2025 Musicpost!

In which I might accidentally convince you to spend like $5,000 on new music 😬 . . .

My siblings in arts things:

I don’t like to do Year End Lists for the industries in which I work, cuz I always feel like I’ll leave something/someone out, and I think everyone is miraculous anyway, so I don’t do rankings. (Holy crap, what an amazing year for horrorbooks, though. Another year chock-a-block with all-timers.)

That said, I can sure as shinola at least tell you the albums that came out this year which really resonated with me!

Before I do that, though, here’s a handy little reminder: did you know there are TOTALLY FREE ways to support the authors in your life during these gift-giving-holidaytimes? They don’t cost you a thing!

1. Rate their books on any e-tail site. Ideally five stars, which sucks to have to specify, but casual consumers can often be pretty superficial when deciding what titles to buy and will let an aggregate star rating be a determining factor (don’t judge; we all do it). Rating a book five stars helps get that book in front of more eyes and also helps counterbalance the YOU-WOULD-BE-APPALLED-HOW-FREQUENTLY-THIS-HAPPENS number of reviews that are like, “ONE STAR, the cover arrived slightly dented.”

2. Leave a review, too. It doesn’t have to be clever or even longer than a word or two! “Great book!” That’ll tell our algorithm overlords, “Huh. Must be a great book if someone’s willing to leave a review. Maybe I’ll suggest it to more people.”

3. Add titles to your TBR. If you’re on Goodreads, this means adding it to your Want to Read shelf. On Amazon, it’s your wishlist, or even your cart. Tell said algorithm overlords it’s a book people want.

4. Tell a friend. Word of mouth is everything these days. Because we’re all pretty sick of those algorithm overlords, aren’t we? Human-to-human recommendations carry more weight than ever.

5. Preorder their upcoming short story collection, I KNOW A PLACE, which comes out May 5, 2026. Okay, this one’s not free, and it probably only applies to me. But still, it’s also an option. Best of all, you’d get to help our your ol’ pal Nat *and* support an indie press during its first major preorder campaign with a national distribution deal. That’s what we call, in the Hannukah biz, a doublemitzvah. (Also, hey, this is a secret, but we just sent an advance copy to a mind-blowingly exciting person who’s agreed to write an introduction to the collection. We’re not announcing it yet, a) because I’m too superstitious and don’t want to officially say it’s happening until I have a copy of the introduction in my hands, but also b) it will take a while longer for me to emotionally prepare for this announcement. More on that later, but in the meantime, trust me, you’re gonna want to get in on the preorder bus sooner rather than later . . .)

Okay, onto the musics!!

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Damn, 2025 was a rough year. And a wild year. And an important year. And a brutal year. And a devastating year. And an inspiring year.

No surprise, then, there was some phenomenal music. The female pop scene continues to offer some of the best songcraft around. The indie rock scene delivered some delightfully ambitious and batshit big swings. I also discovered an artist who quickly became a New Favorite with an intensity I haven’t felt in some time. Of course, I listened to a lot of stuff that was released before this year, as well, but here are the 50-something titles that came out in 2025 that really resonated with me, along with a few words on each to help you filter ‘em out for your tastes:

• Anna von Hausswolff, ICONOCLASTS - ominous, apocalyptic, soaring. I almost want to say Hausswolff is to the pipe organ what Joanna Newsom is to the harp, except Hausswolff wants to make you transcend this earthly plane instead of feel like you’re flitting about in a Waterhouse painting.

• Bad Bunny, DEBI TIRAR MAS FOTOS - another fantastic Bad Bunny album. ‘Nuff said. Don’t know/love Bad Bunny yet? What’s the monthly rent on that cave you’re living in?

• Black Country, New Road, FOREVER HOWLONG - poppy, catchy, twee as hell. Get it for the middle-aged music fans in your life who say things like, “Oh, man, remember Architecture in Helsinki? Now there was a band.”

• 🌟🌟🌟Brian Dunne, CLAMS CASINO - this is the New Favorite I mentioned above. Holy shit, I am in love with Brian Dunne. Do you like melodic, populist, 70s-era singer-songwriters like Springsteen, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Billy Joel, et frickin’ cetera? Then I think you’ll love Brian Dunne. This album blew me away and I quickly dove into his (surprisingly vast for a young guy) back catalogue. I’ll be listening to this album for years and years and years to come, and it’s gotten better with each spin.

• Bruce Springsteen, NEBRASKA ‘82 and TRACKS II: THE LOST ALBUMS - speaking of Springsteen, I’m not really including reissues or boxsets on this list (although there were several other great ones this year, including from the Beatles, Prince, Pink Floyd, and more), but as per yoojz, Bruce’s boxsets contain hours and hours of previously unreleased material, all of which feels indispensable afterwards.

• Bruiser and Bicycle, DEEP COUNTRY - full of surprises, like a head-on collision between early 00s Brooklyn and an obscure late 60s psychedelic gem.

• Car Seat Headrest, THE SCHOLARS - I love a rock opera and I love Car Seat Headrest, ergo I love a Car Seat Headrest rock opera.

• Clipse, LET GOD SORT EM OUT - A parade of featured guests, which makes this album feel like an event.

• Cory Hanson, I LOVE PEOPLE - Cory Hanson was another new discovery for me this year and I’m for sure a Certified Fan. Great songs, witty lyrics, a voice that’s a bit like Ryan Adams but with more melodic invention and significantly less personal ick.

• Danny Brown, STARDUST - always unpredictable, always delirious. This album feels like a club album taken over by cartoon characters.

• Elias Ronnenfelt, SPEAK DAGGERS - there’s something vaguely Gorillaz-y about this album, which means maybe Ronnenfelt (also the lead singer of the fantastic band Iceage) is a Danish Damon Albarn?

• Five Hundred Bucks, PEST SOUNDS - great melodic punk. In an alternate universe, this is a sun-bleached CD which High School You keeps in your car so it’s always onhand to play at full volume while driving around town.

• Florence + the Machine, EVERYBODY SCREAM - Joe Hill posted a little while ago that this was one of his favorite horror releases of 2025. He ain’t wrong. This album rules.

• Ganser, ANIMAL HOSPITAL - Dark, broody, full of menace AND melody. An amazing driving-at-night album.

• Geese, GETTING KILLED - The critic class has pretty much unanimously crowned this as Rock Album of the Year. It lives up to the hype, though. I described it in an email to Paul Tremblay as, essentially, a Radiohead album if Radiohead was listening exclusively to Modest Mouse and Beirut.

• Ghais Guevara, GOYARD IBN SAID - you give me a rap album with harpsichord? Mister, you’ve got yourself a fan.

• Greg Freeman, BURNOVER - Malkmus-y, jangly rock that gets better and hookier with every listen. Another favorite this year.

• Guerilla Toss, YOU’RE WEIRD NOW - after listening to this album, yes, you definitely are weird now. A ton of fun.

• Hayden Pedigo, I’LL BE WAVING AS YOU DRIVE AWAY - I keep meaning to ask CJ Leede if she knows this album yet. Beautiful western instrumentals. Kinda reminds me of one of my favorite instrumental albums: the soundtrack to the 1994 miniseries of The Stand.

• Hayley Williams, EGO DEATH AT A BACHELORETTE PARTY - I should probably listen to the officially released version of the album to see if anything’s different. I’m going off the tracks she made available for, like, a couple hours a few months ago. Either way, it’s a damn fine collection of songs that made me really appreciate how she’s been dropping damn fine songs for, what, decades at this point?

• Home Is Where, HUNTING SEASON - is Appalachian alt-emo a thing? ‘Cuz this might be a landmark record in that subgenre (even though the band is from Florida).

• Kulfi Girls, DIVINITY - emotive, crunchy, great. If the venn diagram of your musical interests includes Florence, Evanescence, and an occasional sitar, you’ll dig.

• Kyle Gordon, KYLE GORDON IS WONDERFUL - motherfucking tiktok comedian releasing some of the catchiest song parodies I’ve ever heard.

• Lambrini Girls, WHO LET THE DOGS OUT - deliciously snotty punks being deliciously snotty. There’s a song called “Cuntology 101,” for godssakes. Play it at your next family gathering.

• Laufey, A MATTER OF TIME - this was the Year of Laufey in our household. She’s amazing—think, an Icelandic theatre kid who loves jazzy torch songs and does for the New American Songbook what Taylor Swift did for the New Nashville Sound.

• Laura Jane Grace, ADVENTURE CLUB - howling emotions, snarling lyrics, great hooks, an excellent fist pumper.

• Lily Allen, WEST END GIRL - I am not above enjoying some drama and neither are you. Lily has always been an impeccable writer, to boot. This would be a great record even without the rubbernecking.

• Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke, TALL TALES - eerie as hell, ambient, a soundtrack to your nightmares. Play it at your next family gathering after they make you turn off the Lambrini Girls album.

• Mclusky, THE WORLD IS STILL HERE AND SO ARE WE - I’m a massive Mclusky fan (thanks, in fact, to the previously name-dropped Paul Tremblay). If you like dissonant, clever, anarchic, shouty rock, you’re a massive Mclusky fan, too, whether you know it or not.

• No Joy, BUGLAND - shimmerpop that’ll make you feel like you’re the lead in an HBO dramady about twentysomethings finding their way through the Big City. (Bug City?)

• Open Mike Eagle, NEIGHBORHOOD GODS UNLIMITED - Another brilliant, catchy, funny, poignant album from maybe my favorite contemporary rapper.

• Panda Bear, SINISTER GRIFT - made me feel like it was 2009 again (a compliment). Fantastic psychedelia.

• Patton Oswalt, WE ALL SCREAM - you’re damn right I’ll throw a stand-up album onto this list. I even include it on my year-end shuffle playlist, and every time a track comes up, I’m delighted. Patton’s brilliant, as always.

• Perfume Genius, GLORY - Speaking of “brilliant as always.”

• Petey USA, THE YIPS - just some good ol’ fashioned synthy pop.

• Population II, MAINTENANT JAMAIS - as French as you might expect from the title. Very cool, post-punky psychedelia-adjacent rock.

• Pulp, MORE - it’s a new Pulp album. You think it WOULDN’T rule?

• Rosalia, LUX - it’s a new Rosalia album. You think it WOULDN’T rule? Rosalia continues to be one of the most interesting sonic artists around and this album is capital-D Dramatic in so many awesome ways.

• Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Gang, NEW THREATS FROM THE SOUL - chill, melancholic country-rock. The sort of album where the first song has a lyric about losing your wallet in El Segundo.

• Sabrina Carpenter, MAN’S BEST FRIEND - I defend Taylor’s new album below, but you really can feel in SHOWGIRL how badly Taylor wants to be like Sabrina, and that’s ‘cause Sabrina’s smart and funny and hooky as hell.

• Sari Beliak, DEAD DOG MOM - more standup?! Yer damn right. And this one was released by someone I’ve known since we were, like, single-digit years old, which makes me super happy.

• Sharp Pins, BALLOON BALLOON BALLOON - Elephant 6-ish psychedelia courtesy of an irritatingly talented 20 year old wunderkind. Adorable, but not in a patronizing way. I would’ve killed to be in a band playing songs like this when I was his age.

• Soundtrack, KPOP DEMON HUNTERS - as the sages so rightly extolled, HUNTR/X don’t miss. Many people posited this was a summer without a definitive Summer Album, and those people were all people who hadn’t seen KPOP DEMON HUNTERS yet.

• Squid, COWARDS - angular, occasionally Strokes-like, great production. A favorite band of the past few years and this release is a stellar example why.

• Taylor Swift, THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL - I don’t get the hate. At least half of this album is Swift doing what she does best, and the other half is harmless at worst. Let her be happy about being engaged to a jock, ya weirdos; she told you she was pining on the bleachers years ago.

• The Slackers, MONEY IS KING EP and MY LAST STAR single - The Slackers are an all-time favorite band of mine, and this allllllmost felt like a new album.

• Tyler Childers, SNIPE HUNTER - best country album of the year by a, well, country mile. A truly delightful lyricist.

• Tyler, the Creator, DON’T TAP ON THE GLASS - a short album but, like every Tyler album, it’s full of so many ideas and twists and hooks that I feel fully satisfied.

• Viagra Boys, VIAGR ABOYS - more straight weirdness. I love weird rock. Give me music that feels authentic to whomever’s making it, and also which my music-besotted brain can’t predict, and that’s all I need.

• Wednesday, BLEEDS - I realized a little while ago that I think Wednesday’s “Bull Believer” is high among the most exemplary songs of the current era. That song’s on their previous album, of course, but THIS album is so solid that it reminds you of the band’s all-timer capabilities. RIP, 90s Alternative MTV, you woulda loved these songs.

• Wet Leg, MOISTURIZER - 90s MTV comment applies here, too. The Wet Leg era of rock continues and we are all better for it.

• Yves Jarvis, ALL CYLINDERS - smooth as hell, great r(ock)&b. His most focused album yet, too.

And that’s all I got! I could do a similar list for all the books and movies and TV shows I loved this year, but then I’d never get any work done and I’m on deadline right now. But I hope this list maybe points you in the direction of at least one new favorite album you might’ve otherwise missed.

I’m sending you and yours all the holiday love. We’re on the other side of the solstice, y’all! The days get brighter from here on out. It’s practically summer already!

Thank you, each and every one of you reading this, for helping make a very difficult year lighter and brighter.

Wishing you scary ghost stories and tales of the gories,

Nat