It’s that time of year again when we round up our favourites and count down to the Best Album of 2025.
It’s been an eventful year in music, with Britpop reunions, failed comebacks, the Trump administration beefing with Bad Bunny and Sabrina Carpenter, no discernable Song of the Summer, and a hell of a lot of ear-assaulting slop courtesy of AI-generated “artists” like The Velvet Sundown, Xania Monet and Breaking Rust.
There’s also been a rash of really naff albums with equally mediocre titles, proving that nominative determinism is alive and well. Main offenders included Morgan Wallen’s prophetically-titled album ‘I’m The Problem’; Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR’s deeply embarrassing ‘$ome $exy $ongs 4 U’; Alex Warren’s ‘You’ll Be Alright, Kid’ (that’s as may be, Alex, but listeners won’t be, you monster!); and MJK's utterly lifeless 'Lost Americana'.
Add a surprisingly flavourless offering from Tame Impala and an underwhelming twelfth effort from Taylor Swift, who fails to make our Top 20 for the second year in a row, and it all paints the picture of a challenging 2025.
But enough negativity already. We’re here to celebrate the best of this year’s offerings, and there were plenty of albums that managed to thrill us and keep us (just about) sane.
Without further ado, here’s the countdown to Euronews Culture’s favourite album of the last 12 months, starting with...
20) Olivia Dean - The Art of Loving
It’s a great moment for female UK vocalists - Charli XCX, RAYE, PinkPantheress, and others have been carving out serious space - but Olivia Dean has emerged as one of the year’s most compelling new voices. Her second full-length album is a warm, retro-minded exploration of love in all its forms - from romantic relationships to friendships, family, and self-love. While a few tracks, like ‘Baby Steps’ and ‘Something in Between’, drift a little too close to coffee-shop pop territory (safe, pleasant, and maybe a little forgettable), the record’s standout moments more than compensate. The wistful, incredibly catchy ‘Nice to Each Other’, the playful, piano-driven ‘Man I Need’, and the smoky, intimate pull of ‘A Couple Minutes’ reveal a 26-year-old with a clear gift for instantly memorable melodies and deceptively effortless songwriting. It’s an album that signals a clear upward trajectory - this Grammy Best New Artist nominee is only getting started. TF
19) Ichiko Aoba - Luminescent Creatures
2025 has been a tumultuous, unrelenting year - marked by global conflict, AI anxiety, political unrest and an ever-worsening environmental crisis. Amid this chaos, Ichiko Aoba’s latest album offers a rare commodity: stillness. A gentle refuge from the noise. With ‘Luminescent Creatures’, the Japanese singer-songwriter invites listeners into a delicate, fairy-tale-like dreamscape woven from angelic vocals, enchanting orchestral melodies and the soft whispers of nature. Inspired by the glowing sea life she discovered while diving in Japan’s Ryukyu Islands, her eighth studio album explores the border between life and death, light and darkness. It’s the kind of record made for dreaming, sleeping, wandering and disappearing for a while. TF
18) Florence + The Machine - Everybody Scream
“It’s your troubled hero / Back for season six”, Florence Welch sings on ‘The Old Religion’ - reminding you that it’s been 16 years since her debut and she knows a thing or two about the pressures of being under the spotlight. And it’s this hard-won experience that’s at the heart of ‘Everybody Scream’, an album seemingly about paganism, rituals and witchcraft but which in fact explores personal trauma and professional resilience. Its theatrical songs feature Welsh’s inimitable sirenic voice and deal with the sacrifices required to be a woman in a male-dominated field / world. It sounds like an exorcism of sorts – something confirmed by Welch when she revealed ahead of the album’s release that a writing catalyst had been a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy while she was touring. ‘Everybody Scream’ is her reckoning, a powerful album full of climatic choruses that makes a case for not being shy to let out a mighty howl in times of emotional turmoil. DM
17) DJ Haram – Beside Myself
Brace yourselves for this one, as it’ll melt your mind as well as expand it. Brooklyn-based DJ Haram signs an ambitious debut album that fuses club beats, harsh electronic sounds, live percussion and Middle Eastern samples, all propelled by a restless energy that is both infectious and destabilizing. The guest-heavy tracks feature club bangers (‘Loneliness Epidemic’); rap numbers (‘Fishnets’, ‘Stenography’); moments of ominous beauty (the piano led ‘Who Needs Enemies When These Are Your Allies?’); poignant laments (album highlight ’Remaining’, featuring Aquiles Navarro’s inauspicious trumpet and Dakn’s Arabic verses); glitchy electro beats over darbuka drums (‘Sahel’) - all weaving a rich tapestry that reveals a refusal to conform or compromise. ‘Beside Myself’ occasionally buckles under the weight of its many influences, and its unruliness does make it a challenging listen. However, for those who want to know what a dystopian rave sounds like, this is the eclectic and unapologetically brash album for you. DM
16) Freddie Gibbs And The Alchemist - Alfredo 2
Five years after their first collaborative triumph, Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist reconvene with 'Alfredo 2', a sequel that swaps the nocturnal haze of 2020’s 'Alfredo' for a sun-drenched, breezy vision of street life. The Alchemist, a true crate-digging wizard, marries dusty soulful loops and boom-bap beats with cinematic jazz flourishes and offbeat Japanese film snippets, keeping the album unpredictable throughout. Gibbs, as always, dominates: gritty, sharp, and technically effortless, weaving tales of sex, drugs, and survival with a darkly funny edge. “Ever since they showed my ultrasound, bitch, I’ve been Hell-bound,” he snarls on 'Gas Station Sushi'. Collaborative moments, particularly Anderson .Paak on 'Ensalada' and JID on 'Gold Feet' perfectly match the project's relaxed confidence. Like you could expect from the ramen on its cover, 'Alfredo 2' comes steaming hot, perfectly seasoned and hits just right. TF
15) Erika de Casier – Lifetime
Minimalism hasn't sounded better this year than on Erika de Casier’s fourth studio album, ‘Lifetime’. Released only a year after ‘Still’, the Portuguese-born Danish singer-songwriter loosens her grip on Y2K R’n’B to better embrace the sounds of ‘90s trip hop. It’s not a stale exercise in nostalgia though; it’s about delivering a stripped back and intimate collection of songs that plunges you into a dreamlike state. And while you’re floating and connecting with her tales of modern dating anxieties (especially on ‘The Chase’ - “Hit midnight / Not even a text to hold me warm”), you’ll find yourself surrendering to the sensuality de Casier conjures up, as the seductive atmosphere that permeates ‘Lifetime’ is addictive. Nowhere is it more potent than on the sultry ‘You Got It!’ and ‘Moan’, a nocturnal dirge about dealing with a heavy heart by “living wholeheartedly”. So, get ready to be entranced by an LP that proves that sometimes, less is definitely more. DM
14) The Last Dinner Party – From The Pyre
If you weren’t converted by their 2024 debut ‘Prelude to Ecstasy’, The Last Dinner Party make damn sure that Act II leaves everyone worshiping at their altar. The title of their sophomore album refers to a symbol of both destruction and rebirth, and while the titular pyre doesn’t signal a radical change in sound for the British five-piece, it confirms that their baptism of fire was no flash in the pan. Equally as theatrical but sonically richer than its predecessor, the band has refined their baroque pop-rock and fine-tuned the art of a grandiose crescendo. ‘This Is The Killer Speaking’ - a murder ballad about being ghosted - and ‘The Scythe’ and its euphoric chorus may be immediate standouts, but there’s no deadweight in ‘From The Pyre’. The ten tracks about love, loss and drinking the dust of an inferno are energising and richly cinematic – a clear indication that The Last Dinner Party are here to stay. DM
13) Cate Le Bon – Michelangelo Dying
"Perhaps someday I'll crawl back home, beaten, defeated. But not as long as I can make stories out of my heartbreak, beauty out of sorrow." We don’t know if Cate Le Bon is an avid reader of Sylvia Plath, but the author’s words feel appropriate when it comes to her seventh album, composed in the wake of heartbreak. In ‘Michelangelo Dying’, the Welsh musician fashions beauty from sorrow, putting her avant garde pop stylings to the test by picking at raw wounds. Or an “amputation that you don’t really want, but you know will save you,” as she described it to The Guardian – an image that crops up on ‘Pieces Of My Heart’, when Le Bon sings “This is how you break a leg / You let the shadow lead the shape”. While it could have been a conventional break-up album full of wallowing, Le Bon eschews clichés and leads the listener to the realisation that love goes nowhere when it dies. It stays with you, leaves a scar, and hopefully the emotional chaos leads to catharsis that sounds as sublime as ‘About Time’ and ‘Heaven Is No Feeling’. And maybe, with time, the aftermath of all that pain will feel as mysteriously uplifting as ‘Michelangelo Dying’. DM
12) FKA twigs – EUSEXUA
FKA twigs’ 'EUSEXUA', her third album, signals a significant shift for the British singer-songwriter - a dizzying, sensual, ecstatic journey across dancefloors, bedrooms, and dreamscapes. Across 11 tracks, she masterfully blends electronic experimentation, pop sensibilities, Aphex Twin-influenced textures and club-ready rhythms into a record that celebrates intimacy, unfiltered desire, and womanhood. Highlights like 'Perfect Stranger' and 'Girl Feels Good' are euphoric and playful, while tracks like 'Keep It, Hold It' and album closer 'Wanderlust' offer quiet reflection, proving twigs can thrive in both extremes of sound and emotion. Part introspective voyage, part ecstatic rave, 'EUSEXUA' is easily one of the year’s most ambitious and thrilling releases. TF
11) Lausse The Cat - The Mocking Stars
Seven years after his wildly creative debut 'The Girl, the Cat & the Tree', the anonymous French-British rapper and producer makes his long-anticipated, but unexpected, return with 'The Mocking Stars'. Picking up where he left off, Lausse invites his patient, cult-like following back into the world of his existential feline protagonist, who drifts through a surreal, collapsing universe in search of meaning. Where his debut felt like a whimsical coming-of-age fable, this record launches the cat into a psychedelic, cosmic odyssey - tripping across stars, moons, and suns, dancing with Mad Hatters at chaotic tea parties, and tumbling through Alice in Wonderland-inspired dreamscapes - before slowly falling back down to Earth. Jazz-tinged instrumentals, bossa nova rhythms, twinkling live brass, and UK hip-hop drums swirl beneath his soft-spoken delivery, providing both theatrical playfulness and melancholy as he confronts depression, alienation, escapism, and fleeting romance. It’s undoubtedly one of the most imaginative and conceptually interesting projects of the year. TF
10) Little Simz – Lotus
On 'Lotus', her sixth album, Little Simz turns legal turmoil and personal fallout into creative firepower. Following a bitter fallout with her long-running creative partnership with childhood friend Inflo - whom she has sued over an alleged unpaid loan - she teams up with producer Miles Clinton James to create a record that glides across moods and genres with ease. There’s the venom-laced opener 'Thief', aimed squarely at Inflo; the afro-funk swagger of 'Lion'; and the breezy bossa nova of 'Only'. Guest features from Sampha, Wretch 32, Yussef Dayes and Michael Kiwanuka enrich the sound without ever pulling focus. Throughout, Simz remains firmly in control, delivering hard-hitting bars and commanding flows to tell a story of perseverance, betrayal, and self-empowerment. It’s a statement album - controlled, ferocious and a reminder that Simz is operating on a completely different level to most. TF
9) Pulp – More
Everyone was collectively wetting their knickers over the Oasis reunion this year, but the real 90s comeback came courtesy of Britpop’s reluctant figureheads. Out in time for the 30th anniversary of their most celebrated album, 1995’s 'Different Class', Pulp returned after a 24-year absence... and the wait was worth it. While 'More' doesn’t reinvent the wheel and won’t necessarily convert those who aren’t already fans of Jarvis Cocker and his merry lot, this terrific album is worth treasuring. Boasting lush strings and delving into themes of aging and self-delusion with wit and humour, Pulp deliver an LP that is everything you’d want a Pulp album to be. More than that, it surpasses expectations, showing that even now they’re all fully grown, they’re still in a class of their own. Hopefully we won’t have to wait another quarter of a century for more. DM
8) Jane Remover – Revengeseekerz
At the tender age of 22, Jane Remover has already made a name for themselves as a producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and rapper with a canny ability to genre hop. When listening to their 2025 effort, previous albums ‘Frailty’ (2021) and 'Census Designated' (2023) sound like they were made by a completely different artist. For 'Revengeseekerz', Remover plunges the listener headfirst into an abrasive blend of rap, emo, digicore and EDM spliced with glitchy video-game sounds – all with potent hyperpop hooks. It’s a lot to handle and frequently sounds like mayhem, but it works. What should have been whiplash inducing comes together as a coherent, bold, and addictive soundtrack to a really wild night out. Put simply: It slaps. Hard. DM
7) Bad Bunny – DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS
Following up the wildly successful 'Un Verano Sin Ti', 'DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS' is Bad Bunny's most ambitious project to date - a sprawling, vibrant tribute to his Puerto Rican musical heritage and the wider diaspora. While still rooted in the modern reggaetón which made the 31-year-old artist a global superstar, the album pushes far beyond expectations, weaving in salsa horns, bolero melodies, and the layered rhythms of traditional plena. Nowhere is this fusion more thrilling than on 'BAILE INoLVIDABLE', which opens with sleek modern synths before bursting into full-blown live salsa. 'DtMF', a late-album standout, also exemplifies the record’s spirit. Infectious, celebratory, and impossibly fun, this is an album meant to be played loud, and it’s little wonder Bad Bunny reigned as the most streamed artist of 2025. TF
6) Geese - Getting Killed
On 'Getting Killed', oddball New York band Geese take the momentum of lead singer Cameron Winter’s hushed solo breakthrough album 'Heavy Metal' and flip it into their boldest experiment yet. The album swings from the explosive opener 'Trinidad' to groove-driven jams full of brass stabs, looping choirs and jagged riffs, all threaded with Winter’s cryptic mutterings and surreal punchlines. The band sound both looser and sharper than ever, building songs that feel like extended climaxes rather than traditional structures. Chaotic, clever, unashamedly weird and strangely moving, 'Getting Killed' cements Geese as one of the few rock bands still pushing themselves - and their listeners - somewhere that feels genuinely new. TF
5) Wednesday – Bleeds
Following ‘Rat Saw God’ - one of our favourite albums of 2023 – North Carolina outfit Wednesday returned this year with another scuzzy indie rock collage about love, stupid teenage decisions and watching The Human Centipede after a Phish concert. And it’s the best thing they’ve ever released. Like on ‘Rat Saw God’, the band delivers a dynamic mix of country hooks and noisy grunge beamed in straight from the 90s. And like its predecessor, it's the lyricism and tragicomic storytelling that makes this project soar. Whether it’s calling out “broke dick sincerity” on opener ‘Reality TV Argument Bleeds’; coming to the conclusion that “even the best champagne still tastes like elderberry wine” on lead single ‘Elderberry Wine’; or wondering how “your teeth stayed so nice / when the only thing you drink is Pepsi” on album closer ‘Gary’s II’, singer-songwriter Karly Hartzman’s evocative snapshots feel lived-in and will keep you coming back for more. DM
4) Viagra Boys – Viagr Aboys
Since their 2018 debut, Swedish post-punkers Viagra Boys have established themselves as the absurdist chroniclers of 21st century disillusionment we all need in our lives. Channelling The Stooges, Dead Kennedys and DEVO, the post-punkers have flawlessly lampooned the ongoing "enshittification” of society - from toxic masculinity and far-right rhetoric to social media-driven conspiracy theories. They don’t stray from their established satirical flight plan for their fourth album, ‘Viagr Aboys’, but move away from socio-political hellscapes to focus more on everyday follies. From Matthew Perry references (‘Man Made of Meat’) to health scares (‘Pyramid of Health’), via croutons found underneath futons (‘Uno II’) and the lost art of dropping buzzkill history facts at parties (‘You N33d Me’), the lyrics on Viagr Aboys are surreal, laugh-out-loud funny and at times surprisingly moving – especially when it comes to the understated romanticism of album closer ‘River King’. Sonically, it may sound more polished than their previous efforts, but the raw energy remains intact. Moreover, frontman Sebastian Murphy and his motley crew have achieved something truly special with this album: they’ve managed to cook up a potent distillation of everything that makes them such a delirious joy to listen to and handily inject it into your central vein. Thanks for the hit, gentlemen. DM
3) Annahstasia – Tether
It was our No.3 pick at the halfway point of 2025 and it has remained there, proving that Annahstasia’s swoon-worthy 'Tether’ is hands down the best debut album of the year. It was a rough time coming though, as the American singer-songwriter had to battle long and hard to get ‘Tether’ released. Record execs were eager to steer her away from the intimate folk-soul she wanted to make and lead her towards more mainstream and commercially viable avenues. How wrong they were to doubt her and keep her in limbo, as her overdue first record is an instantly captivating collection of arrestingly beautiful songs, carried by elegant instrumentals and her gorgeous mahogany vibrato - which exists somewhere between Tracy Chapman and Nina Simone. “Can you be a believer,” she sings on album closer ‘Believer’, “In all my possible possibility?”. That’s a resounding ‘yes’ from us. DM
2) Kelela – In The Blue Light
'In the Blue Light' captures Kelela stepping away from her futurist R&B universe and into the candlelit haze of New York’s famed Blue Note Jazz Club, where she completely reimagines her catalogue with a bluesy warmth. The set blends reworked originals from the American singer, with tributes to Joni Mitchell and Betty Carter, all threaded with crowd hum, onstage jokes and tender anecdotes that pull the listener right into the room. The stripped back palette - harp, keys, drums, velvet bass - lets her celestial voice take centre stage, revealing new emotional shades in tracks like 'Waitin’', 'Take Me Apart', and a breathtaking reinvention of 'Better'. Everything works in service of an atmosphere so intimate you feel seated at her table. It’s an album fully worthy of a top spot among the year’s finest. TF
1) Rosalia – LUX
If there’s one thing you can’t accuse Rosalía of, it’s coasting. Her 2017 debut ‘Los Ángeles’ audaciously introduced flamenco to the 21st century; 2018’s ‘El Mal Querer’ combined Andalusian sounds with pop and hip-hop; and 2022’s ‘Motomami’ was a sexy, boundary-pushing blend of reggaeton, folk guitars and dance beats. For her fourth album, the 33-year-old Spanish artist has made her boldest move yet: a pivot to classical.
While that crossover may sound gimmicky, the end result leaves you slack-jawed. Backed by the London Symphonic Orchestra and the likes of Björk, Yves Tumor and even Daft Punk’s Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, the album is an experimental baroque opera, propelled by soaring strings, electronic beats, and Rosalía’s crystalline soprano.
Arranged in four movements, Rosalía sings in 13 different languages throughout ‘LUX’, including her native Catalan and Spanish (on the gorgeous ‘Divinize’ and ‘La Perla’ respectively), as well as German (‘Berghain’), Arabic (‘La Yugular’), Ukrainian (‘De Madruga’) and Latin (‘Porcelana’). She does this to better explore borderless themes of love, sex, spirituality and the divine feminine, immersing herself in the stories of female saints and mystics from across the globe and using them as inspiration for each song.
The effect establishes a divine connection, as you don’t have to understand all the lyrics to appreciate their emotional resonance. The 18 tracks transcend language and exist in a sonic limbo where religious imagery and Wagnerian élans co-exist alongside tales featuring the singer handing out of a “gold medal in being a motherfucker”, calling out men who want women to be compliant, pouring herself a well-earned glass of Sauvignon Blanc, and giving her heart away so frequently that she forgets it was ever once hers (on album standout ‘Relíquia’).
It may all sound like a lot to take in one sitting – and it is; but it’s a rousing experience that only gets better with repeated listens. And if you choose to surrender to this epic fusion of the sacred and the profane, you’ll find that it honours what it asks of you.
In terms of ambitious artistic statements, ‘LUX’ feels like Rosalía’s ‘Vespertine’ - which is no small compliment, as it remains Björk’s masterpiece. Few albums have come close to her ethereal symphony, one which not only tears through contemporary pop conventions but defies quick hit highs inherent to attention-starved, algorithm-driven music consumption. Rosalía even showed her hand in this respect, sharing with the New York Times that “the more we are in the era of dopamine, the more I want to be the opposite.” ‘LUX’ is that opposite. It demands your complete attention; it commands and rewards it. DM
There we have it.
Did we miss your favourite album of the year?
Maybe it’s in our Honorable Mentions for the year, which are: Nourished By Time - ‘The Passionate Ones’; Swans – ‘Birthing’; Blood Orange – ‘Essex Honey’; Sudan Archives – ‘The BPM’; aya – ‘Hexed!’; Wet Leg – ‘Moisturizer’; Natalia La Fourcade – ‘Cancionera’; CMAT – ‘Euro-Country’; PinkPantheress – ‘Fancy That’; Oklou – ‘choke enough’.
Or maybe it's in our midway report, the Best Albums of 2025...So Farlist.
If not, let us know, and we'll hear you out and hopefully make amends. That or we’ll respectfully suggest that you’re wrong.
Stay tuned to Euronews Culture for more 2025 Best Ofs, including our upcoming ranking of the Best Movies of 2025.
