Welcome to Beats Per Minute’s Overlooked 2025. In what has become an annual tradition, we take the midpoint of the year as an opportunity to give props to records from the first six months that have slipped under the radar of our reviews section. This year we’ve got a stacked list, which demonstrates just how much quality there has been in 2025 so far.
We’ve got a selection that traverses genres and runs the gamut from records that you’ve probably already heard plenty about to some you’ve probably not even heard whispers of. Either way, as you’ll be able to tell from the passion in the words that our team has penned about each, they’re all well worth your time.
Listen to a playlist of highlights from our Overlooked: 2025 albums here.
Adrianne Lenker – Live At Revolution Hall
[4AD]
Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker releasing a live record would be exciting no matter what, especially after putting out a record as impressive as 2024’s Bright Future. But where many live albums can end up feeling a little staid, eliciting a vague appreciation nowhere near what it might be if you were there in front of the band, Live at Revolution Hall messes with the formula, creating a new kind of live music document.
Stitched together from a few different performances, the album’s 43 tracks cover many songs, interludes, and interstitial sound collages, and it’s all spliced together in a seamless but ever-evolving product. The sonic textures change from track to track as the recording equipment being used alternates, sometimes even within the same track, and that mix becomes intoxicating, like watching light refract off a diamond, rendering the album more than just a “live record” and more of a cerebral thing. It becomes something you couldn’t have gotten by being there, not quite, and yet also feels somehow all the truer for it. – Jeremy J. Fisette
Annahstasia – Tether
[drink sum wtr]
Sometimes, things still surprise us. I had no idea who Annahstasia was before reviews of her new album, Tether, started pouring in, and the brief descriptions got me interested. I was awed by what I heard, her deliberate guitar playing and evocative instrumentation — sometimes featherlight, sometimes bright and percussive — melding together like liquid. Best of all, though, was her voice; a fluttering, velveteen instrument, deployed with such impressive precision. She restrains and blooms exactly when the song calls for it, her voice reminiscent of people like Meshell Ndegeocello, Tracy Chapman, Natalie Merchant, and yet also nothing like them. It’s a passionate and beautifully-produced introduction to someone who I am now so profoundly excited to watch. – Jeremy J. Fisette
Bad Bunny – DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS
[Rimas Entertainment]
When the album opens, classic salsa sounds gently ease into modern instrumentation and production. On one level, Bad Bunny could be demonstrating Puerto Ricans’ contribution to Western pop music and how familiar and comforting their distinctive traits have become. Given how Latinos are often made to feel like second-class citizens or like living in a parallel musical world, he’s also making a metaphor for how hidden-in-plain-sight his people are in pop culture overall. But the larger idea comes from looking in the mirror: is Bad Bunny’s overwhelming success pitting Puerto Rico in a battle for its soul?
Released simultaneously with Debí Tirar Más Fotos – and meant to coincide with Día de Reyes (Three Kings Day, which is celebrated by many Puerto Ricans on a larger scale than Christmas) – was a 10-minute film short about an elderly Puerto Rican and his animated buddy, Concho. During a walk to a bakery, the gentrification of the island is represented in the voices of English-speaking tax exiles being more prominent than hispanohablantes, culminating at a scene where the cashier explains the new vegan items and credit-only policy: “You can pay with your phone.” The man eventually returns home and dreams about the reappearance of cars blasting reggaeton in the streets – a familiar scene less than a generation ago.
The message has resonated with Bad Bunny’s fans. Of the 17 songs that zip past in an hour, the second-most popular is “BAILE INoLVIDABLE” despite – at six minutes – it being the album’s longest. What defines it is how it quickly sheds its retro-synth intro and shifts directly into salsa worthy of Willie Colón. His role in commercializing the island’s music clearly gnaws at Bad Bunny, underscored by restricting the features to local musicians – a slight divergence from his globetrotting compatriot Rauw Alejandro.
For those without an attachment to Puerto Rico, the album’s attraction is its continuation of Bad Bunny’s remarkable strengths. Given the opportunity, he can make his music sound incredibly intimate, as if he’s still creating on a bedroom budget. Despite the use of a small vocal choir, the title track is an example of how small he can make himself sound. On the other hand, “PERFuMITO NUEVO”, features the relatively unknown RaiNao who provides the supermodel sheen to a track on par with Kanye West’s “Flashing Lights”. Incidentally, those two songs are at opposite ends of the setlist. – Steve Forstneger
Barker – Stochastic Drift
[Smalltown Supersound]
The Berlin-based DJ and producer Sam Barker truly soaks in the storied musical history of the city that he resides in, but what comes out of his mind and fingertips is something completely reprocessed into an efficient and explorative amalgam of modern musical trends. His second full-length, Stochastic Drift, will likely be found among the techno or house sections of a record store, but sonically it doesn’t sit comfortably in either of those, even if the basis of his sound draws from a similar palette.
This meditative masterstroke of a record takes you on a subtle slide through sonic dimensions, one minute glacial, the next percolating; a moment of smoothness gives way to pulsating tactility. A track like “Reframing” feels like watching glowing sunshine creeping over snowy foothills that are rising and falling at random; “The Remembering Self” recalls Eno’s atmospheres but propels them to new climes; “Positive Disintegration” pairs a liquid, almost funky bassline with shiny splashes of synth tones. Towards the end, Barker heads in more jazz-tinted directions, with “Cosmic Microwave” splattering tones in off-kilter rhythms before “Fluid Mechanics” puts a piano on a precipice and continually tilts it then twinkles its way back from the brink. Barker then departs us with some light gabber on the completely indefinable title track, leaving us none the wiser as to where he’ll end up next – but desperate to find out. – Rob Hakimian
Baths – Gut
[Basement’s Basement]
Will Wiesenfeld’s new record as Baths (the first in eight years) is called Gut, and it couldn’t be a more appropriate name. Meshing the electronics, beats, and synths of his past work with more alt- and emo-rock instrumentation and singing, Gut ends up being Wiesenfeld’s most personal, revealing, and blunt album yet.
The songs truly sound like they’re coming from the gut, spat out with forthrightness, naked emotion, and a touch of irreverence. The angular rock styling works surprisingly well here, and is messed with just enough to remain a touch obtuse and experimental. You never quite know where Gut is going, and its tales of sex, men, lust, shame, and discovery intertwine into a vivid portrait of the artist. It was a cathartic crucible getting these songs out, and now Wiesenfeld gets to enjoy the seeds he’s sown. – Jeremy J. Fisette
Benjamin Booker – LOWER
[Fire Next Time]
I don’t know how to adequately describe LOWER. It exists in a realm of Art Rock traditionally associated with Lo-Fi aesthetics or manic egomania – where genius and madness hold hands. But Benjamin Booker and producer Kenny Segal are more composed and purposeful in their moves than a Syd Barrett or Ariel Pink. Instead, they imagine a sort of alternate history piece of dark, but never grim, oneiric pop.
Yes, LOWER focuses on the night, on distant rooms, on strange situations and bare emotions, but it’s also warm and welcoming. Booker is, cleverly, playing with ideas of isolation and loneliness, but instead of the icy turmoil of melancholia, his songs exist in a gelatinous state of heavy, alcoholic magnetism. They radiate faint light, creating dialogue with the listener’s own memories. Maybe a masterpiece, definitely a standout, LOWER continues to grow. – John Wohlmacher
caroline – caroline 2
[Rough Trade]
On caroline 2, the eight-member collective caroline demonstrate their mastery of emotional resonance. Their instruments flow in and out of songs – a horn flourish here, a violin bow there – to give each track the perfect shape the way a sculptor chisels away until the vision within is realized. At times, these visions are wide-open odes to acceptance (“Total euphoria”). At others, they bloom with gratitude (“Tell me I never knew that”). Some are as hushed as the secrets shared at sleepovers (“Coldplay cover”), while others build into a rustic climax that evokes The Microphones (“Two riders down”). Yet no matter the speed, volume, or instrument, caroline make every moment count toward a realized whole, a completed vision that demands our attention. – Carlo Thomas
Cole Pulice – Land’s End Eternal
[Leaving Records]
Land’s End Eternal hovers in a space between the Earth and the edge of the troposphere; a graceful and surprising ambient voyage that just seems to glide perpetually. Cole Pulice’s craft is completely beyond my understanding; they work in enormous sonic spaces but seem to know how to weave it in and out of tiny crevices and up into pillowy clouds, discovering pockets of intrigue everywhere they go. Their synths churn like the mind of the Earth as it whirrs beneath, their saxophone sings the wordless poetry of the world. Pulice added guitar to their usual mix for Land’s End Eternal and its appearance brings a new warmth and groundedness to some of the compositions here, but, crucially, it doesn’t stop the pieces from taking flight when they need to. These mystical sounds could behold incomprehensible secrets of existence or could just be another beautiful element to a planet that is already overflowing with them. – Rob Hakimian
Daniel Son & Futurewave – Baggage Claims
[Vinyl Digital]
It may be an awkward time for Toronto’s positing on the global rap stage (Daniel Son, if the day ever comes when Aubrey seeks you out as yet another token for his genre cosplay, the exposure will never be worth the shame), yet our man continues to offer hard boiled, often mournful, street narratives. He and Futurewave have been linking up for full-length collabs since 2018, but both surely saw the sparks surrounding the iron following the producer’s success with this year’s Stadium Lo Champions. Bluntly put, Daniel Son is simply a better, more gripping voice than Raz Fresco, and this cruelly neglected album is superior to its earlier brethren in every possible way. Indeed, Futurewave has likely never put together a more impressive collection of beats, drawing on peak Havoc for a suit of grimy hard-hitters. Daniel Son is also on point, poised on the tip of the needle, making for a memorable slice of misery and machinations. – Chase McMullen
Decius – Decius Vol. II (Splendour & Obedience)
[The Leaf Label]
The ground is shaking. The walls are sopping wet. The air is filled with a sultry haze. Dancers have greased their half-naked bodies with coconut oil and have forgotten the outside world exists. This could only mean that the fervid foursome Decius have released their much anticipated Vol II. Decius’ fantastic debut (Vol I) introduced their toga-clad, acid-(bath)house type approach to the modern DJ craze. Things are the same in Vol II except the tracks are tighter and more pop forward, resulting in more memorable tracks like “Walking in the Heat” and “I Gave Birth 2 U”. The supergroup consists of Lias Saoudi of Fat White Family, Quinn Whalley of Paranoid London, and brothers Luke and Liam May – four mature electronic audio engineers making dancefloor-ready tracks that make other queer pop anthems quiver with incantatory delight (I’m looking at you Troye).
This is seductive body music – you can feel it wobble in your bones, pump through your veins, drip down your skin. Decius has once again achieved lascivious, subversive splendour. – Nathan Skinner
Dirty Nice – Planet Weekend
[Chiverin]
Fancy a quick trip to a theme park? Planet Weekend is the place for you! Dirty Nice‘s latest is a theme-park based concept record that uses its fictional location to explore concepts of isolation, youthfulness, and those dizzying thrills that seem all too fleeting. It’s a bright and upbeat place, full of MGMT-neon pop hooks, STRFKR’s bright colours, and the wholesome quirkiness of the Flaming Lips. In a way you could say it’s music that doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but when sunny cuts like “That’s What We Do”, “Like Best Friends” or “Merry-Go-Round Girl” are playing, there’s no reason to be a sourpuss. “I just wanna hang with you / hanging round like monkeys at the zoo,”; Dirty Nice just want to chill with you for the day. Sure, they might talk about some deep stuff that comes to mind along the way, but equally they might just want to sit atop a ferris wheel and spit on strangers with you. Come to Planet Weekend, it’ll be fun! – Ray Finlayson
Elktosh – rhlt jdi
[Heat Crimes]
Egyptian producer Elktosh‘s debut album is a document of dedication. Elktosh knew he wanted to produce his own music, so would regularly walk 10km to Cairo’s El Matareya district to watch recording sessions unfold. He learned from watching and making mental notes, eventually taking home a sample pack, playing and learning in what free time he had. Despite having to look after family across the years too, Elktosh used his free moments to soak up production skills, lessons, and tutorials from YouTube – all while studying the Egyptian music scene as it evolved.
The final result of all this hard work is rhlt jdi, a dizzyingly fun and interesting record that combines textural live percussive workouts with synth improvisations and kitschy keyboard tones; acid and electronic influences cosy up to traditional Egyptian melodic and rhythmic styles. Being an expert in the music’s history isn’t necessary for your enjoyment of rhlt jdi though; there’s little like this and through it’s homespun charm, cheap tones, and feverish noise, there’s a singular voice of a musician who has put in the legwork to make the music he wants to. – Ray Finlayson
Emma-Jean Thackray – Weirdo
[Brownswood]
In the midst of making her second full length, Emma-Jean Thackray suffered the sudden loss of her long-term partner. The resulting album, Weirdo, is a response to that shocking experience and the grief that followed, but it is anything but downcast or depressing. The artist immersed herself in making this record; arranging, playing and recording it essentially all by herself. The title, Weirdo (which could be heard as a homonym of “widow”) is acknowledgement that this album is Thackray openly presenting herself to the world: a neurodivergent creator with a whole load of baggage and a unique way of dealing with it.
While there are admissions of depression on the record, the overwhelming feeling is one of joy. Thackray put her soul into it music, which has always been there for her, and it is clear in the resulting record that music paid her back: she rediscovered purpose and happiness through toiling away meticulously on this 19-track wonder. It may still be classed as jazz, since that is where her work is rooted, but Weirdo shows Thackray as an artist comfortable moving around the map into soul, pop, rock and even rap (with the help of Kassa Overall). Wherever she goes, whatever mood she’s expressing, the result is a slick and gorgeous record overfilled with humanity and empathy. – Rob Hakimian
Florist – Jellywish
[Double Double Whammy]
The singer-songwriter field can be genuinely draining at times: there’s a slew of artists that get shipped around by critics and publications, often due to some inherent quirks of performance or delivery, hype is generated, claims of grandiose talent are being made. Next Dylan, next Mitchell, next Cohen, god knows: it sounds like street preachers, Bible in hand, declaring new messiahs! And one year in, it’s evident the works those people leave are, beyond their esoteric nature, quite interchangeable.
Florist hold a strange space in this conversation because they are, most of all, a band. Even if they sound like Emily Sprague’s solo venture, they are the consequence of an intricate machine, which elaborates on every element. That made their self titled 2022 album such a masterpiece of nocturnal intimacy. And for Jellywish, they somehow dial the sonic body down even further, constructing an album of such radiant beauty that it could arguably stand as the band’s masterpiece. Few people seem to have heard it this year (I initially passed on reviewing it, as I figured half a dozen of my colleagues would clamor to do so), so this should be a wake up call: there’s few albums as beautiful in 2025 as this masterpiece of poetic minimalism. – John Wohlmacher
foamboy – life, knife, time, hand EP
[Self-released]
foamboy sit nicely in that pocket of indie pop that is just an absolute delight to devour, and even more so in small measured doses, much like the lime, knife, time, hand EP. There’s dazed, spaced-out instrumental passages that wrap you in a warm, colourful gauze (“edibles”), wispy L.A. sunset vibes (“how u feel”), cool and jazzy excursions that suddenly rocket skyward into a fizzy bliss (“on my mind”), and even a funky 90s keyboard workout to bring a spring to your step (“chameleon”). The EP is like candy: sweet, colourful, and leaving you wanting that bit more. Like the best treats though, there are details and layers in the flavour beyond the surface level enjoyment. What better excuse to finish the whole packet over and over. – Ray Finlayson
Great Grandpa – Patience, Moonbeam
[Run For Cover]
This album could very easily have never come into existence. Following their 2019 cult sleeper hit album Four of Arrows, Great Grandpa dispersed to live in different locations around the world. Their separation was exacerbated by the pandemic and any momentum that they’d gained as a band basically entirely dissipated. But, when you have chemistry this strong, it usually finds a way to make sparks fly once more, which the quintet did, ultimately, manage to do.
Patience, Moonbeam is the band’s biggest and deepest statement to date, delivering a maximalist version of 2000s/2010s indie rock at its most open-hearted and wholesome, using piano, cello, harmonies and electronic augmentation into giant swells of feeling. The poetry of Pat Goodwin’s words can be hard to parse when read, but accompanied by Great Grandpa’s winsome and winning musical accompaniment they’re spun up into lovingly drawn character studies, rich with emotion and coursing with life. If this record did indeed fail to be born, it would genuinely feel like the world was missing something. – Rob Hakimian
Hamilton Leithauser – This Side Of The Island
[Glassnote Music]
Who misses The Walkmen? I sure do. Not to focus on the negative, thankfully Hamilton Leithauser has continued to deliver the goods on his lonesome. Despite his band’s scrappy, downtrodden origins, for a long time now, his greatest songwriting quality has strongly emerged as his warmth. Indeed, his latest somewhat recalls the sunkissed bruises of Lisbon, albeit with a bit more warts and weariness. The island is made of trash, and Leithauser is tired and just wants to go home. Yet, nonetheless, what shines through the most is that warmth. He may be exhausted, but he’s still that guy you’d leave to share a drink with. It may be cruelly short, but that makes it all the easier to throw right back on for another spin. Proper summer beach music, even if it threatens to buckle under the weight of present reality. – Chase McMullen
The Haunted – Songs Of Last Resort
[Century Media]
Often overlooked due to blistering pace and an obsession with occult/violent imagery, the prime-era thrash metal bands were preoccupied with demagoguery and the threat of nuclear war. A quarter-century later – when The Haunted spun off from At The Gates – lyrics were just as overlooked. Reviews of their early albums (that still exist online) dissect whether the sound is thrash, thrashcore, other types of “-core” and little else; the rotating cast of vocalists might as well have been screaming binary code. But having been eerily released on the cusp of the Israel-Iran-Trump bombing exchange, it’s impossible to ignore Songs Of Last Resort’s warnings.
Opening with “Warhead”, the echoes of Slayer’s “War Ensemble” are obvious not just in The Haunted’s “what would Slayer do” riffing ethos, but in what’s being barked as well: “No peace desired, no victory planned/Endless battle by unseen demand”. “Death To The Crown” isn’t specifically about the American president but, again, uncannily preceded the No Kings protests. Each in their own way, “Salvation Recalled” and “Letters Of Last Resort” hark back to Megadeth’s “Dawn Patrol” and the depressing scenarios in a post-war landscape.
Musically, the album represents a tidy distillation of thrashcore reminiscent of how Behemoth was able to clean up and make black metal presentable on The Satanist. Approachable as indie hardcore bands like Fucked Up but also as uncompromising as Despise You or DRI, the Swedes emanate versatility and professionalism. Speed addicts will groan about the Judas Priest-like pace of “To Bleed Out” to say nothing of the vaguely Tool nature of the instrumental “Blood Clots”, but such things would be distracting to anyone who doesn’t know this is firstly protest music. – Steve Forstneger
Haunted Horses – Dweller
[Three One G]
Just when everyone started to recuperate from Perverts, the Seattle noise rock band Haunted Horses dropped one of this year’s most pummeling, unforgiving, demanding albums. Dweller is as dark and pessimistic as a Ligotti short story, gifted with the cavernous beauty of subterranean cities, parading the horrors of an ancient god.
Dweller is different from the usual esoteric noise rock releases you’ll find in remote corners of Bandcamp. It seems more arcane, more purposeful, ominous than what most bands can conjure. I’m unsure how to write about this album, most of all because it scares me. This is the highest compliment I can gift. Tread lightly, traveler: evil awaits! – John Wohlmacher
Home Is Where – Hunting Season
[Wax Bodega]
In modern America, being openly trans is punk in and of itself, especially since the unabashed attack on civil liberties was ramped up in January this year. Having openly trans members of a rock band that originated in Florida and now travels all over the country playing emotive alt-rock is on a whole different level of punk, but that’s what Home Is Where have been doing for some time now. And it sure as hell ain’t easy on those openly hostile highways. Yet, their third album, Hunting Season, is as indebted to the history and musical traditions of the country they call home than any of what they’ve put out before; it’s a set of rickety Americana-influenced alt rockers that tell savage tales of characters down on their luck, spit on by society and desperate for redemption.
There’s no shortage of bombast in Home Is Where’s guitar-forward approach and Bea MacDonald’s full-throated ejaculations of pain and elation, which give their songs a funhouse lens feel, blowing up pain into fireworks displays soundtracked by scorching guitar solos. But, while there is a grotesque absurdity to it all, the effect is still impactful; each jammed out guitar emphasises the aching muscles, hokey harmonica jangles like a nervous wreck, MacDonald gives direct voice to the horrors that haunt the corners of a sensitive mind in America. But it’s all rendered in such warm and emphatic classic sounds that the result is that you want to do nothing more than to sing along with all you’ve got. So, roll down the windows and blast it loud! Sure, we’re terrified of what’s to come, but we’ll go into it together as one with our hearts and heads open to catch the signals of the millions ready to join in as we bite back. – Rob Hakimian
Imperial Triumphant – Goldstar
[Century Media]
This one’s my fault. I’m a big fan of Imperial Triumphant, the NY avantgarde-jazz-metal trio that performs in elaborate art deco gold-masks, but I somehow slept on Goldstar. It just seemed a little too convenient – the band’s shortest album to date, meant to be more approachable and – cough – “listener friendly”. What, no epics and creepy interludes? Well, by the time I had woken up, Melon had already given the album a high score and everyone was in shock about how good the record was. Blame it on the weather, I guess…
All in all, Goldstar is just as clever and complex as its predecessors, proposing a more streamlined version of the band’s elaborate sound. This doesn’t mean things aren’t fun – there’s African and Arabic influences here, some incredibly pounding moments of noise rock and fun, brief stabs of jazz. Just more confined and concentrated than before, with a cleaner edge and more groomed dynamics. Another triumph from this band that demands the golden 20s return! – John Wohlmacher
Jennie – Ruby
[Columbia]
With Lisa trading in perfectly fine, if heavier on global ambition than actual fresh ideas, Rose, uh, deciding to offer an album-length Taylor Swift tribute (delightful bop “APT.” notwithstanding), and Jisoo – kind of admirably – essentially giving an eyeroll to the entire idea of solo career domination with a slight EP, it was Jennie that ended up best playing to her strengths out of all the BLACKPINK members.
Obviously it’s the braggadocious, thumping “Like Jennie” that led the charge, but that does disservice to a promising eye for cohesion and consistency. She may the cede the stage Doechii on “ExtraL”, but that’s just a recognizing another’s moment. Songs such as “start a war”, “Damn Right” (one does wish she’d been able to get André 3000 rather than Donald Glover doing his best impression, but hey), and, my personal favorite, “F.T.S.” show a genuine emotional side to the superstar not as often as able to be shown in her larger group’s typically single-minded work. – Chase McMullen
Kali Uchis – Sincerely,
[UMG]
Each song on Kali Uchis‘ Sincerely, feels like a whispered secret, a confession meant for our ears alone. The vocals, lush and intimate, dance upon a bed of meticulously crafted instrumentation, drawing us ever closer to the essence of her creative expression.
“Heaven is a Home…” sounds just like the title; a heavenly themed sound of lush, reverberating vocal performance with beautiful melodies and smooth, stretched riffs. “Sugar! Honey! Love!” reminds me very much of Sia’s music, from the performance to the similarity in instrumentation. In “Lose My Cool”, Kali sounds like she’s singing out of a previous experience (someone definitely made her lose her cool). “It’s Just Us” is as beautiful, but it’s more of a ballad, which totally changes the vibe for the rest of the similar tracks. “For: You” is old-school-style R&B infused with pop, inspiring vocal performance.
Playing Silk Lingerie”, I could picture a wedding turned into chaos in slow motion; something about this song drives imaginations and keeps your mind busy. “All I Can Say” is definitely a classic, old-fashioned ballad, jazzy tune and background melodies delivery. “Daggers!” sounds pale but captivating, except for the repetitive similarity in her delivery. “Angels Around Me…” has hiphop in its R&B/jazz influences, which moves to a beat switch at the middle of the track, which makes it very unique and lovely. “Breeze!”, meanwhile, features a choir that supports the absolutely beautiful rhythms and melodies; this is definitely one of the best tracks in the album. Kali wants to make it clear that she’s in the light in “Sunshine & Rain…”, preaching about being optimistic and confident because of her clear heart. I believe in this one; there are lessons to learn from her lyrics. And the last but definitely not the least, “ILYSMIH”, Kali pours out her affection, singing how it’s a dream come true for her not to feel lonely again, a delightful music piece.
Sincerely, is an exquisite showcase of contemporary vocal arrangement, offering a masterclass in the art of crafting an intimate and emotionally resonant sonic experience. The cinematic quality of the production envelops the listener, drawing them into a world where every nuanced, high-frequency vocal detail is thoughtfully highlighted, fostering an unparalleled sense of closeness. – Mary Chiney
Laurie Torres – Après coup
[Tonal Union]
“I had an urge to use creativity as a sort of resting place, a place where things can unfold slowly and take time to reveal themselves,” Canadian musician Laurie Torres says of her debut album Après coup. The record is just that: a site to sit, process, or just simply be. Torres uses piano, drums, and synths to conjure a place that wraps you up and teases the possibility of lulling you into a dream-like state. Even when a moment of frustration is caught on “Intérieurs”, it feels so human it hardly disrupts the flow. Improvisatory and lightly jazzy, Torres captures an exploratory tone that feels like she’s both helping the listener get to that next place (wherever it may be in their mind) and also functioning as a bridge to her own grander ideas. Nestle into the fitting softness of opening track “Duvet”, stare into the distance with the quiet, starry outro of “Clessidra”, smile as Torres sings along with her piano (à la Glenn Gould) on “Carnets”, or just sit in the solitary contemplativeness of “Correspondances.” Après coup is a little haven and is worth visiting as much as you need to. – Ray Finlayson
M(h)aol – Something Soft
[Merge/TULLE]
Irish-British art punks M(h)aol lost their singer after their debut album, but did not lose any of their ferocity. Constance Keane steps into vocal duty for Something Soft and while she might have a more naturally delicate and melodic voice, her words are just as confrontive and feminist-forward as ever. And M(h)aol have only sharpened their sonic styling in the last couple of years, now presenting something that is at once more subtle yet bearing more teeth. Jamie Hyland and Sean Nolan bring modern post-punk approaches but don’t look to go straight for the jugular, instead winding their way around the studio to make their instruments quake, rumble and snarl rather than simply roar. In combination with Keane’s subtly seething vocal approach, Something Soft ends up being the kind of record that’ll wrap itself around your throat without you noticing – until you suddenly find yourself choking when M(h)aol coil tightly and savagely. – Rob Hakimian
Moundabout – Goat Skull Table
[Rocket Recordings]
Earlier this year Rocket Recordings, one of the most stimulating labels today, started their Black Hole series – “a new imprint for voyages into the unorthodox, otherworldly and esoteric, Limited edition vinyl releases resonating beyond the outer reaches of consciousness.” Moundabout (consisting of Gnod’s Paddy Shine and Phil Langero), Mamuthones, Black Arches with Sexton Ming, and a Langero solo project have contributed so far, and the results could not match the description any better.
Specifically, Moundabout’s Goat Skull Table advances their previous totemic efforts into uncharted, sinister spaces. The title track feels like we’re Jonathan Harker sitting at Orlok’s table, waiting for some unspeakable horror to emerge. Other tracks like “Blood On My Blanket” and “Wagon” sound like hypnotic rituals somewhere on the threshold between paganistic festivity and Kabbalistic mysticism. Goat Skull Table delivers on Rocket Recordings’ esoteric promise, while expanding Moundabout’s discography into liminal spaces and tenebrific sanctums. In short, Moundabout has yet to miss. – Nathan Skinner
NMIXX – Fe304: Forward
[JYP Entertainment]
Given all the present handwringing about the state of K-pop, it’s all the more of a shame when a truly idiosyncratic, forward-thinking, and delightful slice goes relatively unsung. We’re all still feeling that NewJeans withdrawal, but NMIXX‘s Fe3O4: FORWARD is here as a bit of a salve. It pivots between dramatic, emotional salvos and quirky, winky bouts of glee with ease and grace. Powerful vocals, clever, multifaceted production, creative pop jams. A conch shell security check point. What more do ya need? – Chase McMullen
Panda Bear – Sinister Grift
[Domino]
Sinister Grift is Panda Bear’s most deceptively laid-back album yet. These songs sway and breathe with the strength of an ocean breeze, letting his knack for melody drive our attention. Yet, the success of the Animal Collective member’s latest effort rests on its emotional complexity. Yes, his appreciation of connection comes through the jubilant “Praise” and through the reggae-inspired “50mg”. But he also contemplates insecurity and self-worth through the loopy melodies of “Ferry Lady”. “Left in the Cold” offers a wondrous space for self-reflection, while “Elegy for Noah Lou” evokes the quiet pensiveness that’s colored all of his work. On Sinister Grift, Panda Bear captures these moments and more – all the highs and lows that come with always being lost in thought. – Carlo Thomas
Pink Siifu – BLACK’!ANTIQUE
[Dynamite Hill]
At many points, Pink Siifu’s sprawling BLACK’!ANTIQUE feels more like an exploration of sound than a pure rap album. Siifu has mentioned drawing as much inspiration from Sun Ra as any rapper, and the exploration and noisy experiments that appear on this album show the space-jazz maverick’s influence (if not expressly musically, then in scope). As on GUMBO’! (2021), Siifu introduces many voices and collaborators to the mix, resulting in a variety of styles and tracks that simultaneously nod to the past while looking toward the future. On “SCREW4LIFE’! RIPJALEN’!”, his energy reminds me of Isaiah Rashad on “Park” (2016): hungry and radiant. In the back half, “Girls Fall Out tha Sky” proves addictive, rolling out the red carpet for an on-fire 454. BLACK’!ANTIQUE is so dense that it may not be properly recognized for a while, but in the meantime we can confirm that Siifu is one of few artists exploring new avenues in rap music. – Ethan Reis
Purelink – Faith
[Peak Oil]
On their new album, Faith, Chicago trio Purelink offer an elegant sequence, highlighting the wisdom we gain amidst darkness and how we experience the return of light and fluidity as redemptive.
On opening track “Looked Me Right in the Eye”, sinewy melodic lines drape over a wintry hiss. Steely accents wax and wane. An understated beat on “Kite Scene” suggests the advent of spring and new possibilities. By the time we reach “First Iota”, including diaristic commentary from guest Angelina Nona, we’re in a brighter, though still bardic realm. “I’m on my way to get fake nails / not everything beautiful has to be real”, she declares, tethering the track and set to more quotidian/pedestrian matters. We’re suddenly in the land of malls, suburbs, commodification; at the same time, Purelink frame Nona’s voice with delicate accents, underscoring that the mundane and celestial are inextricable. Closer “Circle of Dust” combines airy synths and spry beats, the project ending on a buoyant yet still-restrained note.
Over 38 minutes, Purelink craft a complex audial narrative, carrying us through malaises as well as inflection points defined by new insight. Never abandoning a signature minimalism, Purelink cover considerable ground, sonically and existentially. – John Amen
Qasim Naqvi – Endling
[Erased Tapes]
With Endling, Qasim Naqvi explores the vastness of the human interior, the expanse of (outer) space, and how the two coexist, perhaps mirroring each other.
On “Beautification Technologies”, Naqvi experiments with overlapping beats and pulses. The feeling is buoyant yet ethereal, grounded yet transportive. “The Glow”, meanwhile, pivots into sci-fi territory, flickers, swells, and contractions exuding a scape we associate with dreams or art films that explore the limbo between life and death, between knowing and unknowing, between discomfort and horror lite.
The title track continues to build on the dissociative vibes/outlier references of “The Glow”. Bright mini-crescendos and mini-collapses point to the fullness of the moment contrasted with a macro view of all existence as fleeting, ultimately inconsequential. Still, beauty, albeit temporary, is presented as a gift, a shimmering reprieve courtesy of the universe itself.
On “In the Distance”, Naqvi fills the space with synths wrapped in waves of soft distortion, throbs that confront, then withdraw. Closer “The Great Reward” leaves us with a sense of mystery, the great beyond yawning into existence, then curling back: novae, black holes, one Big Bang after the next.
In this way, Naqvi takes on a compelling odyssey, anchoring us in the anxiety and joy of the Now while depicting a multiverse that has been around forever, will remain long after we’re gone. – John Amen
Rindert Lammers – Thank You Kirin Kiki
[Western Vinyl]
A sentimental love letter to cinema that supported Rindert Lammers through a tumultuous time while studying, Thank You Kirin Kiki moves with the grace of a paper lantern set off into the sunset. It’s a record of soft and ambient jazz that plays both like a score of his own grief and to an imaginary film made in memory of the three loved ones he lost in a skiing accident. Joseph Shabason’s sax appears with a smooth grace, fitting perfectly into Lammer’s surrounding of light drums and velvety keys. And amidst it all there’s even a playfulness too, time signatures slicing between one and the other; swells of strings lifting to an emotional crescendo before suddenly disappearing. It’s like a tiny smirk or a knowing nod to a friend from a crowd. – Ray Finlayson
Salami Rose Joe Louis – Lorings
[Brainfeeder]
While she largely made her name (at least a with loving audience) on music very much concerned with the universe at large – tunes even cosmic in ambition, you might say – Salami Rose Joe Louis very much turned that searching eye inwards with Lorings. Across gentle, if a tad glitchy, indietronica-leaning sounds, Louis is emotive and, ultimately, very human. There are songs dealing with loneliness and never-ending search for meaning and, simply, more, where the music seems to flutter by, even feeling jittery in nature. Paradoxically, while Lorings may find Louis, and the music she’s crafting, too restless to sit still, it’s the perfect partner for a wistful bout of gentle self-reflection. With a compassionate embrace, she seems to say: be kind to yourself. – Chase McMullen
S.G. Goodman – Planting By The Signs
[Slough Water]
S.G. Goodman again strikes gold on her latest album Planting By The Signs, mixing desultory narratives, image-heavy lyrics, and straightforward yet evocative vocals.
“Satellite” blends hope and world-fatigue while “Fire Sign” is a pagan commentary on end-times, both tracks built around enticing melodies and Goodman’s drawly voice. “Michael Told Me” shows Goodman at her most obliquely grief-stricken, as she addresses a friend or brother lost to addiction or mental illness. Her melody is languorous, woozy.
The album’s two centerpieces are “Snapping Turtle” and the closing track, “Heaven Song”. The former opens with a scene of a young Goodman saving a turtle from some boys who were beating it with sticks (it also serves as Goodman’s justicier/empath origin story). The track then unfurls into a manifesto re: the hardships of life, particularly the way a childhood spent in a hardscrabble county can be an asset and a curse. The latter, meanwhile, captures a fragmented and metaphoric odyssey toward heaven – occurring as a cross between Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Avett Brothers – the singer encountering characters with names such as Faith, Real, and Death.
Planting by the Signs, Goodman’s fourth album, brims with southern-goth mystique, as well as heaping dollops of desire, heartache, and wisdom. – John Amen
Smerz – Big city life
[escho]
Norwegian duo Smerz have always been sly and tricky in their odd artpop stylings, but previous outings were a bit more abstract in their vision. With Big city life, the pair turn in a delectably playful ode to a night out in a bustling downtown, rendered in their idiosyncratic attitude and instrumental approach. There are hints of clubs, neon-lit streets and dark alleyways, but this album takes place in the interior of their characters’ minds and it’s their inner fears and fantasies that take prominence.
Smerz sketch this world with skilful craft, creating minimalist-yet-luminous scenes with synthesized strings, echoing piano keys, sighing vocals and subtle percussion. They observe late-night lovers’ desire for glitz and lust in an offhand way that leaves you uncertain of how earnest they’re being, but this heightens the curiosity and magnetism. With Big city life, Smerz invite us out for a night on the town where everything is seen through a slightly skewed but undeniably romantic angle. – Rob Hakimian
Squid – Cowards
[Warp]
Squid‘s third full-length album kicks off with the captivating “Crispy Skin”, a post-rock/punk mix armed with stretching bass, panic-struck vocals and motoric drums similar to the rest of the songs in the album.
The second track, “Building 650”, is a desperate but intriguing attempt to recapture the fire-in-a-bottle energy of the more manic “Crispy Skin”. The following “Blood on Shoulder” is a subtly enigmatic and charming delivery with a folksy musical style reached a ruggedly beat-switch crescendo that abruptly fades to a chilling poetic end. The fourth song, “Fieldworks I”, is a shorter but inspiring storytelling track ending with cinematic synths and bass, then smoothly transitioning into “Fieldworks II”, which starts off with a fast, consistent clock-tick-like percussion with a hard but low-end kick supporting the guitars and lush vocals while maintaining the storytelling lyrics.
“Cro-Magnon Man”, has a grooving sound with descriptive lyrics about Cro-Magnon (a term used to describe the first humans to have prominent chin). Title track “Cowards” is filled with eerie sound elements at the intro, which builds into an upbeat with saxophones and guitars flowing with the sultry vocals. “Showtime!” is a nonchalant, stylish performance with rapidly dashing instrumentation at the bridge. The final straw, “Well Met”, is an anthemic and rhythmic sound with a series of instrumentation shading it.
Cowards is a storytelling, psychedelic rock album inspired by travel and reading books about the countries visited. Squid continue to use their bold, ambitious compositions and lyrics to explore complex themes and ideas. – Mary Chiney
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – IC02-Bogotá
[Jagjaguwar]
For fans waiting on “proper” Unknown Mortal Orchestra statements – an appetite they’ve somewhat satiated with an EP in recent weeks – gripes could be had about these instrumental diversions, but to my mind, the playful creativity and restless searching of IC-02 Bogotá, even more so than its predecessor, speaks perfectly as the essence of what the band is. This particular outing readily brings to mind what a Jon Hassell & Brian Eno collaboration during their Fourth World era might have sounded like if they’d been more interested in funk. It bows at the altar of Fela Kuti and Miles Davis around, say, Pangaea. There are few better places to worship. Bring this along for a bike ride: you’ll find it transforms any sunny summer day into a proper adventure. – Chase McMullen
venturing – Ghostholding
[deadAir]
For some bizarre reason, people seem to think that Jane Remover’s Revengeseekerz is a good album. Ok, fair, I’m old and cranky in comparison to the Gen Alpha audience it is aimed at – it just doesn’t do much for me and seems like a bunch of ill-intentioned experiments. But there should be no debate that Ghostholding is Jane Remover’s best album to date! Expanding on the incredible palette of the multi-instrumentalist’s still young career (hard to believe she’s just a while away from turning 22), venturing started as a quasi-conceptual side project, posing as a long forgotten 90s band that was dragged out of obscurity via SoundCloud. Or maybe that’s just misremembered internet lore?
Anyways: the record is a glorious mixture of alternative rock, emo and shoegaze, with some modern psychedelic alt-RnB influences for good measure. Its vibrant, adolescent and euphoric tone is incredibly fun to engage with, kind of an update to the genre-bending of early Beck material or the Guided by Voices canon. It’s also a fantastic example of the current landscape of the American underground that exists beyond big label influences, where marginalized artists can express a thoroughly individualistic and unique approach to genre semantics. And finally: man, there’s so many HITS on this album! A future cult classic, get on while you still can! – John Wohlmacher
Water Gun Water Gun Sky Attack – Six Tenants Killing One Homeowner Six Times Over
[1465795 Records DK]
I’ll make it quick: imagine Scott Walker, ca 1969, recorded a lurid concept album about gay heartbreak, rich in apocalyptic symbolism and nightmarish images. If that sounds like the best thing ever, well, you’ve just found your album of the year: Water Gun Water Gun Sky Attack‘s Six Tenants Killing One Homeowner Six Times Over! I still can’t believe this record exists, now if only it would drop on vinyl… – John Wohlmacher
Listen to a playlist of highlights from our Overlooked: 2025 albums here.
