Some years glide by. 2025 absolutely did not. It lurched, snapped, fizzed, spiralled, and yet spat out moments of such clarity, chaos and brilliance that they somehow made the whole thing feel worth it.

As always, we’ve argued, sulked, shifted things up and down spreadsheets at 1am, changed our minds, changed them back, and eventually landed on a Top 100 that captures the full, messy shape of the year. Some of these records arrived with full blockbuster fanfare; others crept in sideways and refused to leave. Some are debuts that signalled a door blowing open; some are by artists who’ve never felt more in command. What they all share is that special jolt that something real was happening, whether it was shouted from rooftops or whispered into headphones.

That’s the version of the year we’re counting down over December, not the tidy narrative the machine likes to pretend exists, but the one we actually lived through. The one full of odd left-turns, tiny triumphs, emotional haymakers, ridiculous bangers, huge statements, quiet killers and albums that lodged themselves so firmly under our skin we’re still shaking them loose over the festive nut roast.

Across the next two weeks, we’ll be revealing the list bit by glorious bit. Just the albums that made our hearts race, our brains fizz and our year make a tiny bit more sense. From the cult favourites to the big hitters, this is 2025 as we heard it: brilliant, unpredictable, occasionally unhinged, and absolutely worth celebrating.

100-81 | 80-61 | 60-41 | 40-21 | 20-11 | 10-6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

'The New Eve Is Rising' is the sort of album you’re not entirely sure you were supposed to find. Nothing is signposted, ideas cropping up like stray markers someone forgot to clear away. Live, The New Eves lean hard into that sense of theatre - masks, shadows, the whole thing - and you can hear traces of that atmosphere caught on the record, even when it sounds like it’s slipping out of their hands for a second. What they’re really doing, or at least what it feels like they’re doing, is building a small mythology one fragment at a time, letting the rough edges stay put. Calling it a debut almost undersells it. 'The New Eve Is Rising' is more of a declaration that this is their corner now, and everyone else can work out the rules afterwards. AW

If you wanted to explain HotWax to someone in a single blast of noise, 'Hot Shock' would do the job. It’s the distilled essence of a band who’ve spent their late teens growing up on the road, realising just how far their momentum can carry them. In the past few years, they’ve signed a deal, toured with Royal Blood, lived out of vans and blown apart festival tents, and all of that motion finds its way into their debut.

The album channels that restless energy: the bounce and bite of 'Wanna Be A Doll', the unhinged romance of 'Chip My Tooth For You' and 'Dress Our Love', the shoegaze drift of 'Strange To Be Here', the grungy thump of 'She’s Got A Problem'. It’s sweaty and instinctive, but also tender.

'Hot Shock' bottles the exact moment HotWax are in: young, fearless and absolutely ready to sprint into whatever comes next. FN

Deep Sea Diver's fourth album, but the first under the revered Sub Pop banner, 'Billboard Heart' is a testament to the band's growth and Jessica Dobson's unyielding artistic vision. Scrapping initial sessions in Los Angeles, Dobson found solace in her home studio, capturing the album's raw spirit. It's this sense of freedom that runs through the record, the new label's hands-off approach allowing them to create without much in the way of compromise. 'Billboard Heart' is both a declaration of independence and a celebration of artistic integrity. It's also a Really Very Good Album. AW

Matilda Mann's 'Roxwell' arrives with the knowing confidence of an artist who knows exactly where, and what, she wants to be. It's been a long time coming, too. Before this, Mann teased us with EPs that hinted at her potential, each a step towards a debut full-length that finally brings her into full focus. An album that is both a nod to her past and a bold step into her future, each track acts as a vignette of love, loss, and self-discovery. In doing so, she's cemented her place as one of the UK's most promising new voices. Not too shabby, then. DH

Erika De Casier makes pop music as an art form. With a master's touch, she channels the true greats of Madonna, Janet and Sade reflected through a modern-day prism to make soft focus R&B-tinged pop that is gauzy and nostalgic with a sensual beating heart. The Danish artist’s fourth album ‘Lifetimes’ is the niche pop complement to Addison Rae’s breakthrough debut album, as it exists in a similar sonic space but with a jolting undercurrent of weirdness to stop it getting too wispy and gossamer smooth. It feels very 90s with a vibe akin to discovering an old VHS tape of late-night MTV circa 1993, but it is full of rich, luxurious songs that unravel that little bit more with every listen. Truly glorious songs, madly inventive production and deeply cool on every level. MY

Jessica Winter's 'My First Album' is a debut that grabs modern pop by the neck and shakes it hard until the sequins fall right off. Released with a swagger, it's a shiny affair with its heart in the 80s, but its eyes fixed firmly on the future. This isn't an artist tentatively stepping out; it's Winter striding on stage, spotlights ablaze, ready to claim her place. Her voice is distinct, her vision clear. She's not just making out here making pop great music; she's resetting the rules on what it means to find your voice in it. 'My Second Album' should be a smash. DH

‘Revengeseekerz’ is an all-out maximalist sonic assault from an artist who defies categorisation. As hyperpop has morphed into an all-encompassing sound that traverses noise rock, emo, electronica, and all manner of different sounds, Jane Remover best exemplifies that creative, anything goes spirit in 2025. Abrasive and relentless yet thrillingly playful and eccentric, this is music that can’t be tied down and can’t be contained. MY

JENNIE's debut album 'Ruby' lands with an intent to cut through the noise. It's a bold statement for the BLACKPINK icon, clearly ready to carve her own path with lack of attitude to draw upon. 'Mantra' is a masterclass in tension, a thumping rhythm underpinning JENNIE's vocal play. It's a track that demands attention. And attention it gets. It's an album that doesn't simply rest on the laurels of her already established fame. Instead, 'Ruby' is an exploration, a declaration, and most importantly, a showcase of JENNIE's evolution as an artist in her own right. LP

Jay Som has been gone too long, and 'Belong' proves it. Spending six years honing her production skills, touring with boygenius, and just teaching herself to become an even better musician than she already was, Melina Duterte returns with an album that is playful, personal, and pretty damn great. Whether she's teaming up with pop-punk heavyweights Jim Adkins on 'Float' and Hayley Williams on 'Past Lives', turning her hand to soft, indie-folk ballads like 'Appointment', or even taking a left turn into alt-electronica on 'A Million Reasons Why', Melina never loses her true purpose: finding herself through connections with others. Eclectic, ethereal, and expansive, 'Belong' is the album we all needed, even if we didn't know it at the time. CP

With 'If Not Winter', Wisp embarks on a sprawling quest that draws inspiration from medieval fantasy and the ancient Greek poetry of Sappho. Standard stuff then. First catching attention with her single 'Your Face', Wisp has taken the shoegaze sound and infused it with her own brand of lets-make-up-genres-now' nu gaze'. 'Sword', the lead single, offers a matured evolution of those past works, where confidence in the songwriting is palpable. It's not just about the noise; it's about the narrative. Wisp's journey through love and loss is underscored by her own vulnerability, each track acting as a talisman she picks up along the way. She's on a quest, and 'If Not Winter' is just the beginning. AW

Released in mid-September, Snuggle's debut 'Goodbyehouse' crept into the year's release cycle almost unnoticed. It doesn't fight for attention, it earns it with a relative ease. Traces of Yo La Tengo's hush and Big Thief's sense of intimacy make themselves clear, but Snuggle never once sound like a band borrowing ideas from more storied peers. They use silence as a tool, trusting the listener to fill in what isn't said. Understated, unsettling, and quietly one of the year's most haunting records. SA

While Samia’s 2025 could feasibly be defined by a two-year-old NPR Tiny Desk Concert, which reignited her 2020 single ‘Pool’, that would be overlooking what is easily her best work to date. Her third album, 'Bloodless', explored the idea of being confused and enthralled by the opposite sex, set to a deeply engaging and oftentimes off-kilter indie rock that knew when to let the train roll right off the rails. It’s a project in its most complete form, from radio fuzz bleeding in and out of tracks, to allowing the songs to breathe and embellish their most wrought-iron ideas with ever-expanding fuzz. Simply, 'Bloodless' expanded Samia's horizons, magnificently breaking and mending hearts in equal measure. SL

We'd been waiting a while for Panic Shack to drop a debut album - so much so, you'd be forgiven for worrying they'd overshot their window. Perhaps it's a lesson that we should all be a bit more trusting in 'the bands', especially when they're capable of a record so ferociously brilliant. Whether it's about grappling with the absurdities of modern life or just having a laugh at the ridiculousness of it all, 'Panic Shack' feels like a communal gang shout set to music that makes the heart race. They're here to make a racket, and in doing so, they've created an album that demands attention and refuses to be ignored. Job done. DH

'star' is a tight, 38-minute rollercoaster that feels like it was written as a whole new chapter in the 2hollis saga. In the past, he's often wandered through expansive soundscapes, but here he wields brevity like a sharpened medical instrument. It's a testament to 2hollis's willingness to evolve and adapt that, despite all this, 'star' doesn't shy away from the emotive, either. For long-time followers, it's is a testament to growth - a concise statement that leverages the past while firmly planting a flag in something fresher. It's an album that promises much for the future. Given its glowing reception, it seems the world is more than ready for whatever comes next from the genre-hopping maestro. AW

Made during a break from TV On The Radio and built with long-time collaborator Wilder Zoby, 'Thee Black Boltz' is Tunde Adebimpe turning the lens inward, and then steadfastly refusing to smooth anything over. The album moves between tension, stillness and flashes of dark humour, held together by production that's minimal without ever feeling slight. Adebimpe's voice sits right at the centre: dry, occasionally frayed, but never anything less than human. A spoken-word midpoint acts as a kind of grounding point, pulling the record into focus as layers drift in and leave again, small details carrying more emotional heft than any grand dramatic gesture ever could. By the end, the record doesn't arrive at resolution so much as a clearer sense of perspective. A document of someone thinking in real time and letting us listen in. DH

From its opening blast, 'Straight Line Was A Lie' by The Beths captures a band comfortable in their skin yet restless enough to keep things interesting. Lead singer Elizabeth Stokes continues to wield her pen with precision. Her vocals, a mix of sweetness and bite, dance over the tracks with an easy confidence. The Beths have a knack for catchy melodies, yet here there's an added layer here - a sense of reflection running beneath the surface. It's the sound of a band that knows where they've been and has a clear vision of where they're intending to go next. 'Straight Line Was A Lie' manages to feel both immediate and enduring. The Beths have reached a new peak, one that's as satisfying as it is promising for the future. DH

Sunflower Bean's fourth album 'Mortal Primetime' lands at a point where they sound sharper and more themselves than ever, which, considering their previous high bar, is quite the achivement. Self-producing suits them, that's for sure. The whole thing feels like three people in a room figuring it out in real time, not chasing some imaginary version of what they’re meant to sound like. You can hear how quickly it was made - not rushed, just unbothered about fussing with things that didn’t need fussing - and it ends up leaning into their natural instincts in a way a longer, cleaner process probably would have sanded down. 'Mortal Primetime' reads less like a reset and more like Sunflower Bean finally locking into the version of themselves they've been circling. AW

Sports Team are basically the Dork house band at this point, so it's with no small amount of bias that we say their third album 'Boys These Days' is really very good indeed. Lead single 'I'm In Love (Subaru)' hinted at a shift in their sound which is evidenced across this project, but they haven't forgotten how to write an indie banger, with title track 'Boys These Days' being up there with the band's best. Three albums in and we're happy to say that Sports Team are still as good as ever. JH

Witch Fever's 'Fevereaten' pushes the band into darker, more deliberate territory without losing the volatility that's always made them stand out. Leaning into density and abrasion, but never for effect, everything here feels definitively purposeful. Amy Walpole's vocal sits right at the centre, clear and cutting, pushing against riffs that feel close to collapse and rhythms that tighten rather than explode. The record deals in anger, power structures and the fallout of belief systems, but in a way that feels lived-in rather than theatrical. There's a tension running through the whole thing: moments that threaten to open up but pull back at the last second, quieter passages that feel as heavy as the loudest ones. 'Fevereaten' lands as Witch Fever at their most focused; heavier, sharper, and more certain of what they want to say. DH

Jensen McRae's 'I Don't Know How But They Found Me!' comes with a quiet confidence - the sort of inner north star that comes from knowing exactly what to say. Made with a small circle who get how she works, it lets ideas surface on their own rather than forcing them to appear on demand. That looseness gives her room to be blunt when she needs to be, and yet reflective without slipping into the grand self-mythologising that second albums often do. She writes about heartbreak and the slightly embarrassing business of outgrowing your past selves with an eye for the tiny details that actually matter, the ones you only notice once you’ve calmed down. The production is almost deliberately small, leaving her voice in the middle of the frame. It isn’t a record trying to announce a grand reinvention. It feels more like she has taken what she already knew how to do and tightened the focus until the picture came into view. DH