Top Albums of 2025: From Rosalía to Bad Bunny

“There’s none of the levity of Sprinter, Dave’s laddish smash-hit single with Central Cee from 2023, or of 2018’s Funky Friday. Instead, there are sparse arrangements and gentle piano motifs. James Blake adds tenderly sung hooks to a couple of tracks; other star guests include Kano (as a kind of rap father figure) and singer Nicole Blakk. Full of vivid lyricism, powerful storytelling and involving music, this is a five-star offering from the pinnacle of UK rap.”

“If you worry that pop music is being travestied by streaming and TikTok into hooky two-minute jingles without intros or bridges, then take heart from the vast commercial success of Olivia Dean. The 26-year-old neo-soul singer from London is a traditionalist whose songs do the things that proper songs should, like tell stories and employ key changes. This gorgeous album is a real step up; the sound of a major artist finding her voice.”

“Rosalía was a phenomenon even before the release of “Lux””

“Rosalía is doing something different, and she’s doing it really, really well.”

“The Clearing is the kind of album that could only be written after the dust has settled on your 20s, and the post-30 clarity has set in”

“The first abounds with folk-like melodies; the second is more dissonant and febrile; the third adds soprano settings of Spanish poetry. With polished yet heartfelt playing from the Miró Quartet, and Kiera Duffy’s wonderfully expressive singing, this is a stunning achievement.”

“Throughout the album, fragments of sounds – fiery ad-libs, golden-age hip-hop samples, whizzing, inverted vocal riffs – all jut out like beams of light piercing through the pitch black of night.”

“West End Girl is not just confessional pop, it’s obliterative; an emotional postmortem carried out in public, a death-by-a-million-cuts account of a thoroughly modern marriage breakdown”

“The list of truly worthwhile band reunions is short – and topped by Suede”

“The wit and honesty of Williams’ lyric writing is the shining star of this work; it’s a musical purge of trauma patterns, depression, love, loss and, of course, ego”

“Lyrically, the focus is anti-colonialism and Puerto Rican pride. Musically, the album is ambitious but cohesive, drawing on genres including salsa, reggaeton, dembow and plena.”

“Full of yearning, dark jokes and wordy disquisitions on desire, this is storytelling music in the vein of MJ Lenderman or the late David Berman. Listening to these witty, tender songs, it’s hard to know whether to chuckle or to clutch your heart.”

“Prelude to Ecstasy was a game-changer of a record, one that combined baroque pop with bigger rock sensibilities. The London band’s return is just as good, packed with glamrock belters and Queen-style drama – and should cement their place in the biggest of leagues”

“You feel pianist Emanuel Ax’s sly wit, violinist Leonidas Kavakos’ ringing passion, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s yearning expressivity. They are also wonderfully responsive to each other, and the music. The result is pure Beethoven, and pure bliss.”

“This was the year of the CMAT summer; and the sound of this stunning album from the Irish singer was the unmistakable splintering crash of a proper momentous breakthrough. Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson combines lyrics about social anxiety and her own aesthetic sensibilities with earworm pop melodies, to glittering effect. The title track, about the impact of the 2008 crash, is a song so powerful it will send you flying across the room.”

“Harp is light on self-aggrandising swagger and heavy on existential crisis and religious motifs. It is fascinating, rather than self-indulgent, and offers a vast range of subtle pleasures, from skittering beats and helium-vocal samples to quietly eerie harmonies.”