It’s been a while, folks, but I’m fully back now. More importantly, I can regurgitate my opinions at all of you without prior permission. As 2026 approaches, I might as well reflect on the past year of music before we go on. 2025 was a strong year for music, as most years are. The charts may have been suffering a fiery purgatory searching for new hits, but underground music has never been better.
Here are my top 15 albums of the year, but with a few honorable mentions first:
- Deftones – “Private Music”
- Panda Bear – “Sinister Grift”
- Billy Woods – “Golliwog”
- The Weeknd – “Hurry Up Tomorrow”
- Bejalvin – “BEJUBSTEP 3”
- Hayley Williams – “Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party”
Keep in mind, I am human and, therefore, haven’t listened to every new album that came out this year. If I missed your favorite, I’m sorry about that. Enough pussyfooting, though; let’s get to the list.
15. Aesop Rock – “Black Hole Superette”
This was a pretty incredible year for hip-hop overall, and Aesop Rock’s “Black Hole Superette” is one of the year’s many highlights. The album is witty, touching, and human, despite Aesop Rock’s typically impenetrable lyrical style. It features some of the year’s most creative storytelling throughout, backed by hard-hitting beats and features.
14. Oneohtrix Point Never – “Tranquilizer”
A melancholic and hypnotic record by all accounts, this is one of Daniel Lopatin/Oneohtrix Point Never’s most eye-opening releases. It combines glitchy, ambient, and oddly danceable sounds into one beautiful and moving package. Even 15 years into his career, Lopatin still has a feel for electronic music that few others match.
13. Viagra Boys – “Viagr Aboys”
The provocative Swedish punk band returned this year with another strong display of punk perfection. The lyrics are hilarious, the guitars and drums hit with the force of a Mack truck, the vocals have a perfect sense of drunken rage, and the entire album is coated in a strong irony, hiding the truly depressing emotional ennui beneath it all. It’s kind of a perfect description of 2025 in general.
12. Joey Valence & Brae – “Hyperyouth”
Few albums this year grew on me as much as this one. JVB’s follow-up to their impeccable sophomore record, “No Hands,” “Hyperyouth” is just as bombastic and fun while allowing the group to become more introspective at times. The beats are as head-bobbing as ever, and the punchlines are just as quotable and even more hilarious. While the pacing in the back half suffers, it’s an album whose staying power I can’t deny.
11. Clipping – “Dead Channel Sky”
Another record that grew on me over time. While this is a more accessible release from the hip-hop trio, it is also the most fascinating their music has been for me. The electronic, dance, and EDM-inspired production make for an album that’s simultaneously hard on the brain and artistically engaging. It also featured some of Daveed Diggs’ wittiest writing and most compelling stories.
10. Yeule – “Evangelic Girl Is a Gun”
Probably the least common pick on this list, but I don’t care; I thought this was great. Not boundary-pushing by any means, especially for Yeule, but it features some of the most straightforward and effective mixes of alt-rock, trip-hop, and straight pop released all year. Every track feels like a warm comfort on a cold day, in spite of the concrete-lined aesthetic of the album, and it connected with me in a way I can’t fully explain.
9. Guerilla Toss – “You’re Weird Now”
While not the best album of the year, it may be the most fun record from 2025. Filled front to back with off-the-wall, zany dance-rock ragers and some of the most mind-melting production on any rock record in 2025, “You’re Weird Now” exemplifies a perfect, no-frills thrill ride that latches onto the brain and sticks into the mind like a Bostonian parasite.
8. Nourished By Time – “The Passionate Ones”
A fantastic sophomore record from one of indie-pop’s brightest up-and-coming stars. The record features lavish production throughout, with influences of sophisti-pop, bedroom pop, alt-R&B, and even a touch of hip-hop. It’s genre-bending and creatively executed, and Marcus Brown manages to turn what could be awkward vocals for some into a gorgeous croon of pain and love.
7. Tropical Fuck Storm – “Fairyland Codex”
One of the best punk records of the year. Australian band Tropical Fuck Storm takes its usual knack for gritty, distorted punk and blues and turns it up to 100, with searing social commentary and fiery guitar riffs throughout. Lead singer Gareth Liddiard’s vocals are also at their most feral, his growls and snarls sounding like he’s about to bite your head off in the recording booth. It is a record that can only be described as propulsive.
6. Mac Miller – “Balloonerism”
One of my early favorites of the year, and while it’s not as high as I originally expected it to be, it was always going to be on this list. It features some of Mac’s best, most emotionally defined writing, with a charming mix of humor and melancholy, paired with some of the most beautiful production in his discography. It’s a dramedy in musical form that resonates deeply.
5. Geese – “Getting Killed”
The definitive indie darling of the year; it’s hard to argue against the results here. Geese carve out their niche more and more with each release, and by now, they’re showing how they’ve moved from being a pastiche of past artists into becoming one of those all-time great bands themselves. A modern classic of indie rock perfection. It’s hard to heap more praise on it than it already has received, but it really, truly is that good.
4. McKinley Dixon – “Magic, Alive!”
One of the year’s best little surprises. McKinley Dixon might have a claim to being the most underrated rapper today, and this album is proof that he deserves more attention. Impeccably produced, with soulful performances throughout and some of the hardest-hitting and emotionally powerful lyrics in the game, the album fires on all cylinders.
3. Clipse – “Let God Sort ‘Em Out”
Probably the most acclaimed album of the year if judged by numbers, and for good reason. Every track on this album is incredible, with Pusha T and Malice rapping like they will never rap again. The production is pure gold, and the features all give career-best performances; it’s the musical equivalent to the film “Oppenheimer.” The album uses connections and substantial resources to create something as artfully made and impeccably crafted as possible.
2. Jane Remover – “Revengeseekerz”
Music doesn’t go much harder than this. I was skeptical of this album before going in, and by the time this list came out, I realized I had listened to it more than basically any other album of 2025. A complete musical cacophony that still manages to make me scream in joy. Produced to perfection, performed with intense rage and emotion, there are very few albums quite like this, especially with such a consistently high rate of performance.
1. Ninajirachi – “I Love My Computer”
Just like last year, I could not have predicted this album, but no other record this year hit me like this did. On first listen, it sounded like a solid electronic pop record with great production and charming lyrics. By the third listen, I thought it was an incredible exploration of humans living in the age of the internet, learning to love and hate technology. By the 20th listen, it revealed itself as something more than just another record. It captures the anxiety, excitement, insecurity, and fun of modern life while sounding absolutely incredible throughout, boasting some of the best production and melodies of any record of the 2020s. I cannot recommend you listen to this enough. It resonates in ways few other works do, and because of that, I have no choice but to make this my album of the year.
Hello there stranger, this is Kate Megathlin, writer for weekly music reviews for the Seattle Collegian, here to assert how much more important her opinions are than yours. She is a Seattle Central student with a major love of music and music culture, and every week she’ll try to deliver reviews of new albums coming out, if you want to recommend albums for her to review, email her at Kate.Megathlin@seattlecollegian.com.
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