2025 was an abundant year for new music, perhaps the best year for new releases of the 2020s so far. Here are 10 albums we really loved.
I write this fully aware that this list ranking will likely change drastically upon re-listening — the list of contenders to pare down to arrive at a top ten was over 60 albums long.
I will also acknowledge my inclination towards certain genres; however, I will always urge people to not only explore more music within their preferred genres, but also to branch out to others and look beyond the headlines and ratings of major music media outlets for what to listen to.
Taste is subjective, of course, and becomes complicated when faced with an overwhelming volume of fantastic options, but because ranking things is fun, here are the Muse’s top records released in 2025.
10. Happy Birthday – Finn Wolfhard
I won’t lie — I somewhat surprised myself with this one, but Stranger Things actor Finn Wolfhard has achieved a stellar feat with his debut solo record, Happy Birthday. Actors going into music is often hit-or-miss, but I’ve never been so pleased to be proven wrong.
It’s catchy, charming, sincere, it’s ‘simple’ done exceptionally well. Wolfhard’s inaugural solo project is, plainly, a masterclass in indie rock; you can tell it was written by someone raised on the genre. The actor/singer/songwriter/director is a workhorse, clearly. He has a staggeringly impressive resume at his young age of 23, and this record is a shiny gold star to add to it.
Happy Birthday is a clear step up, a palpable and well-earned maturation from Wolfhard’s previous group, Calpurnia, which disbanded in his mid-teens, and remains distinct from his other current group, The Aubreys. Balancing the perfect mix of captivating melodies and grit without veering into egregious lo-fi, the record doesn’t overcomplicate indie rock, and it doesn’t have to either. This album is just so perfect to throw on, which earned its place in the ranking.
9. Snocaps – Snocaps
In my opinion, everything that Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee has ever touched is absolutely beautiful, and this collaborative record with her sister Alison was no exception.
Having not worked together on music since their pop punk group, P.S. Eliot, broke up in 2011, the sisters’ comeback was highly anticipated, and Snocaps was impulsively dropped on Halloween.
Yet another band to join what I call the steadily growing ‘MJ Lenderman musical universe,’ the pair invited the quippy alt-country star to join them on drums. Snocaps leans into the lyrically rich style of the Crutchfields, warranting the album a place in the indie/alt-country renaissance currently happening.
Impressively, it was recorded in just one week, Snocaps tackles topics of love, sisterhood, change, dependence, and how, sometimes, slowing down is a necessary salvation — all undercut by the classic Crutchfield twang.
8. Old – Swimming
What was meant to be somewhat of a throwaway record for math rock hometown heroes ended up being on par with heavy hitters in the genre.
It’s no secret that we’re big fans of Swimming here at The Muse — I’ve written about this album before, and its praise is warranted. Old is a nostalgic yet bittersweet love letter to old friends and growing up, and is expertly performed. Its twinkling guitar riffs make for an all-around great record. Screaming this in the car or at a show is wonderfully cathartic.
Not only does Swimming consistently put out top-notch music, but the band members play pivotal roles in cultivating and maintaining the alternative music scene in Newfoundland.
Mentoring up-and-coming musicians, organizing and putting off countless shows with bands from here and away, and offering support to young people in the scene who are excluded from 19+ shows, Swimming’s importance to St. John’s goes well beyond their music — though it definitely helps that this record is perfect.
7. Of the Highway – Oldstar
Folks, it’s official: loser-y (endearing) people don’t make midwest emo or folk punk anymore, they make countrygaze — and this record is probably the most perfect example of that newfound, fake-sounding genre I’ve come across.
Of the Highway is almost painfully slow at times; it feels reeled in, able to be interpreted in one of two ways.
The first one is songs about always being on the move, landmarking memories by place. The second is more like being stuck somewhere, just watching time pass, fantasizing about leaving, but never doing it.
Either way, Oldstar’s newest release is lo-fi, confessional perfection with an alt-country twist. A great find on a late-night music discovery rabbit hole.
6. The Scholars – Car Seat Headrest
The band promised a rock opera, and that’s definitely what The Scholars delivered. Many songs veer into ballad territory, and others are 10+ minute whirlwinds divulging the concept album’s robust lore, set to the intricate guitar stylings of Ethan Ives, who also sings on this album for the first time.
The storytelling on The Scholars works as both its greatest strength and to its detriment, following a group of 8 characters attending a fictional college reconciling with spirituality and coming-of-age. It’s a beautiful story, though largely inaccessible to the casual listener, which may hinder the listening experience.
The Scholars revels in its references, though — Car Seat Headrest drew inspiration from Shakespeare, The Who, and Bowie, and it shows, in a good way.
Don’t get me wrong, this album is absolutely remarkable, especially if you take the time to delve into the “plot,” — it could easily be turned into a book or a real rock opera — but it is ideally experienced in full.
There’s nothing wrong with a record best listened to in one sitting, but in our current moment of playlist culture, a 2-hour work that is effectively inseparable from itself does not lend itself well to playlist creation, which is what earned it the number 6 spot.
5. Losin’ – Colin Miller
Recommended to me over the summer by a local musician, Losin’ by Colin Miller was in heavy rotation this year.
An established musician and member of MJ Lenderman and the Wind, Miller’s newest record, written to “try to make sense of change and loss,” is quiet, understated, and incredibly earnest. He creates a world in which love is measured by where you put your shoes, and hope is a scarce emotional currency.
Primarily focused on states of “having been,” it becomes clear why Miller titled his album Losin’. While his interpretation of grief and change reads as pretty sad at times, Miller’s songs have this air of acceptance and inquisition to them, often ending in softly sung repeated confessions, which gives this album a particularly interesting vibe to me. I think that every indie/folk artist should have pedal steel like this.
4. Revengeseekerz – Jane Remover
Revengeseekerz resists easy classification. An initially puzzling but delightful hybrid of hyperpop, glitchcore, rap, hip-hop, EDM, and post-rock, Jane Remover surprised fans with this record back in April, and I can confidently say I’ve never quite heard anything else like it.
Hyperpop artists are known for their sampling, but this record is a treasure trove of nerdy popular culture soundbites, including Pokémon, Fortnite, Mario and Sonic Olympic Winter Games, Guitar Hero, and Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Narratively, Revengeseekerz facilitates a necessary conversation around parasociality, entitlement, mental health, and the crushing pressure that accompanies being heavily perceived as an artist. It feels like an album completely born out of the internet, however, absolutely not in a bad way.
3. Getting Killed – Geese
Cameron Winter, prolific slack-jawed singer with seemingly endless emotional ballads, has been on everyone’s mind and social media feeds lately. It’s been a very hard pill to swallow, but yes, sometimes rich nepo babies can make some of the best music around, and that’s okay!
Pitchfork named “Love Takes Miles” off his solo debut album Heavy Metal, the number one song of the year, and Geese is making countless headlines for Getting Killed.
Getting Killed is starkly different from Heavy Metal in terms of sound, but Winter still yearns like no other musician working right now, describing romantic and familial love beautifully on “Au pays du cocaine” and “Half Real,” in particular.
Many fans predict that Geese might eventually be regarded as one of the best American rock bands, proclaiming that rock and roll is officially “back.” Only time will tell, but based on Getting Killed, I’d say it’s a fair prediction.
2. Bleeds – Wednesday
Bleeds soundtracked many a road trip around the bay and summer article writing session this year.
Recorded in the midst of a breakup with her partner and bandmate, MJ Lenderman (who really seems to be haunting this list!), Karly Hartzman has perfected marrying genres, leaning heavily into alt-country and loud, fuzzy, shoegaze sensibilities with this ever-so-charming LP.
Highly anticipated after the success of their last album, Rat Saw God, it’s a big genre shift, for sure, perhaps best indicated by the updated rendition of “Phish Pepsi.”
It’s a tad lighter emotionally than Rat Saw God, but reading Hartzman’s accompanying essays about the recording process and seeking out her cited inspirations for Bleeds, such as Merle Haggard, Harry Crews, and elements of Southern Gothic, adds immense depth to the record.
A large part of Wednesday’s appeal for many has always been their aesthetic inclination and genre-mixing. Hartzman approaches everything she does with a unique perspective and sense of intentionality, combining elements of country, oddly a “swamp” aesthetic sometimes, perceptive storytelling, and heavy distortion, all with a bit of a girly edge.
Though Bleeds implicitly deals with themes of nostalgia, loss, grief, and heartbreak, it cashes in on an immense whimsy factor, never taking itself quite too seriously, which makes for perfect peaks and valleys throughout the record.
1. Twilight Override – Jeff Tweedy
Wilco’s frontman offers listeners a sprawling triple album that is undoubtedly a highlight of Tweedy’s career. It’s borderline impossible to pick a favourite track off of this album; there are 30+ great ones. It took me at least a month to fully digest this record, and I’m still noticing details of Tweedy’s genius on each re-listen.
In an interview on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show during the press junket for Twilight Override, Tweedy discussed experiencing a persistent sort of uncanny valley feeling, which spurred the creation of the album.
He roughly defined its moniker as ‘finding ways to dispel that sense of impending doom’ which accompanies modern living and getting older. For the Wilco and Uncle Tupelo frontman with 30+ years in the business, creating is the only thing that makes this ‘twilight’ manageable.
Though I generally prefer Wilco over Tweedy’s solo projects, this particular album blew me away. It truly reads like the culmination of his entire career, as if everything so far has led to this moment, these specific stories, melodies, and trains of thought.
I had the immense privilege of seeing Wilco on tour in Calgary back in August, and perhaps that is why I’m so taken with Twilight Override, but seeing them play, you could just tell how much this musician loves to create things, play music, make art, etc., and it’s completely infectious.
