Favorite Albums of 2025
In 2025, I listened to music. A lot of music. These are my favorite collections of musics by artists from (or that I first listened to) this year. There is no specific order to the list, other than maybe in order from newest to oldest find.
Albums that came out in 2025
Albums that came out in 2025 that I love
Baby Blue - Kyle Benson
To get it out of the way first, I know Kyle Benson personally. I was a frequent actor in his short action-film YouTube videos, repeatedly being the character that ended up dead at the end. He dabbled in music a bit way back then too so it wasn't surprising to hear that he's been making music himself and I really enjoy it.
A lot of Baby Blue It reminds me a lot of Jimmy Buffet kind of care-free, beach-rock that I grew up hearing my dad play so it has that nostalgic connection for me. "O Deer God" is my personal favorite from the album, followed by "What Do You See in Me?" and "Just Watch Me". And Kyle, if you're reading this, I need you to release a CD, vinyl, or some kind of physical release of this, please. It deserves it.
All is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade - Of Monsters and Men
Of Monsters and Men (OMAM) has been one of my favorite bands since high school when they released Beneath the Skin and although their third album, FEVER DREAM released to mixed reviews from fans I appreciated the electronic-pop shift they did, even if I sometimes didn't like it.
All is Love and Pain in the Mouse Parade (a mouthful of a title, if I'm being honest) is a similar experience for me. A return to something more like Beneath the Skin with a bit of the modern stylings that FEVER DREAM used. I didn't like a lot of the songs on this album when I first heard them but as time's gone on they've grown on me a lot. "Tuna in a Can", with its weird opening verse, eventually grew to one that I would hum every so often. "The Actor", "Kamikaze", and "The Towering Skyscraper at the End of the Road" are my favorites.
ALBUM. - UNBEATABLE
It feels weird to put this on here, given that the full setlist hasn't even released yet, but it has been noteable enough to me that I think it counts. It's my list after all, I get to make (and break) the rules if I want to.
ALBUM. is a very punk rock album, something that I don't really listen to, but it has enough electronic and rock to it that I have a lot of songs to love that aren't exactly in the punk-rock genre. I'm sure there's at least one song on here you'll love but I have several. "PROPER RHYTHM" is a fun jam built on a sample with fun distortion and turntable effects, "FOREVER NOW" has a great riff between each verse that hooks in my brain every time. "WORN OUT TAPES" is a banger in a different but equally good way as "WORN OUT TAPES [tally-ho version]". Great album and look forward to more bangers in the full release later and in the game UNBEATABLE when I get around to playing it.
Albums That I Listened To In 2025
Albums that didn't come out in 2025 but that I grew to love this year.
Adventure (Deluxe) - Madeon
My apologies Madeon, I was unfamiliar with your game.
I had heard several of Madeon's songs from this album before, the first mainly being "Pay No Mind" with Passion Pit and "Finale". Finally listening to the whole album really shows the strengths of Hugo. The synth swells and chords are just immaculate and every guest vocalist/band brings something unique to their track. It makes every song feel like it could be a fun one-off single. That's not to say that the pieces without guest artists are skippable though. "OK" is a bop with its simple yet catchy vocals and "Imperium" wields so much energy that it's infectious. There are some songs here and there that I kinda forget about, like "Zephyr" and "Home", but playing the whole album on shuffle is never a bad time.
Chris Black Changed My Life - Portugal. The Man
Much of what I would put here is in my post from earlier this year about using an iPod.
The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Saint Motel
Saint Motel feels like a version of Caravan Palace that's less afraid of using modern instruments and compositions. I don't know if that makes sense but The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack has a lot of songs that I heard for the first time and wanted to replay as soon as they came to an end. I was personally expecting their to be a more clear storyline in an album titled "The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" and their might be but even if not it's been fun to come up with a story where each song lines up with a scene.
"Van Horn", "Preach", "A Good Song Never Dies", and "Snake Charmer" are so good they go into my most replayed playlists. "Slow Dance" feels a lot like a spiritual sucessor to "My Type" from saintmotelevision and "No Cares" is a strong track to end on too, with it's use of a chorus in its... well, chorus. Lots of nice songs to listen to for a fun mix of modern pop and jazz.
BOUNCE INTO THE MUSIC - Siamés
"The Wolf" is probably the one you're most familiar with and it is definitely a memorable track but there are others on the album that have stuck with me far more. "Stronger" feels like a modern cowboy track and "Used to Be" is a rocking cover of a track by Clock n' Works, which I found surprising. Turning it from a disco-inspired jam to a more high-energy rock song is an improvement in my opinion but I may very well be biased because I heard the cover first.
Conclusion(s)
Okay, I think that's it for this year. Looking back, 2025 was a very shitty year for me. In fact, it kinda started its turn for the worse at around this time last year. But even then, much like a lot of stuff in life, there are things that keep you going and looking forward to the next day. Media, like these albums, but also movies and shows all play some roll in that. I'm excited to see Part 7 of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure get animated and spent a good chunk of this year re-watching the anime with my partner in preparation for it. We've been watching the Mission Impossible movies and playing the Uncharted games too so it's also been a year of reflection on all these pieces of media and art that have had lasting impacts on me as a person.
In a year where AI generated slop and sludge has pushed itself to be more prominent in our world, I have spent the year looking back at the art I love, things made by teams of people or sometimes one singular person. I've gotten to re-experience what it is about them that I love so much. The stories of stubborn determination and unwavering resolve, the passion that drips from every shot and/or instrument, and the human spirit that reaches out from the screen, monitor, or speaker to grab at your soul and make you feel something that the five senses can't.
With Spotify Wrapped having occurred earlier this month, its gotten me thinking about how much it boils down the music-listening tastes of a year into numbers and datasets. What does a "listening age" even mean? Would I be a Zoomer because most of the music I've listened to is from the 2010s? According to Tidal, my music streamer of choice until my iPod, I listened to 388 unique artists this year. I don't think I could even name 388 artists so why should that matter to me? Does it make me seem like a more exotic listener, listening to a whole bunch of different genres and artists? No, because Nine Inch Nails topped my artists and albums for the year. I'm sure by the end of next year that'll also have a top artist that I don't feel is accurate.
Look, I've yapped a lot in the this post and if you've skimmed a bunch of it to get here I don't blame you. I really need to be more concise but I think if there's anything I've learned from the year 2025 it's this: I Want To Do Things. I want to write about my thoughts, I want to explain why I've enjoyed what I've enjoyed. No "year in review" trash is going to explain why Chris Black Changed My Life was a memorable album to me this year, even if I didn't listen to a lot of it in the last month or so. Those stories are for me to tell and for me to share.
There's something I read talking about how it's very easy to tell when a writer has AI generated their story or not. The writer of an AI generated work won't be able to describe why they wrote what they wrote. They might know the plot and the events but never the characters or scenes outside of that. A writer who wrote the story themselves will yap about why the characters do what they do, their characterization, and the process that went into deciding those events.
Be passionate about what you make and being a person. That is all. See you next year.