Best of 2025 (so far)

Since 2015, I've designated 4th of July weekend as my mid-point of the year and the appropriate time to share my favorite music from the past six months and this year, while a tad late, is serving up some excellent new tunes.

While I'm always tracking what I'm listening to and keeping tabs on my favorites at all times, the half-way mark allows for a bit more flexibility and not as finite as the ultimate choices I make for the albums and songs that define an entire year. There may be albums that fade as the year goes on and others that take time to click, so it's fun to see where things shake up between now and the end of December. If you read my newsletter Gold Soundz, you won't be surprised by the selections below, but I know there isn't room for everything, so there are plenty of great records from the first half of 2025 that didn't make the cut but are still worthy of your time and attention (see: HAIM, Lorde, or either release from James Brandon Lewis). Right now, it seems like every other rising new band is playing shoegaze or has definitely been listening to a lot of My Bloody Valentine and pop music is still aspiring to be Brat (no complaints here). Like so many of the past years, we've continued to experience a great abundance of new music and this year is proving to be just as strong as any in recent memory

01. TURNSTILE | NEVER ENOUGH

Over the past four years, Turnstile have transcended into the biggest band in hardcore. After gaining mind-blowing momentum, the band returned not with a total hardcore record, but an almost mainstream rock record that isn't just the best of the year (so far), but also one of the best of the decade.

02. FKA TWIGS | Eusexua

Making her move towards '90s-era Madonna, twigs' is embracing club music that allows her to show off her dance moves in addition to her miraculous vocal work. This is party girl music made for the underground.

03. BON IVER | SABLE, fABLE

Last fall, Bon Iver tricked us all into thinking he might be back in acoustic mode when he dropped the SABLE EP. What the full-length revealed, however, was more of a move towards '80s synth-pop and one of his most hopeful records to date.

04. BILLY WOODS | GOLLIWOG

The most important lyricist of the past five years, billy woods delivered another astounding album of hard hitting barbs and endless bars. His wordplay remains the best in the game and re maintains his ranking as the best rapper on the planet.

05. PANDA BEAR | Sinister Grift

Shifting a bit back towards the full-spectrum pop of the '60s and '70s, Sinister Grift is Panda Bear's most easily enjoyable record in years and finds him firmly back in the baroque-pop pocket of layered harmonies and enchanting melodies.

06. DEAFHEAVEN | Lonely People with Power

With their ambient shoegaze phase a bit behind them, Deafheaven roared back this year with their classic-sounding new album that has them right back in the fold, delivering monumental riffs, pulverizing blast beats, and George Clarke's signature howl. They are so back, baby.

07. LADY GAGA | MAYHEM

Dropping "Abracadabra" during the Super Bowl hinted that vintage Gaga would be part of her return on her new album MAYHEM, but in reality this record strikes like a greatest hits album taking the best moments of her career and making for one of her strongest front-to-back releases yet.

08. SHARON VAN ETTEN & THE ATTACHMENT THEORY | Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory

Enlisting her touring band as songwriters and collaborators for her newest record didn't really change up Sharon Van Etten's sound, but that's a good thing. With the Attachment Theory, Van Etten reaffirms her status as an avant-pop star who can bring the hits.

09. THE WEATHER STATION | Humanhood

The folky jazz-pop work of Tamara Lindeman glows on Humanhood and the wonderful improvisations of her band bring this album to life in mesmerizing and delightfully fulfilling ways.

10. BILLY MOHLER | The Eternal

The former bassist for pop-rock group The Calling has transitioned into an inspiring jazz artist and his latest record features a new quartet comprising some of the best musicians in the genre. Expanding on his sound with new minds, he continues to push contemporary jazz to new levels.

(11-30 listed alphabetically)

ANNAHSTASIA | Tether
ANTHONY NAPLES | Scanner
BARKER | Stochastic Drift
COLE PULICE | Land's End Eternal
DARKSIDE | Nothing
DJRUM | Under Tangled Silence
ELA MINUS | Dia
ERIKA DE CASIER | Lifetime
HORSEGIRL | Phonetics On and On
HOTLINE TNT | Raspberry Moon
LIFEGUARD | Ripped and Torn
MARSHALL ALLEN | New Dawn
MEMORY PEARL | Cosmic-Astral
MODEL/ACTRIZ | Pirouette
MOMMA | Welcome to My Blue Sky
SABA / NO ID | From the Private Collection of Saba & No ID
SHARP PINS | Radio DDR
STEREOLAB | Instant Holograms on Metal Film
UHLMANN JOHNSON WILKES | Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes

WATER MARGIN | Gleaming Curse