All ranking lists are inherently ludicrous, and taking them too seriously is a fool’s errand, but I was genuinely shocked at some of the omissions in fairly high profile lists this year. I’ll leave it to you to work out which ones I’m talking about. And on the other side of the argument, everyone losing their minds over FKA Twigs this year had me initially baffled and then increasingly irritated. She worked with Anyma, the blandest man in all of electronic music!
My list is heavily biased towards droning ambient textures, unnecessarily bleak electronica and overly sentimental, er, sentiments, occasionally punctuated by some of the shiniest, most mainstream pop currently available, but it’s the best list by far.
These are the 50 best album of 2025.
50. Great Grandpa – Patience, Moonbeam
49. Lily Allen – West End Girl
48. Nation of Language – Dance Called Memory
47. Rainy Miller – Joseph, What Have You Done?
46. Penelope Trappes – A Requiem
45. Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith – GUSH
44. Dylan Henner – Star Dream FM
43. Klein – sleep with a cane
42. Marta Fosberg – Archaeology of Intimacy
41. Gwenno – Utopia
40. Night Tapes – portals//polarities
39. Curtis Harding – Departures & Arrivals
38. Lea Sen – LEVELS
37. Florian T M Zeisig – A New Life
36. Florist – Jellywish
35. Binary Algorithims – Reminiscencias
34. Jadu Heart – POST HEAVEN
33. Marina Zispin – Now You See Me, Now You Don’t
32. Dania – Listless
31. Sandwell District – End Beginnings
30. Kathryn Mohr – Waiting Room
29. Opsin – through the wall
28. Kelly Moran – Don’t Trust Mirrors
27. Demdike Stare – To Cut & Shoot
26. Arvin Dola – O Ghost
25. jp – we’re here all the time
24. Barker – Stochastic Drift
23. Valentino Mora – Biotope
22. 36 – A Warm Static Sphere
21. Addison Rae – Addison
20. james k – Friend
19. Joanne Robertson – Blurrr
18. Dijon – Baby
17. Yagya – Vor
16. Blood Orange – Essex Honey
15. anaiis – Devotion & The Black Divine
14. Camille Schmidt – Nude #9
13. Joshua Burnside – Teeth Of Time
12. Erika De Casier – Lifetime
11. John Glacier – Like A Ribbon
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10. Voices From The Lake – Voices From The Lake II
09. Kpop Demon Hunters – Kpop Demon Hunters
08. Saya Grey – SAYA
07. OHYUNG – You Are Always On My Mind
06. XENIA REAPER – Gambling
05. Tren – Tears Of Things, Sorrows of the Universe
04. Lucy Gooch – Desert Window
03. Voice Actor – Lust 1
02. Natalie Bergman – My Home Is Not In This World
01. Maribou State – Hallucinating Love
The Predatory Wasp 