Well, here we are again for my 63rd, although somewhat belated, annual trawl through last year’s new albums. To be honest, 2025 was not a vintage year for new albums, or new artists, but that happens some times. Nevertheless there were still a steady flow of purchases to be reviewed in my Album of the Year 2025.
The number of gigs we could get to was also somewhat limited, but the highlight was in December when saw last year’s AOTY winners Last Dinner Party at The Halls in Wolverhampton, a venue which we are getting to like very much. As expected, they were superb, playing a good mixture from last year’s album, and the new one which was only released in October – of which more later. There was also a new track, Big Dog, which features lead guitarist Emily Roberts with some really head-banging riffs; if that’s a sample of what album three may sound like, then I can’t wait for that to be released.
In September, we took-in Lord Huron at the Colston Hall (aka Bristol Beacon). Brilliant band, great gig, but spoiled once again by the Be-a-con’s “state-of-the-art” lighting system. Essentially, the same comments applied to Lady Blackbird at the same venue in February. She has a fantastic voice, even when the sound desk crashes, and her band were brilliant. Only problem was we never saw her face once – no use of key spots, plus floodlights placed on the back of the stage shining straight up into the upper level crowd’s eyes. With Lord Huron it was a smokescreen permanently running in front of the stage! Perhaps they are trying to recreate the peculiar type of fog that was in the room when they decided to spend £132m on turning this once great (although tired) venue into a white elephant. Because that’s three out of the four gigs we have attended since the reopening where we have not been able to see the band members properly, if at all.
Next to The One That Got Away – an album that would have made the top ten had I purchased it in the appropriate year, and which came belatedly to my radar in 2025. This year those albums covered more than fifty years, from Argent’s In Deep from 1973 to several albums from 2024. In the end, the accolade went to one of the latter – King of Mirrors by Forgotten Pharaohs. In this, their debut album, the band consists of Christian Pattemore (originally from Frome in Somerset, but now living in Wales) on bass and vocals, Liam ‘Skin’ Tyson lead guitarist from Cast and Christian’s brother Sam on Drums. The sound is very 1970s west coast rock/acid blues, and succeeds in maintaining a high standard right the way from the opener Carousel through to the final track Giving the Best Away – so much so that it almost sounds like it could have been released the same week as the Argent album.
For those of you new to this blog, the self-imposed criteria for my selections are that I must have a physical copy in my collection that has been purchased during the year, normally from my favourite independent record store, Sound Knowledge in Marlborough, the album’s UK release date has to be in the year being reviewed, and the list can contain no compilations or live albums. I compile a long list as the year progresses of albums that stand out from the crowd, then produce a short list for the final process.
Having said that, there was one particular compilation album, Orboretum, that was well-overdue when it appeared right at the end of 2024, and hence did not get into my collection until the year under review. If, like me, you came across odd tracks by The Orb, or caught one of their legendary Glastonbury sets, over the years since their formation back in 1988, but never purchased one of their albums, then this is one you won’t want to miss – a double album of their very best, including classics such as Little Fluffy Clouds, Perpetual Dawn and A Huge Evergrowing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld.
As usual, I acquired considerably more albums than are needed for a top ten, but the initial shortlisting process did not prove quite as difficult as in previous years as the top ten was pretty self-evident and the first cut removed a number of albums which did not live up to their early promise. Worthy of mention in these, however, is Tonky by Lonnie Holley. He is a 75 year-old contemporary artist, born in Birmingham Alabama, sometimes known as The Sandman from his sandstone carvings that he has been exhibiting since the 1980s. He did not start a musical career until around ten years ago, but this is his seventh album release in that time. As might be guessed from his background, his songs are founded in the human rights movement of the 1960s and, as such, can be hard work at times. But some on this album, particularly the standout Protest with Love, are well worth a listen.
As I progressed to the sharper end, a number of old favourites fell by the wayside including Skunk Anansie’s The Painful Truth, which is their first album for nine years, and a very good return effort. After a couple of lack-lustre albums, Everybody Scream by Florence & the Machine is another return to form, the only problem being it’s November release date which did not provide sufficient time for it to make any inroads into a fairly well-established shortlist by then. Sam Fender’s third album, People Watching, was four years in the making and is a good album, winning the Mercury Prize among other accolades. But for me it didn’t live up to the promise of those first two albums, and hence did not elbow its way onto my player sufficiently; similarly Suede’s latest effort, Antidepressants, also failed to sustain its early promise.
Two Artists from the 1980s made solo returns this year, Gary Kemp from Spandau Ballet and Kim Wilde. This Destination is Gary Kemp’s third solo album, and is a very accomplished effort and very much in his own style, not drawing much from his Spandau time. Kim Wilde’s fifteenth album Closer, on the other hand, is unashamedly reminiscent of her first, and is none the worse for that. Both albums held a top ten slot for most of the year, but missed out on the final cut, although both are well worth checking-out.
Others that didn’t quite make it included the Isle of Wight’s finest, Wet Leg, whose 2022 debut album was thoroughly refreshing. Unfortunately, their follow-up, Moisturizer, only lived-up to that early promise in parts, such as the standout Catch These Fists. I picked-up on Nightbus, an indie trio from Manchester, when they released their second single, Mirrors, in 2023 but had to wait until the back end of 2025 to get hold of their debut album Passenger. And it was well worth the wait, with their sound somewhere between early Cure and The XX having been well-honed in the interim – check out Fluoride Stare or Somewhere Nowhere if you want to get a good feel for the album. Final mention in this section is for Chewing the Fat , the third album from London indie-funk duo Franc Moody. They use a wide variety of synths on this album, and the result is a good variance of sound that bounces along nicely; tracks to sample are Square Pegs in Round Holes and Space Between Us.
So we come to that top ten, in no particular order until the top three:
Parcels – Loved
This is the third studio album from Australian indie-pop band Parcels who formed around ten years ago in Byron Bay, New South Wales, before moving to Berlin and signing to a French record label. There followed a collaboration with Daft Punk, of which there are still echoes on a couple of the tracks here. They performed an excellent set on the West Holts stage at Glastonbury last year, which piqued my interest, so when this album was released a couple of months later it soon became a regular on my player. Checkout the opener Tobeloved, Yougotmefeeling and Leaves.
Maribou State – Hallucinating Love
Maribou State were another band who performed an impressive set when they headlined the West Holts stage on the Friday night at Glastonbury last year. Their basis is electronica duo Chris Davids and Liam Ivory who started performing at school in Berkhamstead during the noughties and have been together ever since. This is their third studio album, and their first for seven years following on from the highly-rated Kingdoms in Colour released in 2018, which is also well worth a listen. All of their albums feature tracks with long-time collaborator and singer Holly Walker, and one of those, Otherside, is one of the best on this album. All I Need and Dance on the World are other strong tracks on what is a very consistent album.
acloudyskye – This Won’t Be the Last Time
acloudyskye, aka Skye Kosari, is a 23-year-old singer/songwriter, producer and visual artist from New York. He began playing guitar aged twelve, and he soon dreamed of being a rockstar through early influences including Led Zeppelin, Radiohead and Killers, primarily through his father who playsbass in a local band. However, other musical diversions came along, including Dubstep and Post-Rock, which likely accounts for the varied styles on this, his fifth, studio album – quite a formidible output for such a young performer. Despite all of the above, this is a very much an Indie album that sounds like it was produced on this side of the pond, particularly the tracks Basin and Home which have a distinct feel of Snow Patrol about them.
Devon Allman – The Blues Summit
As might be expected from the son of Allman Brothers’ keyboard player and vocalist Gregg Allman, this is a Blues/Rock album. However, in his early career Devon tried everything to avoid following the same musical path as his father (and uncle Duane), but eventually the genes won-out. He formed and performed with several bands from the late 1990s until producing his first solo album, Turquoise, in 2012. This is his fifth solo album, and probably his best so far combining his own writing with guest performances from the likes of Robert Randolph, up-and-coming (and Grammy-winning) blues guitarist Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, who features on the superb opener Runners in the Night, and Sierra Green (stepdaughter of Cee-Lo) whose soulful vocals on Real Love provide a great contrast-point. This is an album that grabs you from the beginning, and keeps you interested right through to the ending two tracks, a great cover of Hendrix’ Little Wing and the instrumental finale Midnight Lake Eyrie.
Emma-Jean Thackray – Weirdo
Described by one journalist as a musical polymath, Emma-Jean grew up in Leeds but is now based in London. Weirdo is her second album, and she not only produced and self-released it, but also plays all the instruments on it. The album has a Jazz-Funk style to it – as opposed to her debut in 2021, Yellow, which was more jazz-orientated. The original idea for the album was for it to be a somewhat introspective view of her own life, but shortly after starting work on it her long-time partner died, and this changed the whole concept – her grief causing her to withdraw to her home and work alone, other than a couple of minor collaborations. Which explains the nature of the some of the lyrics, but makes the contrast of the upbeat nature of the accompanying music, such as on Save Me and Black Hole, quite intriguing. At nineteen tracks, even though most are quite short, the album itself is perhaps a little too long which, in the end, is what held it back for me.
Teddy Swims – I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 2)
Teddy Swims is an R&B singer from Conyers in Georgia, and this is the follow-up to his debut album – yes you guessed it I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1). However, this is a much more accomplished album, hence earning it a 2026 Grammy nomination. It mixes modern R&B tinged with older Motown and Memphis sounds, plus some seventies funk mixed in. All the tracks are good, with Not Your Man, Funeral and Bad Dreams particularly worth checking out.
Lord Huron – Cosmic Selector Vol 1
This is Lord Huron’s fifth studio album, and the long-awaited follow-up to Long Lost which featured highly in my 2021 list. It still features their enigmatic blend of country rock, rock and roll and sixties surf, with hints of doo-wop and rockabilly plus ambient soundscapes floating in and out from time to time, but this time there is a slightly harder edge to some of the tracks, particularly on Who Laughs Last, which features spoken parts by Twilight actress Kristen Stewart. Other tracks worth checking-out are Bag of Bones and Nothing I Need. The album again has a concept feel about it, and the tour gig promoting it centres around a jukebox placed in the centre of the stage, and also features on the album cover, which channels songs from ‘out there’.
And so we reach the top three:
Last Dinner Party – From the Pyre
A very quick follow-up to their debut, and last year’s Album of the Year, Prelude to Ecstasy. But whereas that normally means something rushed-out by a record company to capitalise on initial success, that is certainly not the case here. Instead, this is a very accomplished progression that may well have made it two in a row for the girls had it been released earlier than the end of October, and thereby had enough time to overtake albums that were already well-entrenched above it.
Having said that, Prelude to Ecstasy is outstanding throughout, and although there are some excellent tracks here as well, particularly This is the Killer Speaking, Second Best and the standout Rifle, there are one or two that have not quite hit the spot – yet. Nevertheless, this is still well worth a listen.
Muireann Bradley – I Kept These Old Blues
Every so often an album comes along that almost defies belief in how it came into existence. Sometimes this is because the music is unusual, although that is not the case here as all the tracks on this album are out-and-out thirties blues and ragtime. What makes this album so interesting is that Donegal native Muireann learned to play guitar, and this music, during the 2020 lockdowns when she was only thirteen. A YouTube video was made of Police Dog Blues, and this was spotted by a San Francisco music producer who encouraged her to record her favourite songs. Over the next three years, the tracks that make up this album were each recorded in one take in her home using just a single microphone and acoustic guitar. The resultant album was released in the USA on a small indie label, and attracted a lot of interest including from Jools Holland, who invited her onto his Hootenanny show in 2023, where she performed Candyman, the opening track on this album. The following year she was signed to Decca, who then remastered some of those tracks, without losing the completely stripped-back sound, to compile into this utterly delightful album.
Brooke Combe – Dancing at the Edge of the World
Which brings us to this year’s top choice, an early purchase that lasted the course well, mainly due to its consistency. Edinburgh singer/songwriter Brooke Combe was originally signed to Island Records in 2021, and her debut single Are You With Me? produced more than a ripple on the airwaves, and several more singles, plus an appearance at Glastonbury, followed. However, she began to become disillusioned with being on a large label, and in 2024 decided to go it alone.
For her debut, and self-released, album she has produced what I term a modern soul album, a description that sometimes irritates those who consider that soul music never extended beyond the early-seventies – or was produced beyond the the borders of Memphis, Chicago and Detroit. Of course they’re wrong, as I regularly point out by highlighting recent acts such as St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Black Pumas, Eli Paperboy Reed, Thee Sacred Souls and Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, to name but a few.
So what exactly is soul music? Well, you can read all manner of learned discourses on the subject, but for me it’s always been what is best described as floor-fillers – tunes that consistently hook into your soul and drag it onto the dance floor, along with the rest of you – or simply get you bopping around the kitchen (I know, not such a pretty image these days!) As do tracks on this album like This Town, Shaken by the Wind and the absolute standout Lanewood Pines, which if, instead of Scotland in 2025, it had been recorded in some obscure backstreet of Detroit sixty years ago would now be a Northern Soul classic.
Who knows, maybe the next time I go to a Northern Soul night, I might just ask the DJ to put it on and see the reaction.
I have compiled a playlist containing seventy-five of the best tracks from albums purchased during 2025, including the ones that didn’t make the shortlist. To stream the playlist on Spotify, click the logo below.
If you want to download or stream any of the individual albums mentioned, links are provided in the following table:
| Artist | Album | Stream | |
 | Brooke Combe | Dancing at the Edge of the World |  |
 | Muireann Bradley | I Kept These Old Blues | |
 | Last Dinner Party | From the Pyre | |
 | Lord Huron | Cosmic Selector Vol 1 | |
 | Teddy Swims | I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 2) | |
 | The Orb | Orboretum | |
 | Forgotten Pharaohs | King of Mirrors | |