Best, Favorite, & Most Interesting Albums Of 2025
11
-
Bon Iver -
Lucy Dacus- Genre: Indie rock / Folk-pop / Chamber-pop / Singer-songwriter.
- Influenced by: Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Fiona Apple, Elliott Smith, Regina Spektor, Dolly Parton.
- Similar artists: Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, Hozier, Angel Olsen, Sharon Van Etten, Big Thief.
- About this album: Forever Is a Feeling is Lucy Dacus’s fourth solo studio album and her major-label debut, released March 28, 2025 via Geffen Records. The album blends lush instrumentation — strings, piano, synths, guitars — with Dacus’s intimate, confessional songwriting, producing a warm, textured, and emotionally candid soundscape. Lyrically, it explores desire, identity, romantic longing, obsession, and love, often drawn from her personal life and relationships. The mood shifts between dreamy introspection, longing, bittersweet confession and tender honesty — a snapshot of longing for connection and emotional truth. Features guest vocals from her bandmates in boygenius (Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker), as well as a collaboration with Hozier.
- Metacritic Score: 75 (generally favorable reviews).
- Awards / Nominations: No major awards or Grammy nominations publicly listed (as of now).
- Song To Sample: “Ankles” — the lead single, with its sensual energy, romantic yearning, and bold embrace of desire, exemplifies the album’s blend of vulnerability and intensity.
-
Wet Leg- Genre: Indie rock / Post-punk / New wave / Power pop
- Influenced by: Pixies, Elastica, The Breeders, Garbage, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Strokes, Blondie, Talking Heads, Sonic Youth.
- Similar artists: Alvvays, Dry Cleaning, The Beths, Confidence Man, CSS, Wolf Alice.
- About this album: Moisturizer is the second studio album by British rock band Wet Leg, released July 11, 2025 on Domino Recording Company. The record builds on the cheeky energy of their 2022 debut with punchier guitars, sharper hooks, and an expanded emotional palette — shifting from deadpan irreverence to brash love songs, lustful obsessions, quirky humor and romantic vulnerability. Moisturizer blends 90s alt-rock, post-punk swagger, pop-inflected power-pop melodies and witty lyricism.
- Metacritic Score: 84 (critical acclaim).
- Awards / Nominations: Nominated for three 2026 Grammy awards: Best Alternative Music Album; Best Alternative Music Album ("mangetout"); Best Album Cover.
- Song To Sample: “CPR” — a lively opener that pairs driving rhythms with clever lyrics about love’s urgency and vulnerability, capturing both the band’s humor and emotional range.
-
Alison Krauss & Union Station, Alison Krauss- Genre: Bluegrass / Americana / Country / Roots.
- Influenced by: Bill Monroe, Emmylou Harris, Doc Watson, Gillian Welch, Ralph Stanley, Flatt & Scruggs.
- Similar artists: The Del McCoury Band, The Infamous Stringdusters, Sierra Ferrell, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Nickel Creek, Dolly Parton (acoustic/folk-leaning).
- About this album: Arcadia is Alison Krauss & Union Station’s first new album in 14 years and her first album since 2021's "Raise The Roof" with Robert Plant. It reunites longtime members Jerry Douglas (dobro/steel), Ron Block, Barry Bales, and introduces new co-vocalist Russell Moore, who replaces longtime member Dan Tyminski. The 10-song collection draws on traditional bluegrass, Americana, and folk storytelling, with many tracks steeped in history and human drama — from Civil-War era ballads to industrial-era tragedies. The band described the album as “stories of the past told in this music,” evoking themes of family, loss, resilience, and the lives of ordinary people across time.
- Metacritic Score: 84 (universal acclaim).
- Awards / Nominations: Nominated for three 2026 Grammy awards: Best Bluegrass Album, Best American Roots Performance ("Richmond On The James"), Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. Won 2025 BMA Bluegrass Music Award for Female Vocalist of the Year. Nominated for 2026 International Folk Music Awards Album of the Year.
- Song To Sample: “Looks Like the End of the Road” — the lead single and opening track.
-
Patterson Hood- Genre: Alternative / Americana / Singer-songwriter / Alt-Country / Cinematic folk-rock.
- Influenced by: Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Warren Zevon, Nick Cave, Bruce Springsteen.
- Similar artists: Waxahatchee, Jason Isbell, James McMurtry, Kevin Morby, Wednesday, Son Volt.
- About this album: Patterson takes a detour from Drive-By Truckers to deliver his first solo album in more than a decade, and what an album it turned out to be. Produced by Chris Funk and recorded at studios in Georgia and Oregon, Hood expands beyond his usual guitar-driven roots: many songs are built around piano, and the arrangements often include woodwinds, strings, saxophone, and other nontraditional instruments. Deeply introspective, Hood revisits Alabama winters, adolescent heartbreak, and the emotional weight of history, trauma, and personal growth. Several tracks on this album were originally written decades ago — some as far back as the early 1980s — but never recorded until now. One of the most purely literate albums in ages.
- Metacritic Score: 86 (universal acclaim)
- Awards / Nominations: NA.
- Song To Sample: “A Werewolf and a Girl” — a duet featuring Lydia Loveless, combining gothic Americana story-telling with emotional rawness and haunting vocals.
-
Tyler Childers- Genre: Country / Appalachian-rooted folk / Outlaw-tinged / Psychedelic-country / Experimental Americana.
- Influenced by: Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie, Townes Van Zandt, Neil Young, The Band.
- Similar artists: Sierra Ferrell, Colter Wall, Zach Bryan, Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell, Whiskey Myers.
- About this album: Produced by legendary producer Rick Rubin (with additional input from Nick Sanborn of Sylvan Esso), the record represents a bold expansion of Childers’s sound — blending his Appalachian folk and country roots with elements of electric rock, gospel choir arrangements, ragtime rhythms, psychedelia, and even spiritual and Eastern-influenced motifs. Childers weaves narratives of rural life, personal transformation, existential reflection, and cultural mythology, creating an album that feels both intimately grounded and wildly experimental.
- Metacritic Score: 87 (universal acclaim).
- Awards / Nominations: NA.
- Song To Sample: “Tirtha Yatra," a pairing of gospel-choir-like textures (and hinted devotional chants) with Appalachian roots and modern production. Also, for pure toe-tapping fun, "Bitin' List."
-
Wednesday- Genre: Indie rock / Alt-rock / Post punk / Noise rock / Alt-country / “Creek rock” hybrid.
- Influenced by: Lucinda Williams, Richard Buckner, John Prine, Drive-By Truckers, The Sundays, My Bloody Valentine.
- Similar artists: Uncle Tupelo, Dinosaur Jr., Low, Waxahatchee, St. Vincent.
- About this album: Though Bleeds deals in themes of violence, loss, and southern-horror realism — bodies pulled from rivers, betrayal, murder–suicide, addiction — the band’s frontwoman Karly Hartzman insists the record isn’t a “dark record.” Rather, she frames it as a brutally honest snapshot of real life in small-town America — full of brutality, beauty, sorrow, and weird humor. The lyrics are dark, raw, and gritty. There's a Southern Gothic sense of longing, memory, and emotional reckoning. The album blends abrasive noise-rock, alt-country twang, shoegaze and raw storytelling, creating a uniquely “creek rock” atmosphere.
- Metacritic Score: 88 (universal acclaim).
- Awards / Nominations: Nominated for Radio WigWam Awards 2026 Best Indie Rock Artist.
- Song To Sample: “Wound Up Here (By Holdin On)” — a melancholic and visceral track built on crunchy guitars and haunting vocals.
-
Mavis Staples- Genre: R&B / Soul / Gospel-inflected / Americana-tinged.
- Influenced by: Mahalia Jackson, Curtis Mayfield, Tom Waits, Gillian Welch, Frank Ocean, The Staple Singers.
- Similar artists: Aretha Franklin (later soul/gospel-rock edge), Bonnie Raitt, Jeff Tweedy (solo/roots-leaning work), Waxahatchee (soul-tinged Americana), Buddy Guy (soul-blues), Derek Trucks (blues-rock / Southern roots).
- About this album: Sad and Beautiful World was released November 7, 2025, on Anti- Records. The album was produced by Brad Cook, and features contributions from a wide array of artists — including Katie Crutchfield, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Derek Trucks, Jeff Tweedy, and others. The record blends Staples’s decades-deep voice and moral authority with modern roots and soul instrumentation — finger-picked guitars, soft horns, light percussion — giving a restrained, intimate palette that puts her voice front-and-center. The album is a mix of covers and reinterpretations spanning many decades plus a small number of original or newly written songs, allowing Staples, 86, to draw on her long experience with gospel, soul, civil-rights-era music, and contemporary music. Worth noting: Despite her fame, Staples does her own laundry and errands, believing in staying connected to people. Bob Dylan once proposed to her. She turned him down.
- Metacritic Score: 90 (universal acclaim).
- Awards / Nominations: Nominated for two 2026 Grammy awards: Best American Roots Performance ("Beautiful Strangers"); Best Americana Performance ("Godspeed").
- Song To Sample: “Anthem” — another Leonard Cohen cover (she previously covered "If It Be Your Will" on "Here It Is," the Cohen tribute album). Only Mavis could come close to imbuing the same ethereal quality as Cohen himself.
-
Robert Plant- Genre: Folk / Folk-rock / Blues / Americana / Roots.
- Influenced by: Memphis Minnie, Blind Willie Johnson, Traditional British & American folk, Gospel blues tradition, Psychedelic-era rock (’60s/’70s).
- Similar artists: Moby Grape, Low, Gillian Welch, Martha Scanlan, The Low Anthem.
- About this album: Recorded between April 2019 and January 2025 in the Cotswolds and the Welsh Borders, the album features Plant performing with longtime touring group Saving Grace: vocalist Suzi Dian (co-credited on the album), drummer Oli Jefferson, guitarist Tony Kelsey, banjo/strings player Matt Worley, and cellist Barney Morse-Brown. The album marks the culmination of a years-long collaboration formed during the COVID-19 lockdown. The record consists entirely of cover versions: 10 songs drawn from roots-music, gospel-blues, folk, and modern alt-folk sources, giving a panoramic snapshot of Plant’s vast musical influences. The sound is warm, earthy, and deeply rooted in tradition — with elements of gospel blues, folk, and psychedelia, all underpinned by a heartfelt reverence to musical heritage that transcends what any cover album ought to be able to accomplish.
- Metacritic Score: 86 (universal acclaim).
- Awards / Nominations: NA.
- Song To Sample: “Everybody’s Song” — a cover of a track by Low, reinterpreted by Plant & Saving Grace in a haunting, roots-inflected style that encapsulates the album’s spirit of rediscovery and reinterpretation.
-
Jason Isbell- Genre: Folk / Americana / Singer-songwriter / American Roots.
- Influenced by: John Prine, Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Guy Clark, Bruce Springsteen, Kris Kristofferson.
- Similar artists: Patterson Hood, Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson, James McMurtry, Drive-By Truckers.
- About this album: In 2023, Jason Isbell famously divorced his wife and musical collaborator Amanda Shires. Both of them released post-split albums in 2025, and it’s Isbell’s that takes the top album spot this year, and little doubt that it would. Foxes in the Snow is Isbell’s tenth studio album, released March 7 on Southeastern Records. Recorded in five days at Electric Lady Studios in New York, it features an entirely solo Isbell, performing on a vintage 1940 Martin acoustic guitar. With no members of The 400 Unit appearing on the record, it marks Isbell’s first fully solo acoustic project in almost two decades. Raw, intimate, and focused on themes of heartbreak, loss, self-examination, and personal change, Foxes channels the style of folk predecessors like Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, and Joni Mitchell.
- Metacritic Score: 84 (universal acclaim).
- Awards / Nominations: Nominated for three 2026 Grammy awards: Best Folk Album; Best American Roots Performance (“Crimson and Clay”); Best American Roots Song (“Foxes in the Snow”). Also nominated by the Americana Music Association for Album of the Year.
- Song To Sample: “Crimson and Clay” — a somber, roots-driven ode to Isbell's native Alabama that showcases the album’s emotional gravity and earned one of its Grammy nods.
Best, Favorite, & Most Interesting Albums Of 2025 is an album list curated by
Mark.
Do you like albums?
Want to make a list?
It’s free & easy &
the Whale is nice!
Learn more