We have survived 2025 (well, almost). If you’re like me, good music helped you get through it. Whether the albums lifted your spirits, or were a companion to your sadness. Maybe they ignited a righteous anger in you, or just helped you forget about your problems and escape to your happy place. For me, these albums all played a role in keeping me sane and (usually) smiling throughout this crazy year.
There were artists I love showing they still have it, and others returning to form (or just returning to music after a long absence). Of course this is all subjective, but if you see an album on here you’ve never heard of – give it a spin in our Top Albums of 2025 Playlist and see what you think.
*Disclaimer: Since this is posted in December, I count Dec 2024 releases in with this year, and Dec 2025 releases will be eligible for 2026.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
The 502’s – Easy Street
Another Damn Disappointment (A.D.D.) – Bedlam
Hoist the Colors – Dear Wanderlust
Mavis Staples – Sad and Beautiful World
Ryan Adams – Blackhole
Trestles – SALT
TOP 40 ALBUMS OF 2025:
40. The Kasambwe Brothers – The Kasambwe Brothers
Though they have been playing together for 40 years, this is the first studio album for the Malawian trio. Filled with rich melodies and cheerful rhythms that will easily lift your spirits, big thanks to MASS MoCa for helping bring this music to the world.
39. David Gray – Dear Life
The veteran English songwriter remains a consistent master at thoughtful, piano-driven compositions that cover expansive lyrical ground. There’s a poetry to the relationships drama in “Plus & Minus”, and the arrangement and the instrumentation alone on “Eyes Made Rain” touches the heart, while Gray’s precise, subdued vocal performance is a prime example of how to use restraint. This is pop for adults, and it doesn’t miss a note.
38. The Mars Volta – Lucro sucio; Los ojos del vacío
Like the wind, one never knows which way The Mars Volta are going to blow (musically speaking). On their latest album, the band take a mellower, more melodic approach to their rock-meets-jazz-meets-Latin music fusion, and the resulting songs like “Mictlan” and “Cue the Sun” are beautiful, stunning results.
37. Counting Crows – Butter Miracle, The Complete Sweets!
Originally just an EP, Adam Duritz and company expanded their Butter Miracle concept into a full-on opus, featuring more top-notch lyrical storytelling (“Spaceman in Tulsa”), as well as some top shelf rock songs (“Boxcar”).
36. Panda Bear – Sinister Grift
While we may have lost the brilliant Brian Wilson this last year, his legacy lives on in a number of artists, including Panda Bear. The sweet, drifting melodies and sunny, layered harmonies that Wilson crafted so well can be heard throughout Sinister Grift on tracks like the modern doo-wop of “The Defense” or the breezy surf-pop number “Praise”.
35. The Pomps – Partial Eclipse of The Pomps
This melodic ska pop-punk band stands out from the pack with their clever, insightful looks at wealth disparity (“That’s Not a House”, “New American Hotel”) that they manage to weave into bouncy earworms that will easily get stuck in your brain.
34. Coheed and Cambria – The Father of Make Believe
The prog-emo pioneers are still as bombastic and out-there as ever, mixing their sci-fi storytelling with stadium-rock hooks (“Goodbye, Sunshine”, “Someone Who Can”) and breathtaking technical abilities (“Searching for Tomorrow”). If you’re already a fan of the band, this album will do nothing to dissuade you from believing they’re one of the best bands out there.
33. Jason Isbell – Foxes in the Snow
Isbell goes fully solo for this album, letting his inner-folkie come out on songs like the album’s title track. His songwriting is superb as always, hitting gorgeous emotional notes on songs like “Gravelweed.”
32. Hayley Williams – Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party
On her latest solo outing, ‘Ms. Paramore‘ finds the perfect balance between her artistic leanings and pop songwriting, writing lovelorn songs detailing a break-up that rightly got the internet buzzing. What the buzz should focus on is how undeniably catchy tracks like “Parachute” or the title track are. There’s never been any doubt that Williams is a rock star, but her songwriting shines brighter than ever here.
31. IC1s – What Took You So Long?
These British punk rock vets aren’t household names in the states, but if any album could change that, it’s their latest. Songs like “Armada” stand-out with lyrical hooks made to be festival sing-alongs (“If loose lips sink ships, then I’m taking down the whole armada”), and “Levitate” is the kind of anthem that helped Oasis conquer stadiums.
30. Hot Mulligan – The Sound a Body Makes When It’s Still
The emo punks celebrated their new album with one of their biggest tours ever this year. Having epic new bangers like “And a Big Load” and “It Smells Like Fudge Axe In Here”, full of their trademark angular riffs and throat-shredding vocals, certainly played a part in filling those rooms. Though I’m not sure there’s forgiveness for song-titles like “Monica Lewinskibidi” lol.
29. Public Enemy – Black Sky Over the Projects: Apartment 2025
There’s no better time for a new Public Enemy album than when the country has gone to sh*t. Tackling everything from the political climate and gun epidemic (“March Madness”) to AI and the stumbling economy (the guitar-driven “Siick”). Chuck D, Flavor Flav and company remain a powerful voice of protest (and one we shouldn’t take for granted).
28. Matt Nathanson – King of (Un)Simple
The Boston singer-songwriter makes writing heartfelt, tongue-in-cheek tunes seem effortless. Whether nostalgia for simpler times (“Map at the Mall”) or finding common ground (“Whitney Houston’s National Anthem”), Nathanson always has a unique insight into the world and relationships that make his songs stand out in the crowd. He even manages to turn a metaphor about vampires and toxic relationships into a swooning anthem that tugs at the heartstrings.
27. West Riviera – West Riviera
Hailing from the riviera of western Liguria, Italy, this instrumental band gives an Italian flavor to their blend of soul-funk, and their debut album is just absolute, danceable joy. Aside from minimal shouted hooks (“Gianni!”), the majority of the album is simply the band laying down titillating guitars, shuffling beats and exuberant horns that get the soul stirring, no matter what language you speak.
26. Yellowcard – Better Days
I don’t think anyone, including the band themselves, could have imagined the comeback they had in 2025. Their new, Travis Barker-produced album was their strongest in years, featuring big, radio-smash hooks (“Better Days”), devastating emotional honesty (“honestly I” “Bedroom Posters”), and a POP-punk duet with Avril Lavigne that hit the millennial sweet spot. Now if the band could just finally get the Underdog EP and “Gifts and Curses” up on streaming services, there would be nothing YC fans have missing from their lives now that the band is back in action.
25. Bon Iver – Sable, fABLE
While the album’s opening three songs were already one of my Top EPs of 2024, the nine song extension of that EP into the full album Sable, fABLE thankfully avoided some of the experimental weirdness of Bon Iver‘s previous album. New tracks like “Everything is Peaceful Love” flowed like smooth, futuristic yacht rock, and his duet with Danielle Haim has the warmth and breadth of his best earlier work.
24. The K’s – Pretty on the Internet
The new school Britpop band’s sophomore album was just as pumped full of massive choruses and soaring melodies as their excellent debut. There’s enough energy in songs like “The Bends (Here We Go Again)” to power the whole United Kingdom, and enough heart in “Heleon, Oh I” to make their stiff upper lips quiver.
23. Ghost – Skeletá
The band’s first #1 on the Billboard album charts, Skeletá has all the drama and pomp one expects from one of the biggest break-out rock bands of the last five years. Singles like “Lachryma” bring heavy riffs and macabre lyrics, and enhances them with an 80’s goth pop sheen. The band writes epic songs (“Cenotaph” gallops along with sky-scraping guitar solos), and it’s likely why they’re playing huge venues and drawing massive crowds. This album is only going to help both of those things grow.
22. De’Wayne – June
If you ready my review, you would know I found A LOT to love about the genre-defying artist’s latest album. From the bombastic funk-pop of “June” to the gospel rock of “Highway Robbery”, De’Wayne is working on all cylinders. And the way he brings to light the complex nature of his relationship with his flawed father on “Sunday” shows a depth that so few artists are able to reach.
21. Ben Nichols – In the Heart of the Mountain
I am, and always will be, a sucker for the voice and songwriting of Lucero‘s Ben Nichols. On his debut full-length album, Nichol’s transports us into his dark folk stories with a humble elegance. On “Fading Back into the Night”, he tries to talk down a lover on the edge of making potentially disastrous life choice, while on “The Darkness Sings”, a lost soul leaves in the night, abandoning his lover. No one brings to life the tales of loners, losers and lovers like Nichols, and it’s hurts that more folks haven’t heard this album. But as Nichols’ so beautifully sings, “I don’t know if God has a plan, but I’m sure the Devil does”.
20. Craig Finn – Always Been
Much like his peer Ben Nichols (above), The Hold Steady‘s Craig Finn is a songwriter’s songwriter, weaving together stories about outcasts and the downtrodden looking for a leg up in ways that surprise and move (for this album, he follows the narrative of a criminal trying out life as a priest, and falling out from the vocation). Sometimes he takes these story songs in upbeat punk directions (Ala the great “People of Substance”), other times into synthy 80’s pop rock (“A Man Needs a Vocation”) or spare folk tracks (“Clayton”). Whichever route, the journey is always exquisite.
19. Winona Fighter – My Apologies to the Chef
One of the most fun rock records of the year, Winona Fighter bring big riffs and tongue-in-cheek lyricism to their songs that are perfect for getting a crowd riled up. “Attention” is a perfect, bouncy singalong, and the wicked “You Look Like a Drunk Phoebe Bridgers” is destined to be a scene kid go-to kiss-off track for years to come.
18. The Jellybricks – Dreaming in Stereo
2025 started off strong with this masterful power pop record. Pennsylvania’s The Jellybrick‘s made catchy bops like “Monday’s Never” sounds like lost nuggets from the 70’s. The hooks seem to almost come effortlessly from the band, but the album isn’t just fluff. There’s a topical bite in songs like “Age of Stupid” which shows the punk heart bleeding through the band’s sugary pop glaze.
17. The Hives – The Hives Forever Forever The Hives
It’s a Hives record. And a very very good one. What else do you need to know? Maybe that the title track is one of the most ridiculous and ridiculously catchy songs that band has ever written. Pure stupid rock n’ roll for a better, brighter world. Forever The Hives!
16. The Beths – Straight Line Was a Lie
The Beths had already proven they could write churning little nuggets of shrewd indie rock in the past, and on their latest album, they managed to do it better. The title track and “Metal” overflow with syrupy hooks and buzzy guitars, but the true stand-out on the album is the achingly vulnerable “Mother, Pray For Me”.
15. MGK – Lost Americana
While Machine Gun Kelly remains as divisive a star as ever, he’s become one of the savviest musical polyglots in the business. While there are still nimble rap songs and insanely addictive pop-punk numbers (“Vampire Diaries”), he’s now writing perfectly precise pop (“Cliche”) and acoustic jangles (“miss sunshine”) while getting as metaphorically naked in his lyrics as he ever has (“treading water”). Even the haters are going to have trouble going after him for this one.
14. Josh Ritter – I Believe In You, My Honeydew
It’s hard not to listen to the opening track “You Won’t Dig My Grave” on Josh Ritter‘s excellent album, and not hear it as a magnanimous “f*** you” to 2025. Ritter writes so well about survivors – those who are surviving the trials and tribulations of life, or just the pain of lost love (“Truth is a Dimension (Both Invisible and Blinding)” is a wonderful “stoner’s revelation of the universe masking heartache” epic). Most importantly, Ritter’s writing manages to give hope to his listeners that they will survive whatever it is they are facing, and will live again to continue their wild ways.
13. Motion City Soundtrack – The Same Old Wasted Wonderful World
It was kind of a shock that Motion City Soundtrack hadn’t released an album in a decade, but they returned this year sounding as if no time had passed. Their melodic sensibilities are still outstanding (“You Know Who the Fuck We Are”) as are the way they take their lyrical narratives in unexpected directions (“She is Afraid”). Whether bouncy pop-punk numbers (“Particle Physics”) or pensive emo (“Your Days are Numbered”), MCS still do it and do it oh so well.
12. Gigi Perez – At the Beach, In Every Life
Most artists that go viral on TikTok are flash-in-the-pans. Gigi Perez is the real deal. The singer-songwriter broke HUGE this year with the lovely “Sailor Song” and excellent “Fable”, but her entire debut album is filled with poetic musings and confessional gems that are destined to soundtrack the lives of young people figuring out life and love for years to come.
11. Petey USA – The Yips
Certain writers just have such a unique voice, both vocally, and in how they express themselves. Petey USA is one of those writers. Whether he’s describing a vacuous guy a friend of his is falling for, or having an existential crisis when facing a version of himself, you feel like you get to know who Petey is in his songs, even if he’s never actually singing about himself. That he also gets these songs stuck in your head and that they actually make you think about the universe and your place in it, just says more about how great his writing and this album is.
10. Sports Team – Boys These Days
It was a great year for UK rock acts (and not just because Oasis finally toured again). Raucous British band Sports Team came out with the best album of their career. The album was chock full of propulsive, fist-pumping songs to light up a pub night. The 80’s sax line on opener “I’m in Love (Subaru)” adds a smoothness to the songs grooving rhythm, while “Condensation” turns up the funk and attitude to raise your pints to. Yet, when they wanted to soften things up, they dropped a song like “Maybe When We’re 30”, a mid-tempo tune about giving into the pressure of living a normal, boring life and growing old. The way they underscore their spite for that life with cheeky British humor in lines like “If we make it to our 80’s, we can lie out in the nude and look through the obituaries for people that we’re rude” shows the multifaceted levels at which they’re writing.
9. Adult Leisure – The Things You Don’t Know Yet
Another UK rock band, but while Sports Team specializes in energetic romps, Adult Leisure are masters of yearning. The best example can be heard on “Kiss Me Like You Miss Her”, a sterling slice of synth pop full of longing and passion. Moody, new wave guitars wash over “Borderline”, with the vocals conveying a quiet urgency that draws you in. No matter how much sadness and heartache melts into these songs, you still will find your feet moving to the enticing rhythms. “Dancing Don’t Feels Right” will feel perfectly right on the dance floor.
8. Dave Hause – …and the Mermaid
“Better bury me standing, my whole life’s been on my knees. We’ll be laughing in the ashes of the mushroom cloud debris” Dave Hause sings on his exhilarating anthem “Look Alive”, and it sounds like a mission statement for the album. Whether singing about himself, or characters (“Cellmates”), Hause is always holding out hope for a better day for them. And even if that better day doesn’t seem possible, then his narrators will “go down swinging”, and do so to the tune of Springsteen-sized rockers meant to be shouted at the top of their lungs. While there’s certainly some nostalgia in these tunes, there’s also a sense of immediacy on songs like “Enough Hope”, which reflect our current sinking society all too well.
7. Inspection 12 – Are We There Yet?!…
Of all of 2025’s hyped-up pop-punk reunions and returns, the most surprising (and sadly least-discussed) was the comeback of late 90’s group Inspection 12. This band was underground even during the heyday of the early 2000’s pop-punk boom, and yet they’ve managed to survive, and sound better than ever. There’s a running theme of finding your place on the album, that works perfectly for a band likely now in their 40’s. And the songs sound mature, with simple, melodic hooks backed by sturdy vocals. They’ve also grown as musicians, ripping on guitar in the title track, and taking on more complex rhythms on songs like the wonderfully upbeat “Almost There”. Someone tell the band “You’re there”, cause they’ve finally graduated to pop-punk elder statesmen.
6. Van Morrison – Remembering Now
Is it annoying that Van Morrison mostly plays new music live and avoids many of his classic hits? Absolutely. But when the new music is as good as it is on Remembering Now, it’s at least not so bad. In fact, this latest album from the famed Irish bard is his best in years, filled with the kind of sweet, soulful folk rock that turned him into a star. “Stomping Ground” is mellow, musically picaresque look back at his past, and Van pays tribute to hero Ray Charles on the sincere “If it Wasn’t For Ray”. “Stretching Out” may stretch out for over eight minutes, but every minute is a beaut. And to top it off, the album contains Van’s joyful 2021 Oscar nominated song, “Down for Joy”.
5. Jack Van Cleaf – JVC
One of my favorite discoveries this year was a young San Diegan Americana artist with a knack for threading the needle between country and rock, humor and pathos. While the album first got my attention thanks to including a new version of his older song “Rattlesnake” that brought Zach Bryan on for a verse, the new songs here were just as great. “Using You” was a clever, country crooner comparing love to addiction, and the tongue-twisting “Green” is a catchy alt rock number that would trip up Michael Stipe during karaoke. And the album’s Deluxe Edition added in some more goodness, such as the contemplative “Remember Katrina?”, that perfectly encapsulates the fears so many from his generation have been living with the last decade.
4. Hotel Mira – Pity Party
Moving to Los Angeles seems to have had a very positive effect on Hotel Mira frontman Charlie Kerr, as the writing on his band’s latest album is a level-up in all regards. The WuTang Clan-referencing single “Making Progress” was the first taste from it, and it was one of the most infectious tracks the band had ever written (and of the year). Then they released the subtly unsubtle “America’s Favourite Pastime” (humorously still spelling “Favourite” in the Canadian fashion), which rocked harder than anything that had come before it from the band. And when the rest of the album was finally released, filled with slick, vibrant, vivacious rock bops, it was clear this was the album the band was destined to make. There’s a good reason the album’s cover puts emphasis on the “Party” part of the title – this is a record you can throw on at one and know the energy will fit right in.
3. Elton John & Brandi Carlile – Who Believes in Angels?
Elton John may have retired from touring, but he’s far, far from done with music. And thank goodness for that. Teaming up with kindred spirit Brandie Carlile, the two released one of the year’s best rock albums. Both artists sound energized, paying tribute in both lyrics and music to the true King of Rock n’ Roll in “Little Richard’s Bible”, and the two duet beautifully on the album’s title track. “Swing For the Fences” is a shimmering heartland rocker that emanates feel-good vibes. While John is clearly not going anywhere soon, his closer “When This Old World is Done With Me” feels like the perfect farewell for when he finally decides to hang up his sparkling jackets and close the piano lid for the last time. Hopefully that won’t be for a while, and with a creative partner like Brandi Carlile pushing him further with her own great songwriting, the world won’t be done with him for years to come.
2. Ruston Kelly – Pale, Through the Window
Kelly’s last albums were his post-addiction and post-divorce albums, filled with songs about facing demons, facing one’s self, processing, healing, making amends and forgiveness. Pale, Through the Window is an album for a man who has survived, come out the other side of two difficult periods, found love and found happiness. And it’s proof that you don’t have to be suffering or miserable to write great music. Kelly sounds refreshed and inspired throughout this collection. On the driving “Wayside”, Kelly is ready to leave his baggage behind and accept the love he’s found, and he’s never sounded happier than he does on “Waiting to Love You” and “Pickleball”. While there are still some tear-wrenching moments here (“Half Past Three”), there are no stories without pain and challenges. But for Kelly, this album is a journey with a happy ending, as he ventures out into the “Great Wide Open” and goes “All In” on a better future. This album is proof that anyone can make it through the darkest times, and find a second chance at happiness.
1. Sam Fender – People Watching
From his very first album, Sam Fender has been ahead of the pack. It’s not just that he knows how to write gigantic, sing-along anthems that carry the lineage of his idols (Bruce Springsteen clearly being a huge one). It’s that he’s also an incredible, insightful storyteller, a fearless protestor, and empathetic viewer of the world. And all of these characteristics shine through on his third album, People Watching. The album’s title track is a stunner – a cathartic-sounding anthem disguising lyrics about grief, loss and the harshest realities of the world. The sprawling soliloquy “Wild Long Lie” traces a struggle with addiction, and he draws on classic balladry for the ending stand-off with mortality “Remember My Name”. And while many artist’s Deluxe Editions feel like an attempt at reviving sales, Fender packed his with so many extra new gems, it could have been an album of its own. On “Tyrant”, he wails against the dictators that have sprouted up throughout the world, while he gets some piano help from mentor Elton John on the lovely “Talk to You”. While he may not have conquered the U.S. as much as he has England, Sam Fender is batting three for three, and is destined to be one of the great rock stars of the 21st century. He is a person to watch (and definitely to listen to).
**
If you want to dive into all of these albums, you’re in luck. You can find them all here in our Top Albums of 2025 Playlist.
The Indy Review 