The 10 Best Albums of 2025
2025 is the first year of New Music Magazine, and it’s been a genuine pleasure reviewing so much great music and discussing the complexities of these records with you. Across the albums below you’ll find bold reinventions, long-awaited returns, unexpected breakthroughs and artists still capable of catching us off guard years into their careers. Together, they remind me why discovering and talking about music still feels exciting. Here’s our first ever Album of the Year list:
#10 WET LEG - MOISTURIZER
Wet Leg double down on exactly what they do best. Raunchy, sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek punk that refuses to take itself too seriously. moisturizer feels sharper and more confident than their debut, embracing messiness rather than polishing it away. Not every track lands, but when it works it is impossible not to shout along. It is loud, cheeky and completely addictive, which is exactly what you want from Wet Leg.
#9 PUP - WHO WILL LOOK AFTER THE DOGS?
PUP are a certified NMM favourite and once again prove they simply do not miss. Dogs pulls back slightly from their usual chaos, but the emotional punch remains just as strong. The riffs are still huge, the hooks still addictive, and the lyrics are as self-aware and cutting as ever. There is a maturity here that does not soften the band’s impact, instead it gives the songs more room to linger. Even at their gentlest, PUP still hit hard enough to earn the ninth spot.
#8 THE BETHS - STRAIGHT LINE WAS A LIE
New Zealand’s indie rock darlings lean fully into their understated sincerity here, delivering a record that captures everyday anxieties, nostalgia and the slow weight of growing up. Elizabeth Stokes’ songwriting remains the emotional core, surrounded by jangly guitars, melodic hooks and beautifully layered harmonies. Straight Line Was a Lie is honest, sunlit and quietly powerful, proving once again that The Beths excel at making small moments feel monumental.
#7 PARCELS - LOVED
After seeing Parcels play an intimate album launch show, it became impossible to separate their studio sound from their live energy. LOVED is their most cohesive record to date and feels purpose-built for movement. The band’s evolution from Sydney psych beginnings to a slick Berlin groove is fully realised here, blending disco, indie and trance influences into a seamless flow. Even the lack of spaces in track titles mirrors how the songs bleed into one another. Yougotmefeeling stands out as a perfect dancefloor singalong, but the real achievement is how effortlessly the whole album moves.
#6 SPACEY JANE - If THAT MAKES SENSE
Spacey Jane’s third album cements their status as one of the most reliable indie bands around right now. It is sparkling, introspective and ridiculously catchy, packed with dreamy guitar lines and emotional clarity. Singles like Whateverrrr and All the Noise are instant earworms, but the full record holds together beautifully. There is a warmth to this album that makes it endlessly replayable, and I genuinely cannot stop listening to it.
#5 LILY ALLEN - WEST END GIRL
West End Girl landed out of nowhere and immediately became one of my favourite listens of the year. It is thematically tight, emotionally raw and somehow manages to be angry, fun, upsetting and cathartic all at once. Lily Allen sounds like she has picked up exactly where she left off, turning personal trauma and public heartbreak into sharp, memorable pop songs. Tracks like Tennis and Relapse feel uncomfortably intimate, while even the ridiculous but tragic Pussy Palace somehow becomes a Billboard-worthy hit. Heavy subject matter never dulls the pop shine, making this endlessly replayable.
#4 OLIVIA DEAD - THE ART OF LOVING
Olivia Dean has been steadily rising for years, but this record is where she truly arrives. Comparisons to Amy Winehouse might be a stretch, but her talent is undeniable. Her songwriting is immaculate, telling familiar emotional stories with warmth, honesty and grace. Vocally, she sounds effortlessly perfect, never straining or overselling a moment. While The Man I Need and Nice to Each Other dominate the charts, it is So Easy (To Fall In Love) that truly elevates the album with its lounge piano and stunning melody.
#3 DJO - THE CRUX (DELUXE)
I was embarrassingly late to the DJO party. Like most people, I only knew End of Beginning and assumed that was the extent of Joe Keery’s musical output. One listen to The Crux Deluxe completely changed that. This album jumps across rock styles with ease, pulling from King Gizzard, Sufjan Stevens, Pink Floyd and Nine Inch Nails without ever feeling scattered. Keery stitches these influences together into a rich, immersive soundscape. The slow-burning closer Awake, with its Cobain-like murmur erupting into crashing drums, has been on constant repeat and still hits every time. It has finished the year as an on repeat album easily worth the number 3 spot.
#2 HAYLEY WILLIAMS - EGO DEATH AT A BACHELORETTE PARTY
This record completely caught me off guard. From the opening moments of Ice in My OJ, everything feels original, fresh and comfortingly familiar all at once. Free from her twenty year artist deal, Hayley immediately addresses that freedom and fully embraces it, blending genres with confidence and clarity. Whether it is the oddly joyful love song to an antidepressant on Mirtazapine or the healthy, relieving break-up anthem Love Me Different, this album feels like an artist finally in full control of her voice and direction. This was by far the best alternative rock album of the year.
#1 TURNSTILE - NEVER ENOUGH
No surprises here for anyone who has spoken to me about music this year. Never Enough is a hardcore masterpiece and a defining record not just for Turnstile but for the genre as a whole. They continue to push punk forward by weaving dance rhythms, electronic textures and pure adrenaline into their already explosive sound. It feels urgent, physical and forward-thinking without ever losing its bite. This is a band refusing to stand still and it results in one of the most exciting and important albums of 2025.