A selection of the must-listen albums released in 2025

As the New Year celebrations approach, many of us will be pausing for some reflection in the next few days.

For some, this period is all about looking back over what’s brought us joy in the last year, while for others, it’s more of an opportunity to catch up on the big moments we didn’t get the chance to fully embrace at the time.

One thing we always like to do in the lull between Christmas and New Year is check out some of the big musical releases from the last 12 months that we missed out on first time around, to give them due attention before the year is out.

So, if you’ve suddenly found yourself with an hour or two to spare in the post-Christmas lull, why not check out some of these essential albums from 2025 now you finally have the opportunity...?

Bad Bunny – Debí Tirar Más Fotos

We’re starting off strong here, with Bad Bunny’s latest, the 2025 album with the highest score on Metacritic, which has also as just been named the best of the year by Rolling Stone.

Embarrassingly for us Brits, Bad Bunny has never quite cut through when it comes to UK listeners (Debí Tirar Más Fotos charted at 13 here, compared to its number one placement in the States), but as we look ahead to what promises to be an unmissable Super Bowl Half-Time Show in 2026, now would be a great time to embrace his unique flare of reggaeton that has helped him reclaim as his spot as the year’s most-streamed artist on Spotify, and earned him such glowing praise for his most recent musical offering.

Rose Gray – Louder, Please

We’re just going to put it very simply, Rose Gray makes bangers.

If you enjoyed the clubbier vibe of Dua Lipa’s Radical Optimism, or some of the more dance-centric and house-y tracks from artists like Jade, Robyn or Rina Sawayama, then Rose Gray tunes like Just Two, Switch and Wet & Wild are guaranteed to have you on your feet.

Clearly we aren’t the only ones that have been won over by Rose’s beat-heavy offerings, as she’s currently in the running for the Critics’ Choice title at next year’s Brits, and recently gave her debut performance at Capital’s Jingle Bell Ball.

Sam Fender – People Watching

The so-called “Geordie Springsteen” continues to go from strength to strength, with his third studio album earning him yet more glowing reviews, his third consecutive number one and the coveted Mercury Prize (a wave of recognition at the Brit Awards now also feels inevitable).

While People Watching sounds like Sam Fender’s most crowd-pleasing, arena-friendly effort to date, he’s still pouring his heart out in the lyrics, whether it’s calling out social and class injustice or paying a beautiful homage to his grandparents on the tear-jerking ballad Remember My Name.

Lady Gaga – Mayhem

Between the pop-tastic Chromatica and the more radio-friendly offerings from her A Star Is Born and Harlequin albums, Lady Gaga never really went anywhere – yet with her sixth full-length album Mayhem still felt like a homecoming for the modern-day pop pioneer.

Early interviews and the the moody and aggressive single Disease led many to assume that they were in for another dark offering from the self-professed Mother Monster, and while that’s certainly one part of Mayhem, it certainly doesn’t represent the whole album, which features some of the breeziest and earworm pop tunes since her debut, nestled along certified bangers like Abracadabra, Perfect Celebrity, Garden Of Eden and Zombieboy.

Meanwhile, on stand-out Vanish Into You, it feels like Gaga has found a perfect balance between the more organic-sounding rock and jazz-inspired music she’s expressed love for in the past and the all-encompassing pop she’s now synonymous with.

Self Esteem – A Complicated Woman

After Self Esteem’s sophomore effort Prioritise Pleasure proved to be one of the most lauded British albums of the 2020s, the singer-songwriter has made no secret of the fact that putting together a follow-up came with a whole lot of pressure and expectations.

The end product, A Complicated Woman, sees Self Esteem singing as candidly as ever not just about where she’s found herself both as a newly-celebrated artist and the load that comes along with that, but as a woman in modern Britain, and everything that........

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