Doves // Constellations For The Lonely
After a tumultuous time for Doves, having to cancel tour dates due to singer Jimi Goodwin’s health, there was some uncertainty as to whether we’d see the iconic band back together. In response, they roared into life with their first album in nearly five years, delivering an album that ranks as one of their finest. From the Vangelis-inspired synth soundscape of Renegade to the more pop sound of Cold Dreaming or the darkness of In The Butterfly House, it is utterly hypnotic. Even its bonus tracks, such as Lean Into The Wind, really pack a punch. // Chris Connor
Listen: Cold Dreaming
Dave // The Boy Who Played the Harp
Dave’s third album is a quiet epic, an unguarded, late-20s reckoning from an artist who stepped away from chart dominance to interrogate the cost of carrying everyone’s expectations. Set against sparse pianos, James Blake atmospherics and long, patient song structures, Dave turns his lens inward: faith, fame, wealth, hypocrisy, loneliness — the whole tangle of adulthood’s self-doubt. Chapter 16, a stunning dialogue with Kano, anchors the record with rare intergenerational clarity, while Raindance and No Weapons offer brief flashes of light. But the real power lies in his storytelling: Marvellous and Fairchild confirm he’s still one of Britain’s sharpest pens. Muted, conflicted, and riveting. // Jacob Brookman
Listen: Chapter 16
Die Spitz // Something To Consume
Die Spitz released the most impressive rock debut of 2025. Unsatisfied with picking one genre, the Texan four-piece ordered everything off the menu and threw everything but the kitchen sink at an album that, at its heart, is a guitar swinging rock ‘n’ roll onslaught. Grunge, metal, shoegaze? If you want it, Die Spitz have it. We’ll doubtless be having the same conversation about non-dudes being underrepresented on festival bills in a few months, so here’s one solution: book them for all of them, sit back, and watch the fun. // James Palaczky
Listen: Pop Punk Anthem (Sorry For The Delay)
Florence + The Machine // Everybody Scream
Florence Welch and her band are known for the powerful, almost mythical, energy of their music, and this album stays true to that legacy. ‘Everybody Scream’ is raw, thunderous and almost primal, driven by darkness Florence channels with striking intensity. She opened up about undergoing a life-changing surgery caused by an ectopic pregnancy in 2023, and the emotional weight of that period seems to echo through the album’s visceral sound. The “witch-choir” layers, eerie harmonies, and elemental rhythms give the album a haunted beauty. Even the title, which she joked rhymes with Florence and The Machine, captures its wild, spellbinding spirit. // Amelia Jones
Listen: Sympathy Magic
Horsegirl // Phonetics On and On
Horsegirl’s 2022 debut ‘Versions of Modern Performance’ cemented the trio's status as one of the hottest new prospects in a Chicago indie-rock scene teeming with life. Leaning hard on the influence of Sonic Youth and The Breeders, the band were all set to take their place at the forefront of the grunge and shoegaze revival. Yet, instead of doubling down on their critic-pleasing formula for its follow up, the group flipped the script with ‘Phonetics On and On’, delving into the world of jangle pop and the C86 mixtape. The result was one of the most immediate and compelling records of the year — its simplicity is its greatest strength, shedding all non-essential layers to reveal the workings of a songwriting powerhouse. // Craig Howieson
Listen: Switch Over
Skullcrusher // And Your Song Is Like A Circle
Skullcrusher’s sophomore album is a gorgeous, shimmering slice of folk with layered, ghostly harmonies. With songs built around elegant piano and acoustic guitar, plus scattered electronics and beats, New York singer-songwriter Helen Ballentine creates a dreamscape as she probes the way grief turns itself out, the feeling itself becoming as real and substantial as what’s been lost. This dreamy palette perfectly captures the mood of the writing, which explores memories, dreams and the imagination, places where those we mourn still reside. It’s Ballentine at her most vulnerable and human, her hushed vocals lending a confessional air to the material. // Jeremy Blackmore
Listen: Dragon
Tate McRae // So Close To What
‘So Close To What’ is Tate McRae at her finest — vulnerable, vehement and oozing sex appeal with every note. Filled with irresistible melodies and with a compelling 2000s pop influence at its core, it is the Canadian pop star’s best work to date. With OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder and Lostboy (Kylie Minogue, Lewis Capaldi) among its production talent, ‘So Close To What’ is an exhilarating, thought provoking rollercoaster of self-discovery, sexual expression and female empowerment. Sports Car, Revolving Door and It’s OK, I’m OK are magnificent, triumphantly reinforcing McRae’s footing as a chart-topping force. // Issy Herring
Listen: Sports Car
The Callous Daoboys // I Don’t Want To See You In Heaven
On their third album, The Callous Daoboys upended expectations by delivering a masterwork that gleefully ignored anything so gauche as genre boundaries. A sort-of concept album bookended by pieces that proclaim it part of a museum collection and monument to failure, ‘I Don’t Want To See You In Heaven’ finds vocalist Carson Pace unpacking trauma over songs that flit between metalcore, nu-metal, smooth jazz and Justin Timberlake-esque pop jams. It’s insane — an hour-long marathon that’s head-spinning, strangely accessible and, best of all, utterly arresting in its dizzying array of earworm choruses and gloriously knuckle-dragging mosh calls. // Will Marshall
Listen: Lemon
Djo // The Crux
Better known for portraying lovable jock Steve Harrington on Netflix’s Stranger Things, Joe Keery’s musical side project scaled new heights this year with the release of ‘The Crux’. Djo’s third album is more eclectic than before: a gorgeous blend of psych-rock, synth-pop and ‘60s pop influences. For starters, Basic Being Basic and Delete Ya deliver two of the catchiest indie bops you’ll hear this year. And the rest wasn’t half bad either — vintage in nature while carrying Djo’s indistinguishable charm and charisma throughout. With music this good, we wouldn’t bet against Keery making Djo his full-time occupation once the curtain falls on Stranger Things. // Matthew McLister
Listen: Basic Being Basic
Addison Rae // Addison
The TikTok-star-turned-pop-star trope is as overdone as it is predictable, so you’d be forgiven for an involuntary eyeroll at the news of another social media phenomenon trying their hand at a music career. Addison Rae’s ‘Addison’, however, is flipping the script. Transporting us back to the golden era of Britney Pop, it glints with ‘90s house keys, shimmering synthesisers and a strong sense of self‑reinvention, in some places scratching that 365 Party Girl itch that Brat Summer left behind. Her whispery, sticky-sweet vocals float over a backdrop of glossy dance-pop and hook-filled choruses, but the record is much more nuanced than it seems at surface level, full of tiny emotional details and production choices that reveal a real sense of intention. // Sophie Pengelly
Listen: Diet Pepsi
Witch Fever // Fevereaten
At times, Witch Fever’s second album represented a piece of bewitching, dark theatre. Bolstered by usual bassist Alex Thompson’s spine-chilling contributions on the cello, they created ghostly visions of past trauma leaking into the present, from the harrowing title track to the tormented North Star, while Safe offered a devastating vision of heartbreak at a relationship cooling to a friendship. It’s cathartics, but they also step beyond the darkness to find confidence and defiance, such as with the fierce Dead To Me! and the world-weary but determined Final Girl. It’s hard not to punch the sky when vocalist Amy Walpole unleashes a victorious cry of “Witch! Fucking! Fever!” // Emma Wilkes
Listen: Fevereaten
FKA Twigs // Eusexua
On ‘Eusexua’, FKA twigs turns the dancefloor into a site of rebirth, chasing that pre-inspiration spark — the moment before everything changes — and bottling it in shiny chrome pop experiments. Working with Welsh DJ and producer Koreless, she threads techno, garage and breakbeat into something both devotional and deliriously physical. Room of Fools captures the album’s thesis in a single breathless mantra (“It feels nice”), while Girl Feels Good refracts Madonna-esque uplift through her left-field prism. Perfect Stranger delivers a queer-coded club hymn as catchy as anything in her catalogue. Twigs has never felt more open, humorous or human: ‘Eusexua’ is a rare thing — a forward-thinking electronic record that also remembers to move the body. // Jacob Brookman
Listen: Drums of Death
Danny Brown // Stardust
The rehabilitated age of Danny Brown continues to astound. The Detroit rapper had been very vocal about his struggles and addictions prior to 2023’s excellent ‘Quaranta’. That was an album that showcased an artist that had wholly devoted himself to healing and focusing on his work. ‘Stardust’ takes it a step further in seeing Brown do what he wants to do under the guise of his new-found control and is packed full of hyper-pop bangers that could only work in his trademark register and delivery style. Features from JOHNNASCUS, 8485, ISSBROKIE and Quadeca elevate the project to a genre-blending thrill ride and shows just how many strings there are to his wild bow, while Copycats and The End are new career highlights, no mean feat in a discography full of them. // Jack Butler-Terry
Listen: Starburst
Lady Gaga // Mayhem
A return to her roots for one of pop’s most celebrated artists. Sidestepping some high-profile duds such as her role in the superhero sequel Joker: Folie à Deux, by looking inwards to uncover flecks from her past with tracks such as Perfect Celebrity and Don’t Call Tonight. There were signature camp bangers in Disease and Abracadabra, with streaming records — it’s crossed five billion — falling at her feet. When it needed to be, ‘Mayhem’ was impeccable. // Laura Mills
Listen: Abracadabra
Mereba // The Breeze Grew a Fire
Mereba’s third album finds the LA singer, guitarist and rapper ushering in 13 tracks of luscious and sprawling R&B, with poetic commentary and reflections on motherhood that will live long in the memory. It’s a record of terrific poise and elegance by an artist in full flight. At times, it almost feels too light, too diaphanous, too much of a distraction piece. It’s not always urgent, but it is always of a tremendously high quality. Zooming out, with the USA in chaos and seemingly only sliding in one direction, maybe a distraction piece is what's needed. // Jacob Brookman
Listen: Heart of a Child
Deafheaven // Lonely People With Power
On album six, Deafheaven got to have their cake and eat it. The blackgaze frontrunners had previously abandoned any trace of metal on 2021’s ‘Infinite Granite’, but here it came roaring back, without compromising the originality and atmosphere that keep them going. Centrepiece Amethyst was a masterful balancing act between the intense and the serene. Before its closing blast, Heathen was a shoegaze piece that just so happened to have growls on it, whereas Magnolia and Revelator were full-throated ragers, charging forth with breakneck riffs. Instantly, ‘Lonely People With Power’ raised the question of whether Deafheaven had just released their magnum opus. // Matt Mills
Listen: Magnolia
Joy Crookes // Juniper
Joy Crookes burst onto the scene in 2021 with her debut LP ‘Skin’, combining elements of R&B, pop, jazz and soul in a mesmerising melange. Her long-awaited follow-up, ‘Juniper’, once again found musical worlds colliding, but with greater compositional maturity, spotlighting both Crookes’s distinctive vocals and songwriting ability. It’s easy to get lost in the 12 tracks and breadth of their sound, with her voice the glue binding it all together. It’s a sophomore album that lived up to the hype and really cemented Crookes as a unique force. // Chris Connor
Listen: Perfect Crime
Geese // Getting Killed
With ‘Getting Killed’, Geese hit a delirious stride, stitching art-rock mischief to end-times anxiety with the confidence of a band who don’t seem completely in control of what they are doing. Cobra channels Life in a Glasshouse-era Radiohead before tumbling into an indie lament; Trinidad erupts in Tom Waits-style skronk, unhinged and theatrical (“There’s a bomb in my car!”). 100 Horses moves with Talking Heads-like precision; its danceable paranoia shot through with absurdist joy. Even Taxes leans into a kind of Christian-coded Libertine swagger, messy and magnetic. What could be pastiche becomes magic: Geese remix the last 40 years of left-field guitar music into something genuinely new. It’s chaotic, clever, and the most original rock album of the year. // Jacob Brookman
Listen: Taxes
Divorce // Drive To Goldenhammer
Divorce were determined to carry alternative-country to pastures new on their debut LP. After a handful of compelling EPs, the Nottingham band served up their much-anticipated ‘Drive To Goldenhammer’ — while we’re grateful it was pressed to wax, it feels like it belongs in the subconscious of a hazy dream. Twinkling guitars and mesmerising harmonies were carefully draped over gorgeous indie anthems that deserve to be bellowed in the afterglow of a Glastonbury sunset. Striking a balance between the familiar and the new, there’s a harmonious nostalgic energy that burrows its way between the grooves of this sublime record. // James Palaczky
Listen: Pill
Big Thief // Double Infinity
Adrianne Lenker has done it again. ‘Double Infinity’ offers comfort even on your darkest days, expressing a pure, gentle kind of love while tapping into emotions you didn’t know you carried. Although founding bassist Max Oleartchik left the group, their magic remains fully intact. The lyricism captures universal feelings with disarming simplicity, reminding listeners why their vivid storytelling has earned them such devotion. Beyond the imagery, the album radiates an indescribable calm. Its quiet heartache is something you feel more than understand. It is an emotional experience that resists explanation. // Amelia Jones
Listen: Incomprehensible
Black Country, New Road // Forever Howlong
On their first studio album since the departure of frontman Isaac Wood, vocal duties are shared between Tyler Hyde, May Kershaw and Georgia Ellery, each contributing lyrics to an eclectic collection bristling with ideas. Taking in punchy baroque-pop songs, folk-rock, glam and musical theatre, on ‘Forever Howlong’ sweeping vocals and shifting tempo changes met absurdist humour twinned with heartfelt confessionals celebrating friendships and pondering relationships. As always, the wide range of instruments adds plenty of colour and drama, but it’s perhaps the moments where they strip things back to focus on the three new, unique lead singers that are most affecting. // Jeremy Blackmore
Listen: Besties
Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs // Death Hilarious
From their ridiculous name to their exaggerated fusion of ‘70s heavy metal and doom, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs are, on paper at least, deeply absurd and unfashionable. Yet the Geordie quintet offer a Sabbath-inspired sound that continues to blow listeners away five albums in. As expected, ‘Death Hilarious’ delivers another glorious sludge-fest. Thrashy opener Blockage hits like a stomach punch, The Wyrm is a seven-minute epic of infectious chaos, pummelling riffs and Matt Baty’s euphoric vocals, while Glib Tongued grabs the headlines by featuring American rapper El-P. Another joyous racket that swaggers into new sonic arenas. // Matthew McLister
Listen: Stitches
Anxious // Bambi
Connecticut five-piece Anxious have played their share of heavy-hitting support slots since forming in 2016, but ‘Bambi’ feels like the work of a headliner. While it may not quite have the same DIY feel as 2022’s ‘Little Green House’, it is a progression that makes complete sense. There are still echoes of the hardcore‑ lineage that’s etched deep in their DNA, but it is cleaner and catchier while still maintaining that angst-ridden bite. Flitting between stage-dive anthems and moments of raw vulnerability, Anxious can seamlessly transition from the soft, poppy hooks of Some Girls and Tell Me Why into the shouty, early-Brand New-esque grit of Head & Spine without it feeling disjointed. Capturing the restlessness of van life, relationships and self-doubt, ‘Bambi’ leans into a more polished sound without fully sanding down the edges that make Anxious, well, anxious. // Sophie Pengelly
Listen: Counting Sheep
Sprints // All That Is Over
On the follow-up to 2024’s attention-grabbing debut ‘Letter To Self’, Sprints cast off their anxiety and embraced sexuality, experimentalism and, above all, molten rage. The emboldened Irish quartet confronted everything from survival in a slowly burning world (Descartes) to demeaning, sexist critics (Need), fierce in their approach while simultaneously expanding their palette. Sprints in 2025 are leaner and more immediate, but they’re also braver, veering from sultry, caramel-smooth licks to, at points, riffs that sound like a vacuum cleaner a la My Bloody Valentine. It’s ensured they’re well on their way to becoming one of modern rock’s greatest hopes. // Emma Wilkes
Listen: Better
Wet Leg // Moisturizer
Having become indie-pop darlings with their self-titled debut, few could have predicted where Wet Leg would go next. Arriving complete with mad visuals and the punchy lead single Catch These Fists, ‘Moisturizer’ proved they were never supposed to sing monotonous songs in public school accents — they were meant for this. Rhian Teasdale’s vocals displayed confidence and comfort in their versatile new sound, which swerved into heavier moments such as CPR while delivering something as stripped back as Liquidized. No matter where it went, ‘Moisturizer’ never faltered. // Laura Mills
Listen: Pokemon
Little Simz // Lotus
The lotus flower is a symbol of transformation; the perfect allegory for Little Simz’s sixth studio album and first without long-time collaborator Inflo. Indeed, their public feud seems to have formed the basis of a record on which Simz explores the themes of growth, connectivity and self-worth. What's even more heartening is that she lost none of her considerable creative talents, which Kokoroko producer Miles Clinton James showcases spectacularly. The elements of funk and jazz that furnish this LP are enthralling and allow Simz to continue to explore disparate sounds and styles. From the bizarre Young and the punchy Thief to the Michael Kiwanuka-featuring title track and the engrossing Flood, ‘Lotus’ blooms at every turn. // Jack Butler-Terry
Listen: Young
Deftones // Private Music
During the five year gap between ‘Ohms’ and ‘Private Music’, Deftones blew up in a way that nobody anticipated. Social media had seen the art-metal pioneers lumped in with such sensual up-and-comers as Sleep Token and Bad Omens, and suddenly they were hoisted to stadium status. Album 10 was the perfect music for that moment. Produced by Nick Raskulinecz, it was a summary of everything that makes Deftones special. While CXZ was a crescendoing shoegaze-metal hybrid, Cut Hands hearkened back to the nu-metal attitude of ‘Around the Fur’. The result? The band’s best album in more than a decade. // Matt Mills
Listen: My Mind Is A Mountain
The Beths // Straight Line Was a Lie
The Beths have steadily built a cult following since the release of their debut LP in 2018. Their fourth album, ‘Straight Line Was a Lie’, starts as it means to go on, with the title track full of fuzzy riffs and a propulsive pop chorus. There is plenty of energy underpinning it, like a pressure cooker threatening to blow. It has the wry lyricism and fun we’ve come to expect from The Beths' previous work imbued with a tighter, angstier sound. No Joy is pure post-punk, a real thrill, while Metal has more of a new wave vibe, showcasing the Kiwi quartet’s multifaceted approach. // Chris Connor
Listen: No Joy
Gwenno // Utopia
Gwenno’s fourth solo album is her best work to date. It’s less a departure for the singer-songwriter, more of an unburdening. There’s a steadiness to it; a refusal to chase momentum or drama that is frequently magnificent. Its percussion is often barely audible, its melodies modest, its ambitions internal. It’s not so much a reinvention as a recalibration of an artist returning to first principles. In mid-career, Gwenno has made something that feels less like a statement and more like an effortless homecoming to the coastlines of Wales and Cornwall. Both modern and ancient, both urban and pastoral. // Jacob Brookman
Listen: Dancing on Volcanoes
Viagra Boys // Viagr Aboys
Feet pics, bog bodies, and voodoo health remedies all wrapped up in bone-chilling existentialism — aka the quintessential Viagra Boys album. Sebastian Murphy gleefully revelled in its chaos, disarming his audience with a slapstick interpretation of the madness that is the modern world. While post-punk was king in 2024, it seemed somewhat fatigued this time around the sun. But, in suitably turbulent fashion, the Swedes elevated their trademark anti-rock ‘n’ roll shenanigans to new heights, emerging as one of the best guitar bands on the planet. // James Palaczky
Listen: Uno II
Panic Shack // Panic Shack
Cardiff’s Panic Shack made a bold entrance into the wider punk consciousness with their self-titled debut album. Formed in 2018, the band are nothing if not unapologetically Welsh and their shows already had serious buzz back home. Their snotty humour shines through during raw monologues, shouty hooks, and gloriously dirty guitar riffs as the band get candid about the angry side of their lives. The album crashed into the UK Top 40 back in the summer and topped the rock and metal charts, paving the way for a big headline tour and an explosive performance of Gok Wan on Later...with Jools Holland in November. Their rise is no fluke. // Amelia Jones
Listen: Pockets
Flock of Dimes // The Life You Save
Jenn Wasner’s third album under her Flock of Dimes alias strips back the production to minimal synths and electric guitars, focusing on the most direct songs of her career. Its 12 haunting tracks delve into the depths of addiction and co-dependency. Her emotions laid bare, Wasner’s extraordinary vocals are placed front and centre. Sometimes she sounds optimistic, the songs serving as a mantra. Elsewhere, she sounds broken. It’s a profound, deliberate choice to leave the humanity in. These deeply melodic songs are largely underpinned by acoustic guitars with her trusted band providing beautifully understated backing, gentle harmonies, violin, pedal and lap steel providing colour and emotion. ‘The Life You Save’ is quietly devastating, yet rarely without hope. // Jeremy Blackmore
Listen: Long After Midnight
Spiritbox // Tsunami Sea
It’s hard to believe that ‘Tsunami Sea’ is only Spiritbox’s second album when they’ve already become such titans of modern metal. Nonetheless, the LP built on their already mighty foundations, ebbing and flowing through moments of sorrow (see the emotive, crystalline Ride The Wave) as well as those of incandescence (the corrosive tirade of Soft Spine). As crushing as it was, it also served as a beautiful tribute to the isolated Vancouver Island that they call home, reaching an apex on the twinkling serenade of A Haven With Two Faces. This was a stunning body of work which will only fuel their rapid ascent. // Emma Wilkes
Listen: No Loss, No Love
Armand Hammer and The Alchemist // Mercy
When New York duo Armand Hammer teamed up with the Alchemist for 2021’s ‘Haram’, hip-hop heads rejoiced the world over . The coming together of rap’s most consistent producer with two of rap’s best modern storytellers in Elucid and billy woods (again, prolific) resulted in a staggering body of work that continues to be held in high regard. And so it will be with their new joint venture ‘Mercy’. The Alchemist is a master in wielding hazy soul samples for woods and Elucid to adorn with their hard-nosed metaphors and complex rhyme schemes. Features from Pink Siifu, Quelle Chris and Earl Sweatshirt are supremely appointed, and the record possesses a surprising level of replayability given the unease that pervades it. // Jack Butler-Terry
Listen: Calypso Gene
