We’ve done this thread a few times and it’s always great.
Simply:
pick one album released in the first half of 2025 you’d love more people to hear (if it’s easier, think of lurkers rather than something you think might be obvious to hardcore users of the forum)
write at least one sentence about it to give some context / intrigue / excitement.
Ideally add a link to Bandcamp or a video of a key track from YouTube.
DjRUM - Under Tangled Silence
Stunningly beautiful jazzy techno
For fans of: Four Tet, Barker, Floating Points
from any year?
I was gonna say Daoboys but they have a bit of hype so gonna go for Kaonashi
My perfect blend of vocals which are objectively awful (you genuinely won’t hear anyone like him), chaotic noise behind it and songs you’ll get stuck in your head at random times
RIPE by Postcards
Another great release on Beirut’s Ruptured label. This is their first album but first time I’ve heard the band. It’s dreamy rage, like the golden era of 4AD with a bit of shoegaze magic and a splash of the Sonic Youth-y moments of Broadcast (anyone else who was a big fan of Exitmusic’s intense and dense walls of warm guitars should dive straight in)
This year. I’ll update the OP
What a record. Been loving this since it topped April’s album of the month poll. Included it in this newsletter with a s/o to the poll.
Get Kaonashi on sean
Valerie June - Owls, Omens & Oracles
This album has really dug itself into my EOTY list I reckon. A really beautiful record. I’m no good with words, so will let this review sum it up.
Juana Aguirre - anónimo
Constantly surprising, malleable Argentine artpop. Unexpected elements flicker in and you never known which direction the next sound will come from, but everything is considered and so well placed to form a cohesive, gorgeous whole.
DJ Deathdefy - A Hopeful Monster | Industrial Coast
Like an outsider avant-pop version of Talking Heads produced by someone on Dance Mania in their kitchen. Catchy, heartfelt and creative. Future cult classic.
This song isn’t on the album but it gives you an idea of the vibe.
Quade - The Foel Tower
Pretty sure this will be my AOTY at this point. Four piece from Bristol mixing indie, folk and the post rock of Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden with some electronic textures and a beautiful soaring violin to create a mini masterpiece. I absolutely love it.
Downward - Downward
This came out in March on New Mortality Zine - my AOTY so far.
Hard to put in a box - part slow core / shoegaze / alt rock / emo.
The vocalist is possibly a little marmite?? But the songwriting is so so good.
It’s such a good album.
I mean so far my favourite 2025 releases have been pretty well covered here (and elsewhere) - such as McKinley Dixon, Deafheaven, Billy Woods.
If I were to pick an album that should reach a larger audience, then it’s Honningbarna - Soft Spot (it’s still had plenty of internet buzz)
Relentlessy aggressive and full of hooks, skirts the industrial/hardcore line that’s fairly fashionable at present, but better than others
This was my first thought when I saw this thread. So much more dynamic than your typical shoegaze album, and heavy in a way that doesn’t fit the heavy shoegaze mold. And that second half is just something else entirely, it’s so relentlessly bleak and captivating. It feels like it’s still flying under the radar, people really need to get on this one.
I keep forgetting to give this some time. I stuck it on a few weeks ago, and enjoyed what I heard, but was in a hotel room and was politely asked to turn it off when someone got out of the shower.
Probably my aoty at the moment. This or Woods
Couple of excellent shouts from @JohnnyPark and @rich-t , they’re two records I’ve been obsessed with this year. That Downward record in particular hasn’t been far from the playlist since it came out.
My rec would be Blindness by The Murder Capital. Hadn’t heard a note by them beforehand but it knocked me sideways when i first spun it.
Tuneful and melodic heavy business, bit of post punk Irish stuff, just generally a really enjoyable record.
Water Damage - Instruments
slow and low, droney and doomy, psychedelic and hypnotic. Four tracks in 76 minutes, that’s what I’m talking about. FFO Earth, Swans, Neu, etc