My 25 favourite albums of 2025 (so far…)
Surprise, surprise... Rock is alive!
Hello! A surprise for those who’ve been following me for a while. Today I’m writing exclusively about music, something I haven’t done in a long time. The music universe this year has been inspiring… I haven’t felt this excited since 2019. So I decided to make a ranking of my favorite albums of 2025 (so far). I don’t call them “best albums” because calling them that is bullshit. Don’t believe the hype & enjoy!
25. Zé Ibarra: AFIM
Full of nostalgia and music from the south side of Rio de Janeiro, Zé Ibarra once again pays tribute to the past in his new work. And I love that. Sensitive productions, essential covers, and a voice that enchants any ear.
Song to start with: Da Menor Importância
24. Nina Emocional: FDM
FDM, by the Spanish artist Nina Emocional, talks about desire, queer culture, and… the end of the world. Her productions are fantastic, and this is an excellent debut for a promising artist. Her diverse influences are the secret to such a rich and interesting album.
Song to start with: OG
23. HAIM: I quit
The HAIM girls are back! Clearly they all had a lot of fun with this work, but they seem to have forgotten about quality between one party and another. Still, a great effort. The single covers, tying into epic moments of famous couples that went wrong, are insanely amazing.
Song to start with: Relationships
22. Men I Trust: Equus Asinus
This album is an invitation to strip away everything we feel and dance naked with melancholy. Just a few artists manage to find beauty in sadness and to work with this conflicting feeling in such a respectful and powerful way. Very beautiful.
Song to start with: I Come With Mud
21. FKA twigs: EUSEXUA
One of my favorite artists released a mediocre album. But her mediocre is better than many others. In EUSEXUA, FKA promised more than she delivered, but even so she created a universe of party and hedonistic pleasure. A direct homage to the greatest we have: Madonna.
Song to start with: Girl Feels Good
20. DARKSIDE: Nothing
This is a fantastic expansion of Darkside’s sound and a very welcome continuation after their work Spiral. It’s impossible to feel bored with DARKSIDE, but this much more introspective work makes us think of a gentle and calm life. Nothing can be deeper than you think.
Song to start with: Heavy Is Good For This
19. PinkPantheress: Fancy That
One of the most addictive sounds of 2025 is surely Illegal, one of the hits from the new musical work of the English singer PinkPantheress. The tracks were crafted with incredible samples: from Underworld to Basement Jaxx and Panic! At the Disco. It’s a popular journey into the young London-ish universe.
Song to start with: Illegal
18. Azuleja: C.R.I.N.G.E.
The experimental pop of the Spanish singer Azuleja came to teach us not to be afraid of exploring new paths — and even if that makes us cringe, it will exalt our uniqueness. We are unique and we only have one life. Let’s have fun with this soundtrack!
Song to start with: BIGFOOT
17. Neggy Gemmy: She Comes From Nowhere
Genre: Pop. Subgenre: spectacular. It’s hard to define such a cool sound in just a few words, so do yourself a favor and hit play on this album. A great mix of Trip Hop with video game songs elements, plus Jazz and Italian House. A colorful and delicious fruit salad.
Song to start with: I Don’t Feel Like Dancing
16. Amaia: Si Abro Los Ojos No Es Real
Amaia captivated a new audience with her latest work. And I am part of it. Her ironic lyrics draw an incredible parallel with the visuals created for the album: the iconic cover (one of my favorites of the year), the music videos, and the visuals of her live show. Everything is beautifully put together. Her sweetness turns into an open letter to her younger self, facing regrets and moving forward with a lot of self-love.
Song to start with: Nanai
15. Addison Rae: Addison
The hype around Addison Rae matches reality. In her debut, the singer showed effort and, most importantly in the world of social media, hired a very efficient image team. It’s clear that she handed everything over to them and doesn’t have much control over her own image, but she delivered everything to the gay audience, who have already adopted her as the new pop princess. I love that she ventures into experimenting more than we’re used to in pop music, especially with her image and the productions, particularly working only with a duo of female producers.
Song to start with: Headphones On
14. Little Simz: Lotus
Little Simz is one of my favorite contemporary artists. Her work shines in such a gray world. Her flow is perfect and, in this album, the analog elements bring an introspective and beautiful soul to the audience. The singer is also part of the group SAULT, which also released an amazing work this year.
Song to start with: Free
13. Alberto Continentino: Cabeça a Mil e o Corpo Lento
Even though MPB is the foundation of his work, Alberto leaves nostalgia behind and creates something contemporary, featuring various voices from the Brazilian music scene. Blending with jazz, the melodies stick to your heart and guide a psychedelic journey within yourself. It's the perfect soundtrack for walking through a park and rediscovering the beauty of life.
Song to start with: O Ovo do Sol
12. rusowsky: DAISY
The last living romantic boy! The artist surprised everyone with a wide range of special guests: from Las Ketchup (of the hit “Aserejé”) to Kevin Abstract and Ravyn Lenae. I love this “down and low” references because it makes the work feel much more alive and authentic. The world isn’t just tacky or just ultra-cool; it’s everything that exists between the extremes. And DAISY captures that perfectly.
Song to start with: Johnny Glamour
11. Djrum: Under Tangled Silence
Here, Djrum introduces us to a universe where jazz, ambient, and downtempo blend together, offering a hypnotic sonic experience. This album is an exercise in introspection and discovery. The music itself talks more than just words.
Song to start with: Galaxy in Silence
10. Oklou: choke enough
Oklou created an unexpected blend of melancholy and Eurodance that resulted in a brilliant body of work. The album sticks to the same creative direction throughout, which can make it feel a bit repetitive, but the artist’s decision to maintain that consistency allows the details to do the work in the listener’s ear.
Song to start with: hervest sky
9. Erika de Casier: Lifetime
Since 2019, I’ve been deeply researching Trip Hop, and I’m extremely happy to see the genre gaining more and more attention. A producer this complete and amazing, singing and producing an entire Trip Hop album on her own, is just the beginning of an era of artists who will do the same. I’m not sure it’ll be as good, though, because Erika de Casier is one of the most elegant artists alive that I know of on this planet.
Song to start with: You Can’t Always Get What You Want
8. V.A.: Avenida Paulista, da Consolação ao Paraíso
“Avenida Paulista, from Consolação to Paraíso” is a show by Felipe Hirsch with musical production by Maria Beraldo. The play’s compositions were organized into an album of 26 tracks featuring names like Juçara Marçal, Arnaldo Antunes, Kiko Dinucci, Tulipa Ruiz, Rodrigo Ogi, DJ K, Rodrigo Campos, Aretha Sadick, Thalin, and many (many, many, many) others. The work is a tsunami of what it means to live in São Paulo, the largest city in Latin America.
Song to start with: São para poucos
7. Perfume Genius: Glory
Perfume Genius returns with a dark sound and flawless visuals. The cover, photographed by Ssion, perfectly captures this feeling of discomfort in familiar situations. It’s a dense album that made me deeply respect the artist. One of the only Country Music works that truly goes beyond the genre’s dull conventions and creates something innovative.
Song to start with: No Front Teeth
6. Vegyn & Air: Blue Moon Safari
Remixing an album is a very difficult task. Remixing a classic is even harder. But Vegyn went there and did the almost impossible. Respecting all the widely recognized elements of the iconic Moon Safari, the producer blended in contemporary beats that engage with the core work. You can feel the admiration and love we all share for the original album.
Song to start with: Kelly Watch The Stars - Vegyn Version
5. Sophia Kennedy: Squeeze Me
The irony-filled lyrics with a surrealist touch about a hedonistic life from Sophia pulled me right into her playful mind. Inspired by post-punk spoken word, the artist is simply effortlessly good. The more pop-leaning instrumentals add just the right sauce to complete the perfect recipe. She should release a book, her lyrics are incredible. I would definitely love to read it.
Song to start with: Drive the Lorry
4. Luedji Luna: Um Mar Pra Cada Um, + Antes Que A Terra Acabe
Luedji Luna establishes herself as one of the most elegant artists in Brazilian popular music. After touring singing Sade’s songs, the artist released a jazz album, with a stellar team: the great composer Ubiratan Marques, her husband Zudizilla, Liniker, Curumin, and many others. And if that weren’t enough, she also released another surprise album two weeks later. I put both albums on the list’s same ranking because they complement each other in many ways, including in their high quality, so I recommend you listen to both back-to-back.
Song to start with: Gênesis
3. Yerai Cortés: LA GUITARRA FLAMENCA DE YERAI CORTÉS
This album was released on December 20, 2024. But it's impossible not to include such a profound work on this list. In addition to the album, the project comes with a deeply sensitive documentary directed by C. Tangana, a famous Spanish musician who met Yerai in an explosive encounter that knocked their worlds out of orbit. Finding beauty in a melancholic situation is one of humanity's most incredible powers (and Yerai is a master at it). I recommend watching the documentary (which shares the album's name) before listening to it.
Song to start with: SONAR POR BULERÍAS
2. Smerz: Big City Life
I want a sip of Denmark’s water. The cultural scene over there is buzzing. In addition to Joachim Trier’s new film, which is being praised by critics, and Erika de Casier also making my Top 5, the duo Smerz brings us a million references in a body of work that’s both diverse and coherent. Love songs are usually cheesy, but in this work, they’ve turned passion into something elegant (and super cool). At times it sounds like ML Buch and Tirzah, but it always feels fresh and new.
Song to start with: Roll the dice
1. Turnstile: NEVER ENOUGH
I'm not really a Rock person. I went through a psychedelic phase in my teenage years with Brazilian Tropicalismo, which I was obsessed with. But since then, Rock has become very distant from me. Maybe because it was swallowed up by toxic heterosexuality and an unwelcoming environment. But Turnstile came along to change that. Lately, I've been following the band, especially after they released an EP with BADBADNOTGOOD and Blood Orange. Then they dropped the new album NEVER ENOUGH. And a hurricane of emotions became alive inside me. The brilliance of this album lies precisely in the contrast between Hard Rock and extremely sensitive elements in the music production. So sensitive that many Hard Rock fans (aka Ogres) refuse to accept that Turnstile is Hard Rock. I half agree with them. The half I disagree with: Turnstile is Hard Rock by definition. The half I agree with: Turnstile created something so innovative that it transcended the basic definition of Hard Rock, it's much more than that. The romantic vocals and all the aggressive instruments dance in celestial harmony. Blood Orange's golden touch, who signs the musical direction, also shows up in the horn sections of some tracks.
Song to start with: LOOK OUT FOR ME
Tooooooootally recommend:
My playlist with my favorites songs + 200 new songs from 2025. Weekly updated:
Dimas, se conseguir ouça: "Caminhos Selvagens" da Catto <3
Ando viciado na Addison e Erika, não conhecia o estilo trip hop - achei tudo.