It was a year of diversely appealing musical treasures.
Some came courtesy of brand new recording artists, who were just releasing their debut albums. Others came from longtime favorites, who have been putting out quality records for decades.
We got some cool comebacks, a number of impressive follow-up efforts and, well, basically everything in between — and from every different genre.
As 2025 gets ready to slip into the rearview mirror, and the promise of more good music to come in the new year grows ever more prescient, it’s time to look back at the new releases that we loved most this year.
Our list includes a mix of old friends — ones who are no stranger to our end-of-year roundups — and newer voices who could be entertaining us for years to come.
Here are our Top 10 Albums of 2025:
1. “Virgin,” Lorde
Lorde has done it again – delivering an outright masterpiece that shines more brightly than any other album of the year. A worthy successor to the all-time great 2013 debut “Pure Heroine” and the equally magnificent 2017 follow-up “Melodrama,” and sitting at a slightly higher perch than 2021’s fine “Solar Power,” this fourth full-length finds the New Zealand wunderkind further sharpening her already razor-like lyrical ability as she tells stories filled with personal liberation, conflicting emotions and New York City grooves.
It’s closest in spirit and sound to “Melodrama,” existing in a sleek, shadow-filled urban dreamscape as opposed to the sunny, beachy vibe of the previous album.
Lorde sounds self-assured and at peace throughout the recording, with these songs both screaming and whispering out the same kind of message/manifesto she made during her concert in Berkeley back in October:
“I have been reflecting on this tour that, in some ways, I feel that this is the first year of my career,” Lorde said to the full house of fans at the Greek Theatre. “Because I feel a new curiosity and playfulness and openness — which I am incredibly grateful to have on year 13.”
2. “Tether,” Annahstasia
The L.A.-based singer-songwriter delivers the most striking debut of 2025, one filled with fleeting moments, fragile beauty and a kind of folk music that seems both refreshingly new and utterly timeless in the same instant.
We’re using the term folk here, because it fits better than any other single label, yet this music is impossible to exactly pigeonhole. It lives at the junction of folk, soul, R&B, blues and early 20th century country, bringing to mind the likes of Nina Simone, Cassandra Wilson, Patricia Barber, Allison Russell and Tracy Chapman.
Annahstasia — who some might know for playing the role of Kendrick Lamar’s love interest in the video for the K. Dot/SZA smash “Luther” — has a deeply rich contralto singing voice, which is absolutely ideal for the hushed, restrained approach she brings to her songs. Listen that that voice just once and we’re willing to bet you’ll keep coming back for more.
3. “Moonlight Concessions,” Throwing Muses
It’s being marketed — and, in some corners, received — as a “return to form.” Yet, what are we returning from, really? Kristin Hersh’s solo output has been topnotch over the years and her Muses’ last album — 2020’s “Sun Racket” — was also great.
It could be referring to a “return to form” in terms to getting back to the band’s old sound. The problem with that, however, is that the Muses have never really sounded like this before.
What we get on “Moonlight Concessions” is a 40-plus-year band — ranking among the greatest alt-rock acts of all time — that is still on the hunt for new musical paths and adventures. And ever-amazing singer-songwriter-guitarist Hersh and her fellow sonic travelers — drummer David Narcizo and bassist Bernard Georges — find what they are looking for in different, yet no-less thrilling ways, as the trio turns down the electric-guitar-propelled snarl in favor of more subtle maneuvers built from acoustic guitar, soft percussion and even cello. They are not repeating themselves, but rather continuing to grind forward in such compelling fashions.
4. “Lux,” Rosalia
It’s a wholly impressive accomplishment, unlike anything we’ve ever heard before. Seriously. It’s hard to find any close comparison to “Lux,” a wide-ranging sonic epic — drawing inspiration from the Spaniard’s own experiences, the lives of saints Hildegard of Bingen and Olga of Kiev as well as other sources — and sung in 13 languages.
The album’s lengthy credits look, to say the least, improbable – if not downright impossible – coming across like a blend of talent from multiple projects from multiple musical genres. We’re talking the London Symphony Orchestra, indie-rock legend Bjork, flamenco great Estrella Morente, hip-hop/pop maestro Pharrell Williams, EDM talent Venetian Snares and many others.
Gliding gracefully through the mix of styles and languages — from Mandarin and Arabic to German and her native Spanish — Rosalia further stakes her claim as one of most fascinating voices in music today.
5. “More,” Pulp
“More” — the ultimate Britpop band’s first new album in 24 years — is a heartbreaking affair, yet one set to a flaming-out, last-hurrah baroque-meets-Eurodisco groove. It’s Jarvis Cocker coming to terms with aging, seeing closure as “a sunset,” and wondering what the dawn may bring.
The singer-songwriter opens his heart to listeners, but just enough to keep you interested, knowing that what lies in there — in totality — might repel instead of attract. He’s still the undisputed ringleader of this circus, but one who finally sees that the circus has already started leaving town. While past Pulp releases were about possibilities, this one feels more about missed chances.
Still, few have ever been as magnificent as Jarvis at showing us the commonplace and then twisting the lens to make us see a bigger picture.
“I scanned the menu options, I did not have a choice,” he sings as the album draws to close. “I’d like to teach the world to sing, but I do not have a voice.” He’s wrong in that regard. Jarvis still has a voice that is so worth hearing. He’s just using in ways that we’ve never really heard him do before.
6. “Let God Sort Em Out,” Clipse
Looking for another strong comeback? Check out the fourth studio outing from this Virginia Beach hip-hop duo — consisting of sibling rappers Malice and Pusha T — which hit stores 16 years after the previous outing, “Til the Casket Drops,” in 2009.
Of course, they’ve stayed busy in the interim, with Pusha T doing some great work on Kanye West’s Good Music imprint and Malice making a name for himself (and going by “No Malice”) in the Christian rap world.
In a way, the brothers Thornton pick up right where they left off, mixing bars with the kind of synergy found on the best Clipse offerings. In another, however, it feels like a whole new game — as Clipse sidesteps the bravado of the early albums in favor of vulnerability and emotional depth. The set is chock full of big-name collaborators — including John Legend, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Tyler, the Creator and Pharrell Williams, who also produced the album.
7. “Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party,” Hayley Williams
The Paramore vocalist celebrates her artistic freedom, while occasionally glancing over her shoulder at the long road she traveled to arrive at this place, on her third full-length solo outing.
There’s much joy, albeit peppered some biting bitterness, as she rolls through the 20 tunes that fill her first release since the long-awaited conclusion of the 20-year deal she signed with Atlantic Records while still a young teen.
The music is nicely diverse as Williams confidently handles a variety of subtly different styles — from pure Top 40 pop to alt-rock — with the feel of the overall set falling somewhere in between a cool playlist of individual tunes and a coherent theme album.
8. “Antidepressants,” London Suede
The second coming of London Suede – the brilliant Britpop band that is known outside of the U.S. as just Suede – continues to be just as enthralling as the first go-around.
The group’s 10th studio outing overall, and it’s fifth since reuniting in 2010, is a pure post-punk powerhouse that nicely showcases the songwriting skills of longtime members Brett Anderson, Neil Codling and Richard Oakes.
Yes, the album is a bit frontloaded, immediately grabbing listeners — and shaking them — with the formidable one-two punch combo of “Disintegrate” and “Dancing with the Europeans.” (The latter coming across like the dance-rock anthem that the Killers have been trying their whole career to make.)
Yet, there’s not a dud in the mix. Indeed, across these 11 tracks, Suede sounds like a band that could still win the highly coveted Mercury Prize — just like it did with its self-titled debut way back in 1993.
9. “King of Hearts,” Brandon Lake
Lake may just be the most popular concert attraction in the history of contemporary Christian music (CCM). Yet, he’s also no slouch on the charts — with “King of Hearts” climbing as high as No. 7 on the all-genre Billboard 200.
The reasons for success in both of those arenas are absolutely the same — energy; conviction; an ability to blend different styles of music (country, rock, soul) into a cohesive worship sound; a sense of purpose in every note of every one of his songs; and, without a doubt, fantastic songwriting.
“King of Hearts” is absolutely filled with winners, from the hardscrabble country of “Hard Fought Hallelujah” (co-written by and featuring Jelly Roll) to the finely polished worship pop of “That’s Who I Praise” and uplifting duet “I Know a Name” with gospel great CeCe Winans.
10. “Bloodless,” Samia
It’s easy to just get swept away by the sound and feel of Samia’s vocals — especially the first time you hear one of her songs, which exist in a land where the term “alt-pop” actually means something. Then there’s always that point where the lyrics sink in, and the storyline becomes a bit clearer (but never quite totally clear), and the reaction is something like … “What am I listening to?”
That’s a great moment. And it’s one that repeats itself over and over on “Bloodless,” Samia’s third full-length, which is filled with 13 tales of mystery, wonder and complexity.
It’s unclear whether we’ll ever get to the bottom of a song like “Bovine Excision” — a number that starts with “Diet Dr. Pepper, Raymond Carver” and closes with “drained, drained bloodless.” Yet, that’s what the repeat button was made for.
The next 10 (listed alphabetically):
“Better Broken,” Sarah McLachlan
“Bleeds,” Wednesday
“Child of God II,” Forrest Frank
“Dangerous Summer,” Yeat
“Greatest Gift of All,” Stryper
“Hot Shock,” Hot Wax
“I Don’t Know How But They Found Me,” Jensen McRae
“Love Chant,” The Lemonheads
“Never Enough,” Turnstile
“Reconstruction,” Lecrae
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