headed Woman,” the King Creole song that was a big hit for Elvis Presley in 1958, on her fifth studio album of the same name, she captures the spitfire energy. She also returns to the retro-flavored country that made her famous.
Refreshingly, there is absolutely nothing crossover about Carter Faith’s songs, which can feel like an act of defiance in Nashville. She still may be figuring out exactly what her legacy will be, but her career is starting off like a thrill ride on Cherry Valley.
Kassi Valazza is able to bend words and melodies in a way that feels like she is manipulating the very air around her on From Newman Street.
Both TORRES and Julien Baker have flirted with country before, but on Send a Prayer My Way they go all the way, their way.
Flashing the pipes of a committed gospel raver, Canadian-born, New Zealand-based Tami Neilson proves why she is a leading voice in the growing subgenre of country soul singers on Neon Cowgirl.
Indie/Alternative
More than anything, Belair Lip Bombs are part of a great power-pop tradition. You can hear it and positively feel it throughout Again, especially in the swirly guitar, crashing drums and start-stop ending of “Again and Again,” which also includes glimpses of fiddle sawing away.
Auckland, New Zealand’s The Beths, who have been disarming fans with their keen blend of fuzzy power-pop, introspective vocals and deadpan banter since their 2018 debut, dig further into their existential journey on Straight Line Was a Lie.
Sharp Pins, the solo project of Kai Slater (who also fronts noise-rockers Lifeguard), wears his heart on his sleeve on Radio DDR, which is what Guided By Voices might have sounded like if Robert Pollard pitched for the Oxford University Baseball Club.
“I sing to you of the overflowing heart and the wide road,” avers Michael Beach towards the start of “The Sea,” Big Black Plume’s opening track. And he lives up to that statement throughout the album, offering a widescreen view of both his inward and outward vistas.
With her first album in seven years, Neko Case—aided by PlainsSong Chamber Orchestra—takes a big swing and scores on the largely self-produced Neon Grey Midnight Green.
Where verity den’s 2024 self-titled debut was a lone, deeply textured cloud of scuffed-up shoegaze, the Carrboro, North Carolina-based trio-turned-quartet’s sophomore effort,wet glass, is a veritable sample pack of styles; their border-crossing mission is resoundingly successful.
Reissues/Archival Releases/Compilations
In the middle of a legendary rock and roll run, Bruce Springsteen chose to slow the tempo and showcase his blue-collar credentials; Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition reveals the long-rumored electric version he eschewed.
The deluxe edition of Let It Be celebrates The Replacements’ great, long-ago leap forward by expanding the experience and capturing all the danger, passion, soul, and swagger that made them true believers in the rock ‘n’ roll dream.
While Buckingham Nicks may not approach “lost classic” status, it nonetheless still stands as a remarkable, formative work and a blueprint for the sound that would soon make Fleetwood Mac one of the most successful bands of the decade.
Having commented that she was wary of rock and roll’s direction at the time of release, it’s fascinating to hear even more ragged versions of the bloody raw songs that made Patti Smith famous on a 50th anniversary version of Horses.
Long desired by collectors and folkies, Ted Lucas’ self-titled volume of sweet folk numbers and blues ragas has seen a full reissue with bonus tracks.
Susumu Yokota’s Magic Thread was remarkable for 1998 and the delicate and subtle electro beats resonate even more with a 2025 reissue.
The Zombies’ baroque-pop, psychedelic masterpiece Odyssey and Oracle is, for the first time since its 1968 British release, available in its original mono mix—as the band meant for it to be heard.
Candy Girl, a 1975 cult classic Paris session with the Lafayette Afro Rock Band, uniquely fuses Mal Waldron’s jazzy electric piano with raw funk grooves.
Eclectic
Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer‘s second album, Different Rooms, is a discrete place of otherness and elsewhere.
M. Sage’s latest opus confidently but delicately wades between ambient and jazz, creating an unwavering textural balance.
Australia’s long-running trio The Necks continue to break through their own boundaries while delivering the overwhelmingly beautiful and eclectic jazz they are known for.
While many albums blend instrumental dexterity and electronic processing, Stephen Vitiello, Brendan Canty and Hahn Rowe’s Second stands out thanks to deeply-honed skill in both approaches.
Chicago’s Bitchin Bajas frequently blur genre lines, but on Inland See the lines seem to disappear completely on an immersive journey into psych, jazz, and ambient drone.
With contributions from Daniel Aaron, Jim Allen, Robert Baird, Juan Barrios, Lottie Brazier, Fred Cisterna, Jason Ferguson, Lena Germann, Blake Gillespie, Raphael Helfand, Sujan Hong, François Hudry, Pierre Lamy, Jeff Laughlin, Guillaume Ley, Mike McGonigal, Brice Miclet, Rian Murphy, Stéphane Ollivier, Fred Pessaro, Shelly Ridenour, Randall Roberts, Steve Silverstein, and Nitha Viraporn.
