2025’s list of top albums has
more than a few repeat visitors. My blogging habits may be inconsistent, but my
taste apparently is. Five of this year’s entries are from female solo artists,
two from male solo artists, and three from bands. Countries represented include
the United States, England, and Iceland. For the first time (in such an illustrious
history of doing this), bands comprise my top three picks of the year. Not surprising,
many artists used their platforms to explore the collective cultural anxieties of
our time and express political opinions—even those whose more obvious intent
was to make us dance. It made for an interesting year, lyrically speaking.
This year, I reverted back to the
older format of commentary/capsule reviews of each entry, including what I feel
are the top three tracks on each album. To freshen up the proceedings, this
year I included the month of release and a one-word adjective to describe each
album, which proved more challenging than you’d think.
With ears carefully trained
toward the sounds of 2026’s first great albums, here is my list of the top ten
albums from 2025, in countdown order:
10 - Here For It All
Mariah Carey
Released: September 2025
One Adjective to Best Describe: Authentic
On her 16th album—her first
in seven years—the incomparable Carey largely stays in the lane she’s carved
out for herself with this sophisticated collection of impeccably well-written
R&B. And while the story here could be how slickly produced and cohesive
the album sounds (which is does), the real discovery here is how honest Carey
is with showing us the condition of her vocals, now a slightly more weathered
instrument after decades of powerhouse notes, whisper-tones, and seamlessly creamy,
luscious vocals. It’s a natural progression for any singer—and kudos to Carey
for sharing a more realistic portraiture of where she is now as a singer. Instead
of working around her limitations, she wisely leans into them, embracing the
occasional hoarseness, flirting with alternate keys, and projecting more from
her chest. Arguably, while her voice may not have the bombast that it did in
her 90’s heydays, these vocal imperfections have added character and depth to
her songs.
Top Three Tracks:
“My Love”
“Here For It All”
“Confetti & Champagne”
9 - Better Broken
Sarah McLachlan
Released: September 2025
One Adjective to Best Describe: Resonant
McLachlan, the consummate tugger
of heartstrings, returns after almost a decade with a beautifully crafted album
that reminds us that she is also one of pop music’s foremost poets. Better
Broken finds the three-time Grammy winner confronting global anxieties with
a slightly weathered—but unwavering—voice that reflects the experiential
insight of an imperfect fellow traveler, a survivor surveying the damage we
both suffer and cause in our personal and shared lives. No one does easy
listening and melodious ballads better than McLachlan—Better Broken
reminds us of that.
Top Three Tracks:
“Better Broken”
“Only Human”
“Gravity”
8 - Flux
Alison Goldfrapp
Released: August 2025
One Adjective to Best Describe: Ethereal
The vocalist of English
electronic music duo Goldfrapp steps forward with her second solo album, a
synth-heavy pop effort that finds her awash in shimmery (largely) midtempo grooves.
Thematically, much of Flux finds Goldfrapp looking up at the sky,
contemplative and speculating. The musical result is a dreamlike collection of
muted throbs and shape-shifting ambient elegance set against Goldfrapp’s ethereal vocals. Welcome to the musical comfort zone.
Top Three Tracks:
“UltraSky”
“Reverberotic”
“Play It (Shine Like a Nova Star)”
7 - Closer
Kim Wilde
Released: January 2025
One Adjective to Best Describe: Consistent
The venerable 80’s pop-rocker
started off the year with a compulsively listenable collection of ten tracks that
sounds simultaneously fresh and wistfully nostalgic. Fifteen albums in and
Wilde sounds confident is both her voice and material she’s offering here—a
mixture of pop, rock, ballads, and dancefloor bangers. The synth and new wave
influences that marked the earlier hits that defined her—like “Kids in America”
and “You Came” and “Another Step (Closer to You)”—are all present and accounted
for. This album effortlessly bridges the span of years from Wilde’s beginnings
to where she finds herself at the age of 64.
Top Three Tracks:
“Stones and Bones”
“Lighthouse”
“Love Is Love”
6 - Mayhem
Lady Gaga
Released: March 2025
One Adjective to Best Describe: Propulsive
Lady Gaga gives fans a big ‘ole
wink with the oxymoronic title of her seventh studio album, which is decidedly
less chaotic cacophony and more calculated euphonious symmetry. Mayhem
finds Lady G committing to the sleek, propulsive dance beats and over-the-top
excess that made her a star in the first place. Self-referentiality is a key
ingredient on most the 14 tracks on display here. Mayhem is a
deliciously overstuffed exercise in musical maximalism, with Gaga’s formidable vocals
keeping pace (and volume) with the sonic walls of controlled anarchism on each
track.
Top Three Tracks:
“LoveDrug”
“Disease”
“Vanish into You”
5 - Ten Crowns
Andy Bell
Released: May 2025
One Adjective to Best Describe: Contagious
The venerable Erasure frontman
steps out on his own for the first time since 2010’s Non-Stop with this Dave
Audé co-produced collection of infectious EDM and Eurodisco tracks. The energy
is high, the mood buoyant, the lyrics sharp—biting even at times—on this third
solo effort. Ten Crowns is a toe-tapping club-centric pop confection
with a gospel ribbon threaded through the glitter-infused celebration of
survival and queer resilience at the album’s heart. Bell, at 61, is in fine
voice and delivers all the danceable drama here.
Top Three Tracks:
“Heart’s a Liar (with Debbie Harry)
“Lies So Deep” (featuring Sarah Potenza)
“Dawn of Heaven’s Gate”
4 - I Barely Know Her
Sombr
Released: August 2025
One Adjective to Best Describe: Virtuoso
Buoyed by this 20-year-old
wunderkind’s rockstar confidence, I Barely Know Her is easily the best
debut album of the year. The native New Yorker crafts an infectious, reverb-laden
collection of ten songs about yearning that’s musically set against a lo-fi wall
of dreamlike melodrama, built on lush harmonies, deep bassline grooves, and percussive
stabs of 80’s synths. Sombr (real name Shane Boose) is the real deal, that rare
talent whose future longevity is unmistakable the first time you experience his
music.
Top Three Tracks:
“12 to 12”
“back to friend”
“canal street”
3 - Everybody Scream
Florence + The Machine
Released: August 2025
One Adjective to Best Describe: Theatrical
Florence Welch and her Machine
returned with their sixth studio album, an enchanting 12-track sonic scream
that cements their place as one of the most musically unique bands in rock
history. Center stage—wisely and as always—is Welch’s exceptional vocal prowess,
which is paired on this effort with feminist themes and lyrics that blend
folklore and mysticism. The result is a captivating, theatrical experience with
gothic undertones.
Top Three Tracks:
“Everybody Scream”
“The Old Religion”
“You Can Have It All”
2 - Let All That We Imagine Be the Light
Garbage
Released: May 2025
One Adjective to Best Describe: Bombastic
The venerable rock outfit
returned with its eighth studio album following its superb No Gods No
Masters set in 2021. This stellar collection of melody-driven
grunge-pop finds frontwoman Shirley Manson and company searching for hope and
resilience in turbulent times with their characteristic defiance intact.
They’re a band that’s come into its own with few fucks to give. The result is a
more introspective, relaxed effort that harkens back to its 1995 self-titled
debut. Sonic adventurism that’s as raucous as it is fun.
Top Three Tracks:
“Chinese Fire Horse”
“R U Happy Now”
“Sisyphus”
1 - All is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade
Of Monsters and Men
Released: October 2025
One Adjective to Best Describe: Exquisite
The Icelandic indie-folk rock
band made a welcome return this year with its first full-length offering since
2019’s Fever Dream. Opting for more introspective storytelling here, the
album is interfused with thought-provoking, poetic metaphors and images drawn from
the unspoken weight of the everyday. Musically, the band has fused its earlier signature
sweeping choruses and layered harmonies with the subtle electronic texturing of
synths and heavier percussion. The result is simply divine—easily one of the
most gorgeous collections of songs I’ve ever heard.
Top Three Tracks:
“Television Love”
“The Actor”
“Fruit Bat”
Honorable Mentions (in
no particular order):
The Life of a Showgirl
Taylor Swift
A Matter of Time
Laufey
Perimenopop
Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Duets Special
Chrissie Hynde
Period
Kesha
Belinda Carlisle
Man’s Best Friend
Sabrina Carpenter
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