Top 14 of ‘25
So it has been far too long since the last time I wrote. I had a number of other planned posts but things became busy, computer went on the fritz and then I became wrapped up in working on this post. There was a lot of music I enjoyed listening to last year and continuing the tradition I began previously I am not just including music that was released last year but anything that I found myself going back to again and again regardless of the release date. That being said the majority of the music I mention did in fact release in 2025. In the process of compiling this post I amassed a list of artist that number over two hundred fifty, which I somehow narrowed down to fourteen. Why fourteen you may ask? Well if you want the honest answer I was unable to come up with a number so I rolled a d20 that was on my desk at the time it landed on fourteen and I went with it. I say this every year but it always feels like a Herculean effort. There will be a number of artists in this post that I have never mentioned before, those of you wonderful people who are even semi-frequent visitors will see there are a number of repeat artists from previous years. A few have in fact been on every one of the lists I have done the past five years.
14. Drezzdie
Much to my chagrin I never took the time to write about the Gloom EP as it was magnificent. I listened to it quite a few times over the last year. Each track presents as this beautifully crafted poem and Avalanche was the one that kept coming back to me.
“After the avalanche
It came down on my hands
And I watched where you ran
After the avalanche
I was covered in land
And I lost all my plans
Lights passed from a man on a sleet
Beyond my reach
It was faster than me
Buried, but I could still breathe
Among the rest that were buried with me
After the avalanche
Frozen tears that I kiss
Touch that breaks the skin of my lips
After the avalanche
Shadows gained all my path
Rain fell down, turning them to ash
Lights passed from the sun to my cheek
Beyond my reach
Was a tunnel to leave
Buried, but I couldn't breathe
Among the rest that were buried with me”
I remember the very first time that I heard this track how hard it hit me. It is such an affectual soliloquy; you can feel the emotion just pouring out of this track, it gets me every time. The avalanche here at least as is applies to me is something tragic, something so difficult that has happened to you and you don’t know how to deal with it. Depression can certainly feel this way, so could a bad break up, the loss of someone that you love. I will say this more than once during this post but I believe that truly well written songs have the ability to relate to myriad of situations that go beyond what was actually being written about and this is one of those songs. “It came down on my hands, and I watched where you ran” there are so many reason why they could be running perhaps they physically ran away or perhaps they left this life and now they are somewhere you cannot reach. Whatever the case may be it is beautifully tragic and as you listen to the song you can undoubtedly feel that. “I was covered in land and I lost all my plans” depression can certainly feel this way that is what I think of as I hear this. Every single part of this track just hits like an emotional freight train and I think its great. “Buried, but I could still breathe among the rest that were buried with me” If that doesn’t just rip your heart out, I mean wow. I remember hearing this for the first time and thinking how so few songs had ever struck me so hard. It was just such an incredible surge of pure gut-wrenching sadness. I cannot do the song justice with words.
13. Perfume Genius
Such a marvelous sound; I can't imagine all that went into the production of this album. The takes on; longing, anxiety, grief and alienation are both moving and gut wrenching.
“What do you get from the stretching horizon
That you'd leave me spiraling with no one to hold?
Combing the floor with the light from a cigarette
Something was making you sick in our home
It's a mirror
Down
What do I get out of being established?
I still run and hide when a man's at the door
Polishing boots down a line in the basement
When I should be riding outside on my own
It's a mirror
Down
It's a mirror, holy terror
Taking focus off the horizon
It's a chorus reaching for us
Swarming locusts wherever you go
It's a siren, muffled crying
Breaking me down soft and slow
It's a diamond, my whole life is
Open just outside the door
It's a mirror
Down
Can I get off without reliving history
And let every echo just sing to itself?
Can I move on without knowing specifics
While memories hum like a hive shaken out?
It's a mirror, holy terror
Taking focus off the horizon
It's a chorus reaching for us
Swarming locusts wherever you go
It's a siren, muffled crying
Breaking me down soft and slow
It's a diamond, my whole life is
Open just outside the door
It's a mirror
Down”
Yes I included all the lyrics, I found it hard to illustrate exactly what I was talking about without doing so. There is a lot that I enjoy here. One of the themes of the song that stuck out to me from the first go was the struggle of fame and celebrity. I cannot truly understand what that is like but this track paints quite a picture of what that is like especially what it would be like as an introverted person. It can be a vicious cycle when you want to be alone at times but also but want to feel isolated and alienated. Life can be a most difficult balancing act of emotional states trying to keep things straight in your mind and I can only imagine how fame and celebrity would further complicate the constantly shifting emotions that we as humans experience.
12. Carly Rae Jepsen
This year Carly Rae Jepsen celebrated the 10 anniversary of what I think is their best album "E*MO*TION" by releasing a expanded version of that album with a number of previously released tracks as well as some amazing new ones. Needless to say this was one of my favorite surprises of the year. Ten years later this album is still incredible; the sound, the lyrics it all just works so incredibly well together. I have enjoyed other albums that Jepsen has released since this one in 2015 but for me none of them have quite hit this same level of enjoyment. Some of this is certainly influenced by the fact that I was able to see her live when she toured for the album and it was such a magnificent show with an opening act Cardiknox whose album I instantly bought after hearing them perform one song. Of the ten new tracks that were added to the album the one that is sticking out in my mind is Love Again. I see it as a break up song that is coming from the perspective of someone who has been through it and while they may still be in the midst of processing everything they have made it through the bad parts and our looking to whatever the future may have in store.
“Open up your heart to the ceiling
Don't you know it hurts for a reason?
Time will take you back to believing
You'll learn to love again
Somewhere out there someone is breathing
Just for you their heart keeps on beating
Time will take you back to believing
You'll learn to love again
Moon, where's the man in you?
Show the way to us
The sky is turning black now
Moon, what you trying to do?
It's too late for us and there's no turning back now
I never meant to fight with you
I wanted us to stay together
And even now our love is true
I know that we can't be together”
“Open you heart to the ceiling, don’t you know its for a reason…” in order to feel anything you must be open to it sometimes it will be pain and sometimes sorrow you must be willing to accept both possibilities. You cannot have the joy without the pain. It will hurt for a time sometimes for a quite a long time but you can get back loving again, to feeling joy again. That is what this is saying to me. “Somewhere out there someone is breathing…” you are hurting now but there is someone else out there that will be good for you; there is more than one person that you can find love and happiness with. That is at least what I believe and to me that is being said here.
These last two parts are going back to previous relationship talking about mistakes made, that things just weren’t working out and they couldn’t be fixed. “And even now our love is true, I know that we can’t be together” I have tossed around a few cliches here and this is another one. This seems to be saying that things ended because both parties agreed things weren’t working. It doesn’t seem to be hinting at any malice or toxicity sometimes two people just come to the conclusion that they aren’t compatible. I don’t have a substantial amount of experience with this but I have had things end before where at least to me things seemed to end without any malice and friendship was maintained. I could be crazy but I do think this is possible.
11. Kathleen Elle
Memory Lane contains many tracks that I thoroughly enjoyed over the last year. Ride or Die, Nervous, Run Right Back the list goes on. The two that I most frequently listening to; at least if Spotify is to be trusted, were Callin You Mine and Leave the Light On. When it comes to Callin You Mine I most appreciate the unapologetic honestly; there doesn’t seem to be much that is held back here.
“I missed the signs too many times
Guess that's why they say love is blind
But I confess, I had my mind set
I thought you were the one, that I was done
We'd be walking to a setting sun
Now what's left? A single silhouette
Cause when shit hit the fan and we started crumblin
You left me stranded without a friend
And I can't even pretend to be okay cause
I was kinda used, I was kinda used, I was kinda used
To callin you mine”
The track ends with “well here’s to better luck next time” my interpretation of this track is this: so this happened sure it really sucked but I am over it. It is a track that makes me feel good when I listen to it. Leave the Light On is quite emotionally profound. I remember how viciously it struck me the first time I heard it, one section that struck the hardest was this one:
“If there's one thing I know, it burns it all through my chest
Is you can't live a life if you're stuck in your head
Some think the worst thing in this life is death
But I think what's worse is a life if you let
The fear of falling stop you from taking flight
When you can't find your way, just look for the light”
I feel that despite the many times I have thought on this track there is still so much I have yet to unpack. Overthinking is definitely a struggle that I have and its really not helpful. Living a life governed by fear and doubt is also quite an awful trap to fall into. I enjoy how clearly this song just lays it all out.
“Don't look down, no lift yourself higher
Shoot for the stars, but don't catch on fire
When you're tired, and want to come home
For you I'll leave that light on”
There is much more that is said here than what I included and I love how it is all tied together at the end. Basically life is hard sometimes you will succeed and other times you won’t. I hope that everyone has that person and or that place where you can always go no matter which phase of life you may be in; where you can be comforted, encouraged, where you can get what you need in order to keep going. There is a truly empowering and positive feeling that I get every time I listen to this track and it hasn’t diminished despite how many times I have listened to it.
10. Katie Seto
Katie has this marvelous grit to her voice which really lends itself well to deeply emotional tracks that are present here in Villain. The introspection and analysis present in this album doesn't pull any punches and you can hear that in each and every track. There is anguish, pain, self-discovery the list goes on as you listen you can feel it; there was so much poured into each and every one of these tracks and all the hard work truly paid off. The tracks here are just full of unadulterated truth it was hard for me to pick just one to highlight. There are so many lyrics to enjoy I mean somehow the words commodified and exsanguination were incorporated into the same track. It is terrific songwriting and each track has this wonderfully authentic feel to it.
“Just an average burnt out indie pop girl
Running ‘round the seven circles made your own hell
Gotta pull yourself together while you go out of your mind
Practicing your smile ‘cause you don’t have time to cry…
Over stressed and depressed and compulsively independent
But if you keep doing well no one figures out you’re pretending
Head down, don’t tell
Lost all social connection it’s more like social misdirection
If you tell them you’re okay how many people would question it
“So strong”. They’re wrong.
Got your Barbie doll image best hide your internal grimace
You can’t react when you’re treated like you’re just something to pillage
“Calm down”, “Don’t frown””
I first just have to say that all the songs in this album are a dream for lyricophile and melomaniac such as myself since there are quite a bit of lyrics packed into it. I cannot say that I have much of an understanding of the struggles of living up to societal pressures and the difficulties related to it but I feel like I understand it better after diving into this track. I think this track very powerfully illustrates the importance of having people in your life that really know you, that will ask how you are and actually want a truthful answer. During times when I am struggling I would just say I am okay, you need people who will question. That is just one of the powerful truths that I gleaned from this track.
“You owe everyone responses don’t you know you belong to them
Your desires don’t matter they just want all you can offer
Don’t think, just sing…
Learned every kind of tension pulled in every direction
Will you learn to let go…”
I thoroughly enjoy how this track feels like this very real internal dialogue; it is a mark of great track when you create relate to it despite having very different circumstances; I am of course not an indie pop girl. However when you aren’t afraid to speak the truth it is universally relatable.
9. Haim
Haim has done it again; created an album that I truly loved listening to from beginning to end over and over. I found it surprising me again and again, they always find new and fantastic ways of doing what they do to keep it feeling fresh and new.
I could go on for many pages about all the tracks on this album: All over me, Relationships, Take me back the list goes on. If I had to pick a favorite though it would probably be Down to be wrong.
“Boy, I crushed my whole heart
Tryin' to fit my soul into your arms
And I crushed up these pills
And I still couldn't take 'em, I still couldn't take 'em
I bet you wish it could be easy to change my mind
I bet you wish it could be easy, but it's not this time
Oh-oh, did you think it would keep me busy holding the line?
Oh-oh-oh, I didn't think it would be so easy 'til I left it behind
Down to be wrong, don't need to be right
Down to be wrong, don't need to be right
Down to be wrong (this train won't turn around)
Don't need to be right (the light's cutting through the clouds)
Down to be wrong (my feet are on the ground)
Don't need to be right (and I keep walking)”
“I crushed my whole heart tryin to fit my soul into your arms…” that whole section its just brilliant the way it illuminates the feelings of being in a relationship that just isn’t working and in this case seems quite toxic. Cutting ties is difficult; it can be easy to justify why you should stay and try to make it work even though you are miserable. It is honestly remarkable how long we allow ourselves to become miserable but that moment when you break free its a great one. Just to feel that weight off your shoulders it is difficult to describe exactly what its like though this song does a phenomenal job of doing so. You can add this album to the other HAIM albums that I love and that list includes all of them. Once I begin listening to one of their albums I always end up going through the whole thing and loving every second of it.
8. Jordin Laine
I mentioned previously how much I was enjoying both of the albums I acquired on vinyl this year and that sentiment didn't change for the rest of the year. These albums frequently found their way to my turntable, and I never mad when this happened. Since the last time I discussed Jordin’s music I dove into Unfolding I am going to highlight a few tracks from Inside Voices this time around. Still Again is quite possibly my favorite track from the album; while it may seem funereal it also conveys a deep sense of solace and hope. It is a relatable and inspiring piece of music.
“…to be still again
cuz I can’t take another
day the way I’ve been
lost along the way
I won’t pretend that I am fine
when everything is crumbling
on my way
to someone I can sit with the possibility
just me and miles of road ahead
with nothing in-between
I’m done believing peace of mind
is out of my two hands
and tired of thinking
that I’m wrong
just being as I am…still again”
I love how authentic and meaningful this track is. This was a track that drew me in more slowly and over time became a favorite. When it finally did hit me I had one of those moments where you just feel like a song was written for you. Of course you know that isn’t the case but the doesn’t change the fact that the song seems to be conveying some of your innermost thoughts. Its a statement to the power of well crafted music.
“Every waking minute..
That I try on for size
Another life to live
It never makes my world go round
I'm fine I'm sound but always spinning
What were the words you said to me
The day you went away
"I'm gonna make you something great."
Whispered aloud "you're dead to me"
Then I smiled and gave a wave
And you blew me a kiss as you walked into the rain…
Well I've got a new identity
So would you do another take
Or would you pass me in the rain again
And in part, I wanted something real for sure
But in part, I'm longing for a life that's something more
A raging summer storm
It pours and pours and pours”
The struggle with identity, your sense of self and the way all of things will shift and change as you live your life. Things can often feel like a raging summer storm that is seemingly endless. While this track does end with “it pours and pours and pours” it is not saying that it won’t end you just have to make it to the end as impossible as that may seem at times. Each and every track on both these albums is incredible and an emotional journey that ends with giving me a sense of hope.
7. Natalie Holmes
I have spoken quite a bit about how much I am both moved and consistently blown away by the magnificence of Natalie's songwriting. The words that are used, the rhyming schemes and the way the music all fits together is so incredible with each and every new track that is released. This latest album is no exception.
“How can love be so polar
It is ice and it is solar
Always had my two feet grounded in the rain
Had control of my breath
You took it away
We are just balls of matter
Bouncing down hills
Trying to make a colourful sight
Seeking laughter every day
But feeling me slip away
I bite down
Climb down
Write down the ways
That I love you
But this is too intense
I don't wanna lose my friends”
As I listened to this album I consistently found myself saying how? how is this possible? It is not only the brilliant words that are chosen and the way they are arranged but what they manage to say. These tracks have a miraculous ability to bring you in and cause you to feel what is being felt in the song as if you were the one experiencing. “How can love be so polar, it is ice and it is solar.” I mean come on I was hooked already. Relationships can definitely be very up and down crazy kind of roller coaster and this says that in a way that I had never heard before. It is amazing how just hearing something described differently can make you think about it in a whole new light. This song talks about the difficulty of reconciling this new relationship with the old ones that you have; with your friends, you family and yourself. If you have to give up any of these crucial relationships from before is the new relationship worth it? Sometimes you can find a balance other times you can’t. This discusses this concept and other related to it in a much more poignant way than I just did.
“I held our story up by its tail
But still I couldn't see why it failed
Think we coulda been perfect
But does that mean it's worth it
How are we meant to attach to another
Without forgetting to spread our bread and butter
It's only a matter of time
'Til I am yours and you are mine
Never wanted to be like all the others
Who drop off the radar only need their lovers
I don't know if I ever will
Get all my vitamins from one pill”
“I held up our story by its tail but still I couldn’t see why it failed” this is fantastic and truly gets you to understand what is being experienced here. You cannot expect to have a relationship with someone else if it causes you to lose who you are and relating that concept to the spreading of bread and butter. It is pure genius it truly is. They say variety is the spice of life and in my opinion at least you need a number of healthy relationships in your life in order to function and giving up many people for one shouldn’t be required and is unlikely to lead to your happiness. This track conveyed all of that by only saying “I don’t know if I ever will get all my vitamins from one pill.” I know that gushing about how much I think the lyrics are superb isn’t really saying anything substantial but I just cannot help myself. This whole album is full of lyrics that I find incredibly impressive.
6. Laur Elle
Last Year I acquired both Delayed Reaction (Deluxe Edition) and The Art of Pretending on vinyl and listened to them both many times. For someone who has so recently began releasing music Laur Elle is off to a magnificent start both of these albums are outstanding. I talked about Delayed Reaction in detail previously and while it is hard to pick a single favorite track from The Art of Pretending I would probably go with July.
“How, do I fake a smile and feel the tension
Wait, I'm moving too fast the wrong direction
I've been, running around in the dark with no light
But I can't stop
Staying up looking for signs
We're back to Monday
And I'm starting on time
Hope you can see that
I'm trying to get this all right
I'll quit the drinking
And I'll speak my own mind
I should be sleeping
But I'm staying
Like
One step forward, falling backwards
I just want to prove that I'm worth
More than my head tells me that I am
I'll try again”
A number of years ago I spoke on how there had been a shift in the realm of pop music where the artists now aren’t just writing bops to be played at school dances there are real heavy messages present and the songs have much to say. It takes real courage to put your innermost thoughts and feelings out there in songs but it is something all the artists on this list are continually doing; Laur Elle is no exception. This track is taking on depression and self worth head on. That is a trait that is consistent with their music things are straight forward and very unapologetically so. Which is what stuck out to me when I was first introduced to their music. They said what they had to say with passionate lyrics and a stellar sound.
5. Alanna Matty
At this point it really shouldn’t surprise me, yet I am consistently amazed at the way Alanna is able to convey emotions through both lyrics and accompanying music. Last the track which was released last year hit me in ways that I honestly didn’t know were possible. It brought to the surface feelings which I hadn’t thought of in quite a while.
“Slowly, we're moving past the thought of you
And everything we could have had
Letting go of all the stories I used convince myself
I convince myself anyways on darker days I wasn't worth your time
Three small words on my mind
I didn't think they would last
The distance forces us to go slow
Lets me learn to be alone
Stops me from running into your arms to forget myself
I forget myself anyways in other ways I can't say do no harm
Three small scars on my arm
I didn't think they would last
And it's hard when I'm here on my own
My thoughts are loud and your responses are slow
Lately feeling like I'm on the other side
Learning how to be alright
Three small words, say it back
I really think we can last
I really think we can last”
It’s not a particularly long track yet the thoughts and feelings that it prompted have been seemingly endless; the more I have listened the more I have discovered not only about what the track is saying to me I have also learned somethings about myself. There is not a whole lot of music out there that causes this kind of introspection and deep thinking. Alanna’s music does that often though. It manages to say so much more than what is so eloquently says because of how it says it. The talent to speak volumes with few words is not one that I possess, and I do envy those who can be so articulate. I am looking forward to whatever Alanna does next in the last six and a half years that I have been enjoying their music I have been consistently amazed by each and every track.
4. Djo
I had two very distinct types of listening experiences with this album. The first being where I would listen and just be lost in the sounds, the emotions and just everything that it made me feel. The second being intently listening to what was being said and truly discovering what the lyrics meant for me. Most of the time I would say that the second experience would be the one that I enjoyed more but that wasn't the case this time around. I enjoyed both of the different experiences so much that I wouldn't say I enjoyed either more than the other.
“It's one on one
Two for life
Thought that you were on my side
Lonesome is a state of mind
I couldn't change it
So don't ask me anymore
I'm one
Two for life
Thought that you were on my side
Lonesome is a state of mind
No, I won't be lonely anymore
But now I take the train
It's good enough for me
Time it takes an edge
And grinds it clean
Turns a scar to a seam
I've shot this picture before
Tell me what's that song
(It's killing me)
My future's up in the air
Guess I'll play along”
There are quite a bit of lyrics in this track and really the whole album which I of course enjoyed. I found there to be some really good stuff here. It painted quite a few pictures and had me thinking quite a lot. I don’t think I could say about many actors and while I love Joe Keery as a actor I honestly think he’s a better musician.
3. Lights
After Pep I didn’t know if I would enjoy A6 or not but it turned out that I really did and recently released A6EXTENDED was even better. Damage, Alive Again, Surface Tension are all fantastic tracks which were frequently found playing in my car and spinning on my turntable. As Lights sounds has evolved there is always some way that I am pulled back in even when there are moments that certain evolutions don’t grab my attention in the way Little Machines did all those years ago. Speaking of which that was still the album of Lights that I listened to the most which has been the case since its release fifteen years ago. I don’t expect any future release to hit in the same way that album did and I don’t think that is a problem.
“Goin' the distance, every occasion
Headed for somewhere out of the way
Movin' and shakin' every persuasion
Keepin' us out there, caught in the waves
Tread water in the deep
Just waitin' for the tides to meet
And when the currents take us out again to opposite oceans
Out of the hands of safety
From the shallows to the deepest end
Places we break and bend
You're the one in it with me
No matter how far we get
Oceans we are in still connect
And when the currents circle back again
They'll carry us with them to the arms of the same sea”
I just love the poetic manner in which this tracks describes the difficultly of being separated from someone that you care about and that no matter the distance there is still always something connecting you. It doesn’t mean that it won’t be difficult but I feel that thinking about it this way would help. It is certainly a compelling message.
2. Julia Michaels
There were some solid tracks on the Second Self EP; though most of what I listened to from Michaels this past year was from the 2021 album Not in Chronological Order. I have mentioned it several times before, yet it seems as I go back and revisit it I continually notice more brilliant aspects that the lyrics possess. Perhaps it is just me but I think this album contains some of the best songwriting in recent memory. In the nearly five years since the albums release this opening line has lived rent free in my mind.
“The summer before you
I thought love was Shakespearean
More or less a painful experience
Only ever real if you're delirious
The summer before you
I let it take up very little oxygen
Nowhere I'd rest my head, more like a ottoman
Never had someone like you to treat me like Solomon
The summer before you
You can't spell "drama" with consonants
And I admit, I usually was the cause of it
Now here we are, you got me changing all of it”
It is saying so much beyond what is written and it just so perfectly describes what it is like to have your whole life change in what feels like an instant and in ways that you never thought possible. Love is powerful that way; it’s transcendent and that is really what the album is saying. There are all these different aspects and situations surrounding love and relationships. What has always impressed me though is the way that it says things.
“But little did I know
You would be the one I confide in
Learn how to try with
Little did I know
It was you before I ever decided
Yeah, little did I know
You would be the one that would save me
Learn how to change me
Little did I know
Oh-ooh, just look at you, can you blame me?”
It creates such a brilliant story that pulls me in every single time I listen. There are not many albums that I can listen to over and over yet still enjoy them just as much as the first time. This is one of those albums though whenever I listen it hits like it did the first time. If you haven’t listened to this album it is certainly worth the listen or worth revisiting if you haven’t done so in a while.
1. Melissa Lamm
It was nearly a year ago when I first wrote about how much I enjoyed this album and my love for it has only increased with time. It ended up being the album that I listened to the most last year. There was one track in particular that I listened to many times when I had restless nights and I found an odd comfort in the beautifully sad lyrics and the melancholic melody.
“And look at the sunset
Isn’t it pretty?
Just wait for the lights in an hour from the city
My friend said in August the stars all fall down
If we want to see them then we should leave town
One day I’ll leave here and I won’t come back
And I’ll miss this view and all that we have
The sunset is pretty
And I shouldn’t cry
‘Cause right in this moment
Everything’s fine
But my mind doesn’t know
And my mind doesn’t stop “
This part of the track really resonated with me especially the ending “but my mind doesn’t know and my mind doesn’t stop” that was exactly what I would be feeling when listening to this track at all hours of the morning. I couldn’t help but feel emotionally slapped by this line every single time I listened “but I’ll pick it up again tomorrow, life’s too good to feel this hollow”. I find it so incredible how this track can be so somber filling me with such mournful feelings while also instilling this potent sense of hope. It really speaks to how magnificently well the track was crafted. This album had a number of different meanings for me throughout the year partly because I would glean more from it the more I listened but also because the tracks have this way of sinking into my soul in different ways depending on what I was feeling and what I needed to hear and feel at the time. This is a truly magnificent album and it had a truly profound influence on my year last year. You can read the full post I did on the album here.
