Our final listicle as the year changes. Our editors take a look at the albums we’re excited for in 2025.
Wet Leg – TBC – Bring on the release of Wet Leg II, Wetter Leg or Wet Legs. Whatever it may end up being called, it really doesn’t matter. The point is that their ‘difficult’ second album will fail to capitalise on the inexplicable popularity of ‘Chaise Longue’. Apparently this album has been in development since 2022 and this sort of delay is not a good sign. It’s going to be terrible. Those damp limbs will buckle under the weight of expectation and they will finally be revealed as the lucky, lucky charlatans they always were. Time to follow Lisa’s advice from episode 53 of the podcast and get down the job centre. James Spearing
Everything Is Recorded – Temporary – Richard Russell is back with a new album jam-packed with big names like Florence Welch, Berwyn, Kamasi Washington and Jack Peňate. Two singles are out. The first sounds like a Gorillaz song but made by Sampha. The second is a sweet little country folk song. Inevitably we will be debating whether this is a cohesive album or a compilation (and does that matter). It is also guaranteed to have a bunch of great tracks. Matt Paul
The Weather Station – Humanhood – If you ignore the ‘album’ that came out as a later accompaniment to Ignorance, The Weather Station’s career so far has been one of improvement from album to album. Ignorance, though, was so good that Humanhood is going to have to go a long way to continue that trajectory. Tamara Lindeman is such a unique and interesting songwriter that you wouldn’t rule it out. With a style that mixes folk, indie, and country tropes, their music is always beautiful, often thought-provoking, and usually addictive. We only have to wait until mid-Jan to see if the same can be said about the new one. Fran Slater
Japanese Breakfast – For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women) – It’s only been a couple of years since their last album Jubilee. It was fun, playful and expansive. I’d be happy with more of the same. Or something completely different. Just more Japanese Breakfast. It feels like they’re on the cusp of breaking out from being indie darlings (though admittedly fairly popular ones) to even greater commercial success a la Mitski or Phoebe Bridgers. Hopefully this is the album. Matt Paul
FKA Twigs – Eusexua – An FKA twigs album is an event album. As one of the most consistently brilliant artists of the 2010s whose output has slowed in recent years, I still think quality is near-enough guaranteed with a new release. She did start this decade with a misstep by my reckoning though. Caprisongs, her first release categorised as a ‘mixtape’, felt looser and less polished, but also just less accomplished and more throwaway. Here’s hoping that Eusexua, her first proper album in nearly 6 years, sees her back with a bang. I wasn’t a huge fan of the first two singles, but I caught the Koreless-produced ‘Drums of Death’ the other day and now I’m pumped. Tom Burrows
Divorce – Drive to Goldenhammer – I wouldn’t yet describe myself as a fan of Divorce (other than the song ‘Scratch Your Metal’, which is amazing) but I’m ready to be convinced. So with an album, Drive to Goldenhammer, and a tour on the horizon for March and April I’m excited to see what they’re all about. Check back here in a few months’ time for the verdict. James Spearing
DJ Koze – Music Can Hear Us – Another artist who waits for a while between releases, Koze has been pretty quiet on the recorded music front since 2018’s epic Knock Knock. He produced Roisin Murphy’s 2023 Hit Machine record and has put his hand to a few remixes in the interim period, but now he is properly back. Music Can Hear Us lands in April, and I’m expecting a typically well-considered piece of work from an artist with an incredible ear for electronic production with deep feeling. The first single features Damon Albarn and… I am not overly keen on it, but I’m not put off too much. Let’s see how it lands on the latest of his famously high quality albums. Tom Burrows
Lady Gaga – Untitled – 2024 wasn’t the year that many assumed Lady Gaga would have. A year where the focus was clearly on her starring in a musical take on The Joker as Harly Quinn quickly pivoted towards focusing on the music rather than the pretty average film itself. She released an ‘album inspired by’ the film in her first jazz studio album since the passing of regular collaborator Tony Bennet, but it was the song ‘Die With a Smile’ with Bruno Mars that eventually became her biggest hit of the decade so far. I’m curious to see if this has changed the vibe of her upcoming ‘proper’ pop album in 2025 at all or if alongside the dark pop banger ‘Disease’ we will hear Lady Gaga fuse piano ballads and thudding dance pop on this album too. Sam Atkins
Honesty – U R Here – Honesty were the first band I saw at Float Along Festival in September. Playing their whole set behind a curtain onto which they projected mesmerising imagery, they immediately gave themselves a mysterious and mystical feel. That persona fits well with the collaborative feel of their trip-hop tinged music. They aren’t easy to categorise, but their music most brings to mind the feature heavy albums from acts like Massive Attack and UNKLE that were so big in the 90s. U R HERE will be with us in early February. Early songs such as ‘No Right To Love’ and ‘Tormentor’ suggest it will easily live up to the promise of their stage performance. Fran Slater
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