Here are 50 favorite songs of 2025 that helped me get through the year, available on Apple Music and Spotify. A friendly reminder to anyone who didn’t read Liz Pelly’s excellent Mood Machine: Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist-if you find something you like, please support the artists by buying their music/merch and by seeing them in concert.
There was so much brilliant music that came out in 2024! I’m having the worst time narrowing down my list of faves. Luckily, my two cats, Candy O. and Ada Monroe, have been assisting me.
It’s my hope that at least one person finds something they dig through this post. If you’re a Spotify person, do check out my “Best of 2024” playlist. Then go buy some music and/or merch. Or go out and see some live shows! Or do a shot every time I’ve written “dream” or “shoegaze.”
Without further ado, here’s my top 36 releases of 2024. Why 36? Why not?
36. fifi knifefight – I’m Not Mad, Just Disappointed Self-described “glam punk” from Austin, TX that channels a mighty ferocity.
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35. Camera Obscura – Look to the East, Look to the West A confection of twee goodness. Recommended for fans of Isobel Campbell and Belle & Sebastian.
34. Mo Dotti – Opaque These Los Angelenos are one of my favorites in a new wave of dream pop/shoegaze. Opaque was even mastered by Mark Gardener of shoegaze godfathers Ride.
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33. Ride – Interplay Speaking of Ride … Some of the newer generation of shoegazers sound more like early Ride than current Ride does. But that’s not a bad thing. I think it’s good for bands to expand their repertoire.
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32. Bryce Dessner – Solos Dessner (guitar/piano/keyboards for The National) has created an album of sublime, elegiac, neo-classical pieces.
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31. Chrystabell & David Lynch – Cellophane Memories This album feels like dream. Chrystabell’s vocals dance hypnotically around haunting soundscapes.
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30. Wishy – Triple Seven Power pop mixed with shoegaze! I can’t wait to see the Indianapolis band at February’s “Something In the Way” festival at Roadrunner in Boston.
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29. Jack White – No Name To quote the great Huey Lewis, “The heart of rock and roll is still beating,” and Jack White’s blues-rock No Name is the proof.
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28. Conan Gray – Found Heaven I’m a sucker for this pop opus despite my age.
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27. Charli XCX – Brat My top pop/dance album of the year. It’s filled with ear worms.
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26. Beabadoobee – This Is How Tomorrow Moves Charming pop that reminds me of Frente and Natalie Imbruglia.
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25. The Marías – Submarine A lush and dreamy album. Perfect for bedtime.
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24. deary – Aurelia EP Pretty much anything from British label Sonic Cathedral is a winner in my book! Aurelia is some pretty swell, shimmering shoegaze.
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23. Gift – Illuminator Sweet, swirling dream pop that’s reminiscent of The Primitives with a dash of Curve.
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22. Phantogram – Memory of a Day It has a good beat and I can dance to it. But seriously, it’s a damn fine album and I’m upset that I still haven’t seen the New York duo live.
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21. Redd Kross – Redd Kross Power pop at its finest with this double album.
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20. Attic Ocean – Retriever EP Lovely shoegaze from Germany.
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19. Idles – TANGK Alt-rockers Idles sucked me in with the bop “Dancer” (featuring LCD Soundsystem).
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18. Pet Shop Boys – Nonetheless Another fantastic album from the duo that’s been generating hits since 1981 (!).
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17. Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology Swift ventures into synthpop with delicious results.
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16. Old 97’s – American Primitive “You’ve got to dance like the world | Is falling down around you | Because it is” – Old 97’s, “Falling Down” The alt-country rockers’ 13th (!) album is a barn burner full of vim and vigor.
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15. NewDad – MADRA Dream pop with a hint of goth. Right up my alley.
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14. The National – Rome I’m a little obsessed with The National. I listen to them A LOT. I’m in the Sad Dads Book Club. I saw El Vy (IYKYK) at The Sinclair in Boston by myself in 2015. This past fall, I went and saw The National by myself in the middle of nowhere in New Hampshire (Hey-Neal Katyal was there!). In Massachusetts, I braved the Great Woods parking lot with my husband and friend. To have a career-spanning live album from The National is a dream come true. Rome does an excellent job of capturing how brilliant they are live.
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13. Ekko Astral – pink balloons Driving punk/garage/noise rock from Washington, DC.
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12. Billie Eilish – HIT ME HARD AND SOFT Billie Eilish’s third album does not disappoint. It’s wistful, it’s hopeful, it’s sublime.
11. Francis of Delirium – Lighthouse Gauzy, soaring dream pop from Luxembourg’s Jana Bahrich. Check out “Blue Tuesday” to get hooked.
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10. Sprints – Letter to Self Honest to goodness anthemic, alt-rock from Dublin. I got reeled in by the pulsing “Heavy.”
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9. Chalk – Conditions II EP Industrial, gloom pop from Belfast that has flashes of The Final Cut. Would’ve fit in perfectly on the Wax Trax roster in the nineties.
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8. Emma Anderson – Spiralée: Pearlies Rearranged The reimagining of Anderson’s Pearlies is effervescent and beautiful. It’s my favorite reworking since Nine Inch Nails’ Further Down the Spiral (1995).
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7. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross & Boyz Noize – Challengers [Mixed] I haven’t heard an album that’s such a seamless dance gem since Donna Summer’s On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II (1979). With touches of Pet Shop Boys and New Order, I recommend this as an exercise companion. Which is not something I ever thought I’d say about Reznor’s music!
6. English Teacher – This Could Be Texas I love this stellar debut album from the British group. Something about them reminds me of more rockin’ Black Box Recorder. Another fave from this year is their Live From BBC Maida Vale EP, which includes a great cover of Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather.”
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5. Gillian Welch & David Rawlings – Woodland When I younger, I got to work with this pair and it was an honor. Woodland is timeless and haunting. If you get the chance to see them, go!
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4. Mannequin Pussy – I Got Heaven The Philadelphia outfit is a force to be reckoned with. I Got Heaven straddles pop and rock with aplomb.
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3. Garbage – copy/paste On this Record Store Day Black Friday exclusive, Garbage collects ten gorgeous covers (nine of which were previously released). A favorite is their cover of The Jam’s “Butterfly Collector.” Something I really appreciate about this record is that Garbage includes detailed information about the original versions. An abridged digital version with six of the tracks was made available after Black Friday.
2. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Wild God This is such a joyous album. Some Bad Seeds fans may take umbrage at its joy, but I love it and need it.
1. The Cure – Songs of a Lost World I think this is The Cure’s finest release since 1992’s Wish, which is interesting because the album has this “Edge of the Deep Green Sea” vibe to it, with a lovely dash of 1987’s Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me.
Other than hugging my mom, what I missed the most this year has been concerts. When I saw Soul Asylum and Local H in February, I had no idea that it would be my last show of 2020. When I worked in the music industry, some weeks I’d be at shows every night. One night, when I worked at Ryko Distribution, I saw three separate concerts (at three different venues) on one night. I saw more shows on that one night than I have in all of 2020.
The upside of all of this quarantining at home, aside from reading way more than usual, has been the bonus music exploration time. KEXP, WERS, Hot Press, Bandcamp, and Vanyaland were some of my favorite sources for new tunes. When I wasn’t reading, you could find me playing Animal Crossing while blasting music.
As someone who’s immunocompromised and spent three months quarantining when she was 12, escaping through music has been a big part of my life. I wouldn’t have been able to make it through this year without these albums (and many, many others). Without further ado, here’s my top ten favorite albums of 2020!
Top Ten Favorite Albums
10. Matt Berninger – Serpentine Prison The frontman of The National released his first solo effort and it’s quite excellent. It picks up where The National’s Trouble Will Find Me left off.
9. Butch Walker – American Love Story This is Walker’s musical! Maybe someday it’ll be on the stage. For now, you can enjoy its many power pop ear worms like “Fuck It (I Don’t Like Love)” and “Everything White.” And if songs like Walker’s “Joan” are among your favorites, then your heart will break for the “Sunset Grill”-sounding “Out In the Open.”
8. Nine Inch Nails – Ghosts V: Together Atmospheric, ambient, and haunting. This release, along with Ghosts VI, is available for free on the Nine Inch Nails website. Go grab them both. As the description on the website says, “TWO DIFFERENT RECORDS FOR TWO DIFFERENT MINDSETS. DOWNLOAD NOW FOR FREE. STAY SAFE!” This year, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails also released scores for the films Soul and Mank. That Emmy, Oscar, and Grammy award winner Reznor knows how to stay busy. Maybe Reznor should collaborate with Butch Walker on a musical so that he can get his Tony?
7. Run the Jewels – RTJ4 Remember that feeling in college you’d get when you listened to Consolidated? That’s the buzz I get from this politically-charged album. I get goosebumps every single time I listen to “Walking in the Snow” and I hear the lyrics, “Until my voice goes from a shriek to whisper, ‘I can’t breathe.'”
6. Phantogram – Ceremony This was my go-to album when I needed a pick-me-up. Songs like “Dear God” and “Into Happiness” capture how I miss my friend with lyrics like “Take me out of this world I’m living in | Tell, tell my friends ’cause I know I’mma see again” and “Wish you could be here | No more loneliness | You’d make it perfect.” Also, it has a good beat and I can dance to it.
5. Pillow Queens – In Waiting This is the Irish quartet that’s missing from your collection. Wistful. Melodic. Shimmering. Kinda sounds like Teagan and Sara gone shoegaze and power pop. From 2:51 of “Holy Show” to its end is truly glorious.
4. Hinds – The Prettiest Curse Ah! Sweet power pop meets lo-fi garage rock. The Spanish quartet’s third album is a gem. They straddle the lines of pop and rock perfectly, and they even throw in a dash of synth-pop. It’s like Apples In Stereo, Fuzzy, and CSS had a baby and that baby is Hinds.
3. Deftones – Ohms Hands down my favorite Deftones album since White Pony. Some tracks are kinda thrash metal (“Urantia”) while others (“The Link Is Dead”) meander into Angelo Badalamenti territory.
2. Nick Cave – Idiot Prayer This is my kitten’s favorite album of 2020. She has a penchant for Nick Cave (and also Harry Styles). Everytime we play Nick Cave, she has to jump up to the speakers and be as close as possible to them. I think she gets that from me. Whenever I’ve seen Nick Cave live, whether it’s with Grinderman or the Bad Seeds, I always want to be close to him. I think that Cave is the most brilliant lyricist of his generation. With Idiot Prayer, Cave’s lyrics seem even more poignant in this stripped down, solo live performance. Idiot Prayer was recorded at Alexandra Palace in London and was streamed globally to ticket holders online on July 23, 2020.
1. Hum – Inlet I am obsessed with this moody, brooding, sonic masterpiece. When I found myself in the emergency department because of an intractable migraine, this was one of the albums that soothed me. It’s so easy to get lost in Inlet. I was particularly drawn to “In the Den” with the lyric “Find me here on the ground and in need of you” and wishing that my partner could be by my side. But that’s life during a pandemic.
Honorable Mention
For more of my favorite tracks from 2020, including new singles by Dubstar, New Order, and Parlour Bells, check out my Spotify playlist.
In no particular order, I present my favorite albums of 2019! For a mix of my favorite tracks, check out my playlist over at Spotify.
Pop Culture Omnivore 