Of all of the ridiculous New Year’s resolutions I set myself last year and didn’t stick to (I didn’t, in fact, take up hiking, or read 20 books), I did manage to keep up with one. I listened to 52 new albums in 2025, one every week. Some were new releases; others, classics; and for some, I’d just enjoyed a song and wanted to see what more the artist had to offer.
Here were my top 10 of the bunch.
#10 – The Boy Who Played the Harp – Dave
October brought rap fans the long-awaited return of UK icon Dave with his new studio album The Boy Who Played the Harp, and he did not disappoint. The 10-song tracklist proved a progression in the Brixton native’s style, combining his trademark flow with melodic contributions from the likes of James Blake and Nigerian singer-producer Tems, who also had a breakout year. A standout song for me was History, which showcased the rapper’s signature lyricism (“I’m from the South where they struggle with saying your name/But it’s easy when pronouncing you dead on the scene”) that has cemented his legacy as one of the country’s best current wordsmiths. Fans had the rhythmic Raindance on repeat, whilst my personal favourite Fairchild explored the exploitation of women in nightlife culture in the sort of social commentary Dave never fails to use his platform for. The album concludes with its title track, in which Dave explores injustices across history and draws parallels to today’s world- asking what he would have done in the past, but also what he should be doing now. His work continues to progress musically and become more lyrically self-reflective, and it rightly earned a place in my top 10.
#9 – RUSH! – Måneskin
Italian rock band Måneskin released their third studio album in 2023 to much success, reaching #1 on their native album charts and breaking into the top five in the UK. The Eurovision winners established themselves on the global stage when they topped the song contest in 2021, and this album shows more of their best. I gave the 18-track piece a spin after hearing its penultimate song, the more pop-adjacent SUPERMODEL, and was hooked straight away by the catchy riffs of guitarist Thomas Raggi and classic rock-and-roll percussion of drummer Ethan Torchio on the opening track, HONEY (ARE U COMING?). Tunes like OWN MY MIND and BABY SAID carry you through the album with all the raunchiness and gritty rock sound the band has become synonymous with, though lead singer Damiano David is surprisingly vulnerable in the tender love song IF NOT FOR YOU and the yearning TIMEZONE, a standout track for me. The second half of the album includes three Italian songs, LA FINE (‘The End’) being a favourite of mine as David’s almost rap-like vocals flow through a track you can’t help but bop your head to. With rumours of a new album coming this year following the band’s over two-year hiatus, I’m interested to see what the group can produce next.
#8 – Short n’ Sweet – Sabrina Carpenter
Though the megastar’s latest album, Man’s Best Friend, was Sabrina Carpenter’s big release in 2025, I had some catching up to do and so listened to the collection that propelled her into the mainstream the year before. With every one of its 12 songs fitting for commercial success, it’s no wonder the former Disney star has had a record-breaking couple of years. A back-to-back opening run of pop sensations Taste and Please Please Please set the tone perfectly for an album that explores love and femininity in an unapologetic, often ironic way; “Isn’t that sweet? I guess so” the iconic tagline of another of this album’s big hits, Espresso. Dumb & Poetic was a highlight for me, veering away from the highly produced pop style that defines much of this album and criticising performative male culture to a stripped-back acoustic accompaniment. Lie To Girls encompasses a similar idea, weaving in the self-reflectiveness that defines the closing track, Don’t Smile, where we see Sabrina Carpenter at perhaps her most vulnerable. In a perfect blend of personal, emotive tracks and era-defining pop classics, this album deserves all the plaudits it received.
#7 – Alligator Bites Never Heal – Doechii
For all the backlash she received for the TikTok-viral Anxiety last year, much of Doechii’s work has gone unappreciated in the mainstream, as the unique hip-hop/rap Alligator Bites Never Heal was easily one of my favourite albums I listened to last year. Originally released in August 2024, it fits 19 tracks into just 46 minutes, encompassing everything from her online criticisms (‘Twitter fingers get ya whole life logged out’) in BULLFROG to a conversation with her brain in the wildly popular DENIAL IS A RIVER. BLOOM was my favourite track, a surprisingly melodic break in the album interlaced with a conversation with her friend’s aunt that puts a lot of both her career and mentality into perspective. Doechii never fails to share the personal side of her life through her music, but this track was her at her most raw in my opinion. With multiple accolades, including a Grammy for this album, Doechii has already undeniably escaped the narrative of being just another TikTok musician, and a collaboration with SZA in December showed she is still very much at the top of her game. With that track alluding to a new release this year: ‘… I’ll address it on the album’, I can’t wait to hear what the Tampa native has yet to show.
#6 – 21st Century Fiction – The Amazons
It’s been over ten years since Reading’s The Amazons stamped their mark on the British Rock scene, but you wouldn’t know it from last year’s May release. 21st Century Fiction has all the zeal and new sound of an emerging group looking to make real waves in the genre. The album opens with chilling vocals on Living A Lie, over a minute of suspense building before the band’s gritty instrumentals and Matt Thomson’s iconic voice fade in. The screeching feedback of his guitar transitions straight into Night After Night, which has more of the powerful, punchy rock sound The Amazons are so good at producing. This is true of the whole album; My Blood and The Heat! pt.2 are both anthemic tunes, taking the classic rock they’ve done so well ever since their self-titled first album, but still making it feel fresh eight years later. Love Is A Dog From Hell was my favourite song, its constant acoustic strumming and fast pace like something you’d hear in a cowboy film, and lyrics like “Love was a holiday/Now it’s a hand grenade/That I woke up to in my bed” are too good not to appreciate.
As the indie rock scene has grown in the last few years, The Amazons have managed to stay true to the roots that made them so successful, whilst offering something unique. Off the back of a busy year of touring, you’d expect to see some festival appearances this year- though none have been announced just yet. Until then, I’ll keep this album spinning.
#5 – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill – Ms Lauryn Hill
It was actually upon listening to the previously mentioned Doechii album that I started to explore more female rap and hip-hop artists, and Lauryn Hill’s influence on the genre, not just for women, but in terms of pushing it into the mainstream, is nothing short of groundbreaking. Apple Music touted this album at #1 on their ‘definitive’ top 100 albums of all time list in 2024, and I think a case could definitely be made. With a runtime of an hour and 17 minutes, this album encapsulates the best of all of the New Jersey singer-rapper’s abilities; her iconic flow on hits Lost Ones and Final Hour, and passionate vocals on Ex-Factor, which many modern hip-hop fans will recognise as it was sampled on Drake’s song Nice For What. An underrated song, in my opinion, is Every Ghetto, Every City, with its groovy track partnering perfectly with Hill’s soulfulness as she looks back on her childhood to make a tune that is enjoyable for all 5 minutes of its duration, including the classroom conversation about love that it closes with. A genre-defining album, which made Lauryn Hill the first rapper to ever win the Grammy’s Album of the Year award, The Miseducation is symbolic of the journey of one of the greatest voices of her era.
#4 – The Great American Bar Scene – Zach Bryan
I originally listened to this 2024 album back in May for week 22 of my challenge, and although I enjoyed it then, it was really the era that it defined for me in the months following that earned this album its spot on the list. Zach Bryan played a huge part in the revival of country music in the mainstream over the last couple of years, with big names like Post Malone and Beyoncé even giving the genre a spin, and this album encapsulated my experience living in America last year in a way even my own words couldn’t have. Its opening track, Lucky Enough (Poem), is a sincere and authentic illustration of the life he hopes to live, evoking an almost nostalgic feel as his poetry recalls incredibly specific moments and ideas, which he mirrors in his songwriting. Having spent time serving in the navy, much of this album is spent reflecting on his journey and what has changed whilst he was away: “Are the old ways dead or livin’ in my head?” The song American Nights couples nicely with the title track to narrate the kind of life he grew up with in Oklahoma, and the album as a whole feels like an homage to all the parts of his life that made the person who now sells out shows across the globe. Features from legends of the industry like John Mayer and Bruce Springsteen pull together just over an hour of music that makes you feel like you’ve known Bryan all his life: the storytelling really is that good.
#3 – hopefully ! – Loyle Carner
June last year brought one of my most anticipated releases, the fourth studio album, hopefully ! by Loyle Carner, which showed a real advancement in his music. The South Londoner takes a much more tender approach to this collection, his typically earnest lyrical expression lending itself nicely to this album that is, essentially, an ode to his experience of fatherhood. Being introspective through his poetic use of words has never been a struggle for Carner. The self-reflections evident right from his debut album Yesterday’s Gone are still in his style here as he ponders his role as a parent: “Look at me doing what a mum does/Same time look at what a father does” on lyin, for example. Carner, in this album, experiments with singing, with tracks like in my mind and about time adding a new depth to his work that I really enjoyed. This, combined with the classic Carner rap that flows so smoothly on hopefully and purpose, creates this album that demonstrates a maturity to match the vulnerability he has always been associated with. As someone who’s loved each album Loyle Carner has put out for different reasons, this contributes nicely to his catalogue of classics and was well worth the 3-year wait.
#2 – 0151 – The Night Café
Before the tragic passing of lead singer Sean Martin, indie pop band The Night Café had all the makings of a band that would have been right at the forefront of the indie revival of the last few years. 0151, their only album, was easily one of my favourite listens last year, nearly every song of its 18-track run capturing my interest with Martin’s distinct voice and the addictive drumming of Carl Dillon. Felicity was a standout for me, with its punchy love-song lyrics overlaying a powerful, echoing guitar and constant tension of drums. Please lead with a similar respect for breathing space for the instrumentals, which get your head bopping even before the Liverpudlian’s vocals chime in. Addicted, which was originally released as a single, gets a new sound on this album too; its catchy songwriting is all too deserving of mainstream success that the band was on track for. The album as a whole has the musical cohesion you’d expect for a group of lads that grew up together, and after listening, I had it on repeat all year. Despite the sad story now attached to The Night Café’s name, they’ve got an extensive collection of excellent music that thousands still remember them by to be proud of.
#1 – People Watching – Sam Fender
Comfortably my favourite album of the year and, by all counts, some of his greatest work, Sam Fender’s ‘People Watching’ propelled the Geordie to new heights of stardom in 2025 and he’s nothing short of deserving of it. His third studio album had me captivated right from the transition between its stellar title track to the reflective Nostalgia’s Lie, imparting all the lyrical wisdom that made me a Fender fan right from his early works Play God and Greasy Spoon. The enchanting storytelling of Wild Long Lie and Arms Length carry you effortlessly through the album to one of my favourites, Little Bit Closer, which recounts Sam’s own grapple with the notions of religion he grew up surrounded by. Rein Me In, of course, found its place in the mainstream later in the year with the version featuring Olivia Dean doing astronomically well with the help of TikTok, bringing both stars rightly to the centerstage once again. As the album drew to its conclusion with soulful tracks TV Dinner and Remember My Name, sandwiching another great narrative tune in Something Heavy, there was no doubt in my mind that these tracks from February would already be competing for the #1 spot on this list.
