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the best albums of 2025

the fopp report

after months of listening, debating, abandoning opinions, then crawling back to them again, the dust has finally settled. behold: our favourite albums of 2025. no ranking. no hierarchy. just the records we couldn’t stop dropping the needle on.

you can find the full list below, and if you fancy something you can actually hold, swing by a fopp store and grab a free copy of this year’s fopp report.

big thief – double infinity – album of the year

release date: 5 september 2025

label: 4ad

double infinity finds big thief at a crossroads, transforming change into renewal. following the departure of bassist max oleartchik, the remaining trio embrace both intimacy and experimentation, creating an album that feels at once stripped back and boundless. adrianne lenker’s songwriting remains the emotional anchor, fragile, searching, and deeply human, while the band surround her voice with shifting textures that move from whispered folk to kaleidoscopic psychedelia. the result is music that feels alive and communal, shaped by collaboration rather than loss. songs like incomprehensible and los angeles bloom slowly, revealing new colours with each listen. double infinity captures a band unafraid to deconstruct their sound in order to rediscover its essence. it is not about reinvention for its own sake, but about trusting that vulnerability can lead to transcendence. with the musicians as they move between vulnerability and exuberance, introspection and celebration. each listening experience reveals subtle layers of sound and feeling, a testament to the communal spirit in which it was made.

david byrne – who is the sky?

release date: 5 september 2025

label: matador

byrne’s who is the sky? is a total joyride full of lush strings, clever lyrics, and that offbeat energy only he can pull off. the collabs with hayley williams, st. vincent, and the ghost train orchestra are wild in the best way, mixing wit and wonder like classic byrne but with a fresh twist. this star-studded album is not to miss, and perfect for new and old fans alike.

cate le bon – michelangelo dying

release date: 26 September 2025

label: mexican summer

cate le bon’s michelangelo dying unfolds with quiet emotional force, embracing loss as both pain and renewal. her voice glides between calm reflection and haunted intensity, surrounded by elegant layers of piano, saxophone, and guitar. songs like heaven is no feeling and ride reveal a delicate balance between structure and vulnerability. the album feels less like a narrative of healing and more like an act of acceptance, a luminous meditation on impermanence and the fragile beauty of love.

japanese breakfast – For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)

release date: 21 march 2025

label: Dead Oceans

for melancholy brunettes (& sad women) songwriter michelle zauner pulls back from the bright extroversion that defined its predecessor jubilee. the result is an artistic statement of purpose: a mature, intricate, contemplative work that conjures the romantic thrill of a gothic novel.

horsegirl – Phonetics On and On

release date: 14 february 2025

label: Matador

phonetics on and on is the second album from chicago trio horsegirl. produced by cate le bon, it marries dissonant guitar jangles and fuzz-laden bass notes that echo the likes of the raincoats. though tonally consistent, time signature changes and non lexical vocals weave the listener from start to finish through a perfectly balanced aural sensation.

julien baker & torres – send a prayer my way

release date: 18 april 2025

label: Matador

Send A Prayer My Way sees Julien Baker and Torres embrace country roots with honesty and nuance. Their voices intertwine over banjo, pedal steel, and warm harmonies, tackling themes of love, regret, and faith with quiet power.

car seat headrest – the scholars

release date: 02 may 2025

label: Matador

Car Seat Headrest return with The Scholars, a bold new rock opera that isn’t just a new chapter for the premiere standard bearers of young internet rockers but also a spiritual rebirth, and the band’s first studio album in five years. Set at the fictional college campus Parnassus University, the songs on The Scholars are populated with students and staff whose travails illuminate a loose narrative of life and rebirth.

release date: 06 june 2025

label: rough trade

More marks Pulp’s triumphant return after 24 years, blending strings, synths and bursts of dance-pop into something familiar yet freshly lived-in. Jarvis Cocker’s lyrics brim with wit, warmth and reflection, proving Pulp remain not just icons of the past but vital voices of the present.

taylor swift – the life of a showgirl

release date: 03 october 2025

label: Republic

Where else is there to go after reaching summits no other artist could hope to reach? Taylor Swift follows up her revered and record-breaking, world-conquering The Eras Tour by giving us a peek behind the curtain. What we find there is an artist embracing the pure joy of performance. This is Swift’s most playful, polished, and enjoyable record. It’s a combination of Swift’s masterful lyrics and melodies, and Swedish powerhouses, Max Martin and Shellback’s, sparkling pop production that is polished to a blinding gleam. From its opening notes on piano in The Fate of Ophelia, you know they have created a new sonic landscape of undeniable bops. The glitzy ’80s pop-rock of Opalite, to shimmering horns on Wood, and the bright, stuttering beats of Honey. Swift embraces a full wardrobe of musical styles. Beneath the sequins, Swift remains a sharp chronicler of fame, femininity, and fatigue. The Shakespeare-referencing Fate of Ophelia is a worthy entrée into Swift’s canon of literary songwriting.

release date: 19 September 2025

label: Divine Comedy

Rainy Sunday Afternoon finds The Divine Comedy at their most tender and cinematic, rich with orchestral pop and quiet melancholy. Recorded at Abbey Road, it radiates warmth and nostalgia, while the Deluxe Edition adds new life, showcasing Neil Hannon’s timeless elegance, wit and enduring charm.

release date: 18 july 2025

label: rca

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