This year started off slow for great releases and ended strongly. In the meantime, I did some deep digging to find new avenues for great music. It's not that it didn't exist, you just had to work a little harder to find it. So, without further ado, here are the top 22 albums I heard this year. Why 23? Well, I just had to write about Noah Cyrus, and there were 22 albums better than that one. Or maybe it's a tribute to Michael Jordan? I'll tell you one thing, it's definitely not a tribute to LeBron.
On to the list!!
23. Noah Cyrus - I Want My Loved Ones to Go with Me
I bet you thought I was joking! Coming out of the 2025 gates HOT!!!Before this album, I knew next to nothing about Noah Cyrus other than some of her family heritage. Beyond being Miley’s younger sister, she’s also the daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus, who just happens to be the artist whom I saw for my sixth and seventh concerts ever. It was in grade school, and I went with my mom (the first five were Reba McIntyre, also with my mom…there may have been a Brooks & Dunn or Alan Jackson sprinkled in there somewhere). Another (not-so) fun fact about Noah is that her mom married her ex-boyfriend. Imagine experiencing all of this by Noah’s ripe young age of 25.
All of the above is pretty pointless for this album review, but you have to admit, it does make the album title that much more interesting (it also makes for a pretty good country album!). Now that all of that’s out of the way, HOLY HELL this album is incredible. It features a stunningly gorgeous collaboration with Robin Pecknold (Fleet Foxes) that seems tailor-made for a Hollywood blockbuster soundtrack. It also features duets with Bill Callahan (his second most surprising collab this year, first place goes to a Norm MacDonald tribute song with a project called Everything is Recorded) and another collab with country mega-star Blake Shelton. It’s pretty perfect Americana from top to bottom, and there’s not really a miss here.
Trust me, I was as shocked by this selection as you probably are right now. Maybe I'm just looking at it through these goggles, but listen to it and tell me it's terrible. I will disagree with you vehemently!
Onward!!!
22. Dean Johnson - I Hope We Can Still Be Friends
I first heard Dean Johnson’s angelic pipes in a commercial for Tecova that featured his song “Faraway Skies” (I still have no idea what Tecova is, but I know they put good songs in their commercials). It’s a hauntingly beautiful song that just captures you and draws you in. His new album does the same, and it’s hard to believe that these sweet, sweet sounds come out of this mustachioed man. The album opener, “Before You Hit the Ground,” is the highlight for me here.
21. Mavis Staples - Sad and Beautiful World
Mavis Staples is a national treasure, and I am so glad that so many contemporary artists and producers continue to collaborate with her. She is 86 years old and has been performing since she was eight. She is a member of the Blues, Rock & Roll, and Gospel Halls of Fame, a Kennedy Center Honoree, and a winner of three GRAMMYs (including a Lifetime Achievement Award).
Her family’s first album together was released 67 years ago, and her first album was released 56 years ago. She’s collaborated with nearly every major figure of her era(s), from Bob Dylan to Prince, Aretha Franklin, Willie Nelson, Jeff Tweedy, and more. She and her family were featured in the Band’s Last Waltz. Her voice, still strong, still weary, has been a representative voice of our nation since (and through) the Civil Rights movement.
For this latest album, super producer Phil Cook (more on him later) pulls together an incredible guest list of collaborators - Buddy Guy, Bonnie Raitt, Tweedy (who produced two of her previous albums), Derek Trucks, Katie Crutchfield (aka Waxahatchee), Justin Vernon, MJ Lenderman, and more. Mavis covers songs by Tom Waits, Gillian Welch, Frank Ocean, Leonard Cohen, and more.
The highlight for me is her stirring cover of Kevin Morby’s "Beautiful Strangers." Where Morby’s version (while amazing) could be taken as irreverent, Staples’ warm delivery makes every word sound sincere. When she delivers the line, “Say a prayer, think of mother, I am a rock,” it hits so much harder. She is a rock that continues to endure and contribute. She is hope, and has been a light in the darkness for nearly nine decades.
20. Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory (self-titled)
Sharon Van Etten has collaborated with others in the past, but this is her first album credited to her and a band. Synthy, moody, broody, and triumphant at times, especially on the vocal front, this album is an awesome ride. It doesn’t come close to her chart-topping (on this list, at least) masterpiece, Remind Me Tomorrow, but it’s still great. Opener “Live Forever” sets a great tone, and “Afterlife” and “Idiot Box” are more poppy bangers. The rest is a bit uneven, but always interesting. There are moments of 80’s soundtrack synth music, and “I Can’t Imagine (Why You Feel This Way)” feels like diet St. Vincent. Sharon Van Etten continues to be one of the most consistent artists of the last decade.
19. Way Dynamic - Massive Shoe
My buddy Paul put this one on my radar. Its sound oscillates between 70’s AM folk and rock, Nick Drake, and a Wes Anderson soundtrack. It’s really light and smooth. Highlights include “People Settle Down” and “I Miffed It.” There are some fun piano-led bouncy songs, too. I just love the vibe and am excited to see where this band goes from here.
18. Deep Sea Diver - Billboard Heart
This band’s 2020 collaboration with Sharon Van Etten put them on my radar, but I wondered if that was a one-off due to my love for SVE (see above). They then opened for a recent leg of a Pearl Jam tour and released this album. IT ROCKS. They carry on a great heritage of rock to come out of Seattle. It features jagged, ripping guitars, awesome vocals and hooks, and some pummeling moments, particularly on “What Do I Know” and “Emergency.”
17. Dove Ellis - Blizzard
This album didn't come out until December, but I had been listening to some early singles before that. Due to its release date, I don't even know how much I love it yet. It may be better than this ranking, but it's too soon to tell.
As for the music, it's an enchanting blend of Radiohead and Jeff Buckley (I understand the bar I am setting with these two comparisons, but this is beautiful music, and this dude has some PIPES). I hear some peak Clap Your Hands Say Yeah in there as well. The music is pretty chamber-poppy and extremely melodic and catchy.
I know he opened for Geese on their recent tour and is from Ireland. If you're around my age, you may remember how Damien Rice captured our collective conscience for a brief few years. This one feels like it could be that powerful.
This is an ill-timed release for year-end lists, but I'm going to call this my artist to watch in 2026.
16. My Morning Jacket - Is
This is far from a great album in their pantheon, but it was refreshing that they tried something different by working with an outside producer, Brendon O’Brien. BO'B mixes up their process a bit, and there are some great and interesting results. There are some strong returns, aaaaand, some interesting choices. For the latter category, “Everyday Magic” is like “Mahgeetah remade for a Disney commercial,” and despite Jim James' onstage sauntering, “I Can Feel Your Love” will always be a beer break for me when played live.
That being said, the album “Out in the Open” is a great circular building jam (circular, but somewhat of a lesser version of “Circuital”), “Half a Lifetime” is a really cool stop/start experiment that grows on you with each listen, and “Time Waited” is a gorgeous mid-tempo track.
MMJ is my favorite live band currently, and the back half of the album is actually more exciting when considering the potential of jams that will grow larger in the live setting. These include “Beginning from the Ending,” “Squid Ink,” and “Die for It.” “Lemme Know” is also a really fun one live, as long as the PA system is working (IYKYK). “River Road” is a brooding builder, but I wish it really went off at some point (hoping it continues to grow live).
All in all, this is a solid MMJ album. It gives me hope that they still have a great album in them, but it doesn’t quite get there for me. If we’re playing the game of “It’s their best album since….” I’d have to go with The Waterfall as the answer, which still falls outside of their peak run of At Dawn > It Still Moves > Z (I’d skip Evil Urges - great songs but uneven album - and throw Circuital in the mix of great albums as well).
Sidenote #1: If we’re working with outside producers, can Andrew Watt be next? Pretty please??? He's revitalized the Stones, Pearl Jam, and countless others. Let them SHRED with him!!
Sidenote #2: I’d like to enter Carl Broemel in the “Greatest and Most Versatile Rock ‘n’ Roll Sidemen of All Time” conversation. Dude plays lead guitar on at least half of their songs, wails on the background vocals (often achieving higher highs than Jim James’ angelic pipes reach), is an INCREDIBLE pedal steel guitar player, and wails on the saxophone. Who else ya got??
This is far from a great album in their pantheon, but it was refreshing that they tried something different by working with an outside producer, Brendon O’Brien. BO'B mixes up their process a bit, and there are some great and interesting results. There are some strong returns, aaaaand, some interesting choices. For the latter category, “Everyday Magic” is like “Mahgeetah remade for a Disney commercial,” and despite Jim James' onstage sauntering, “I Can Feel Your Love” will always be a beer break for me when played live.
That being said, the album “Out in the Open” is a great circular building jam (circular, but somewhat of a lesser version of “Circuital”), “Half a Lifetime” is a really cool stop/start experiment that grows on you with each listen, and “Time Waited” is a gorgeous mid-tempo track.
MMJ is my favorite live band currently, and the back half of the album is actually more exciting when considering the potential of jams that will grow larger in the live setting. These include “Beginning from the Ending,” “Squid Ink,” and “Die for It.” “Lemme Know” is also a really fun one live, as long as the PA system is working (IYKYK). “River Road” is a brooding builder, but I wish it really went off at some point (hoping it continues to grow live).
All in all, this is a solid MMJ album. It gives me hope that they still have a great album in them, but it doesn’t quite get there for me. If we’re playing the game of “It’s their best album since….” I’d have to go with The Waterfall as the answer, which still falls outside of their peak run of At Dawn > It Still Moves > Z (I’d skip Evil Urges - great songs but uneven album - and throw Circuital in the mix of great albums as well).
Sidenote #1: If we’re working with outside producers, can Andrew Watt be next? Pretty please??? He's revitalized the Stones, Pearl Jam, and countless others. Let them SHRED with him!!
Sidenote #2: I’d like to enter Carl Broemel in the “Greatest and Most Versatile Rock ‘n’ Roll Sidemen of All Time” conversation. Dude plays lead guitar on at least half of their songs, wails on the background vocals (often achieving higher highs than Jim James’ angelic pipes reach), is an INCREDIBLE pedal steel guitar player, and wails on the saxophone. Who else ya got??
Sidenote #3: This album also wins the award for creepiest album cover. It looks like an Amish seance.
15. YHWH Nailgun - 45 Pounds
When I listen to this album, I picture a bunch of 1900s German dudes in a chalky weight room lifting barbells with the giant balls on the end. That’s to say, it is a pretty good gym soundtrack. It’s pretty batshit crazy and honestly not like anything I’ve ever heard before. While it’s probably rock music, I don’t even know what genre to put it in. The drummer’s kit includes a rototom that bends the percussive sounds in wild directions, and the guitars create skronky and stabby layers of sound (Skronky and Stabby is my new band name, btw...come check us out at your local prison!). I honestly don’t know why I like it so much, but they play everything like they f*cking MEAN IT, and that’s infectious.
14. Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band - New Threats from the Soul
Bob Dylan once described John Prine’s writing as "Midwestern mind-trips to the nth degree." With all due respect to Mr. Prine (of which there is not enough to pile on), that’s how I feel about this album from RD&RB. His voice is kind of goofy, but dude crams about three pages of lyrics into each song. It’s basically impossible to keep up with them all in a single sitting. With each listen, a new clever line or two reveals itself:
I left my wallet in El Segundo
I left my true love in a West Lafayette escape room
She had the kind of smile to get a blue swine in trouble
Kind of smile to get a violent one- or two-time felon employed
My little Jessica Rabbit, my Betty Rubble, my Moki Cherry, my Peggy Bundy, my Helen of Troy
I was a cactus flower
I had Heisman buzz
Now it's a pissing competition
Between the man I am and the guy I was
And I will never be (never be)
Anything (anything)
Other than a caged bird swinging from a chain swing, whistlin' for my payseed
Spinning like a carousel ride
All of those lines are actually from the magnum-opus-opening-title-track. It’s such a great song, and with each verse, he pulls you just far enough away from the hook line (the song's title) that it surprises you every time. Meanwhile, the band provides a joyful and light backdrop that will have you tapping your toes and whistling along.
The 11-minute-plus “Mutilation Springs” does lose me a bit, but the rest of this album is full of fun, lonesome, honky tonkin’, weird beauty. The other Mutilation track (“Mutilation Falls”) is a more upbeat mantra that only clocks in at a paltry 9:25. I’ve never heard anything exactly like this album, and I can’t wait to hear more.
13. Snocaps - (self-titled)
This indie-Americana supergroup was one of the most pleasant surprises of the year. Some may question my calling it a supergroup, but when you combine Waxahatchee, her sister Katie Crutchfield, Man of the Moment MJ Lenderman, and Brad Cook (super-Americana-producer, former bandmate of Bon Iver, and former member of Megafaun whose 2011 self-titled album landed very high on this list that year), it constitutes a supergroup by my standards. This one sounds the most like a bonus Waxahatchee album, who is riding a creative hot streak of solo and collaborative releases.
15. YHWH Nailgun - 45 Pounds
When I listen to this album, I picture a bunch of 1900s German dudes in a chalky weight room lifting barbells with the giant balls on the end. That’s to say, it is a pretty good gym soundtrack. It’s pretty batshit crazy and honestly not like anything I’ve ever heard before. While it’s probably rock music, I don’t even know what genre to put it in. The drummer’s kit includes a rototom that bends the percussive sounds in wild directions, and the guitars create skronky and stabby layers of sound (Skronky and Stabby is my new band name, btw...come check us out at your local prison!). I honestly don’t know why I like it so much, but they play everything like they f*cking MEAN IT, and that’s infectious.
Bob Dylan once described John Prine’s writing as "Midwestern mind-trips to the nth degree." With all due respect to Mr. Prine (of which there is not enough to pile on), that’s how I feel about this album from RD&RB. His voice is kind of goofy, but dude crams about three pages of lyrics into each song. It’s basically impossible to keep up with them all in a single sitting. With each listen, a new clever line or two reveals itself:
I left my wallet in El Segundo
I left my true love in a West Lafayette escape room
She had the kind of smile to get a blue swine in trouble
Kind of smile to get a violent one- or two-time felon employed
My little Jessica Rabbit, my Betty Rubble, my Moki Cherry, my Peggy Bundy, my Helen of Troy
I was a cactus flower
I had Heisman buzz
Now it's a pissing competition
Between the man I am and the guy I was
And I will never be (never be)
Anything (anything)
Other than a caged bird swinging from a chain swing, whistlin' for my payseed
Spinning like a carousel ride
All of those lines are actually from the magnum-opus-opening-title-track. It’s such a great song, and with each verse, he pulls you just far enough away from the hook line (the song's title) that it surprises you every time. Meanwhile, the band provides a joyful and light backdrop that will have you tapping your toes and whistling along.
The 11-minute-plus “Mutilation Springs” does lose me a bit, but the rest of this album is full of fun, lonesome, honky tonkin’, weird beauty. The other Mutilation track (“Mutilation Falls”) is a more upbeat mantra that only clocks in at a paltry 9:25. I’ve never heard anything exactly like this album, and I can’t wait to hear more.
This indie-Americana supergroup was one of the most pleasant surprises of the year. Some may question my calling it a supergroup, but when you combine Waxahatchee, her sister Katie Crutchfield, Man of the Moment MJ Lenderman, and Brad Cook (super-Americana-producer, former bandmate of Bon Iver, and former member of Megafaun whose 2011 self-titled album landed very high on this list that year), it constitutes a supergroup by my standards. This one sounds the most like a bonus Waxahatchee album, who is riding a creative hot streak of solo and collaborative releases.
My favorite track so far is the opener, "Coast." It's amazing what they cram into just 2 minutes and 23 seconds (and the first 10 seconds are just an intro beat!). It freaking sails at the end and immediately makes you start it over and listen again.
12. Panda Bear - Sinister Grift
I’m just going to come out and say it - This is the most accessible album of any iteration of any Animal Collective project. For a while this year, I was walking around saying it’s the most accessible AC adjacent album since Merriweather Post Pavilion, but then I went back and listened and remembered how weird most of it is (weird but brilliant, it’s still one of my favorite albums of the past 20 years).
This album, however….half of these songs could slide into your BBQ or beach mix, and no one would bat an eye. While a lot of AC’s (and Panda Bear’s) previous output could be described as sounding like Beach Boys studio experiments or deep cuts, this album flirts with some of the most poppy and catchy elements of Brian Wilson and Co.
I’m just going to come out and say it - This is the most accessible album of any iteration of any Animal Collective project. For a while this year, I was walking around saying it’s the most accessible AC adjacent album since Merriweather Post Pavilion, but then I went back and listened and remembered how weird most of it is (weird but brilliant, it’s still one of my favorite albums of the past 20 years).
This album, however….half of these songs could slide into your BBQ or beach mix, and no one would bat an eye. While a lot of AC’s (and Panda Bear’s) previous output could be described as sounding like Beach Boys studio experiments or deep cuts, this album flirts with some of the most poppy and catchy elements of Brian Wilson and Co.
I recently read that the lyrics for this album are influenced by a bitter divorce. I had listened to it all year, and honestly hadn’t absorbed that. Creating this kind of beauty through struggle might also be the most Brian Wilson thing a member of Animal Collective has ever done.
11. Ben Kweller - Cover the Mirrors
Ben Kweller had mostly fallen off my radar since his 2002 bubblegum pop rock opus, Sha Sha. Tragic circumstances led to this latest album, as his 16-year-old son was killed in a freak car accident. This awful event certainly informs every moment of this album, and there are most certainly moments of darkness. But, in darkness, sometimes small lights of hope shine through, and there’s plenty of hope here as well.
The childlike innocence of Kweller’s voice helps to lighten the load, and his signature humor is not lost (the climax of "Park Harvey Fire Drill" hits with the line, “And the people say, ‘blah blah blah blah….’ and carries on from there). With light touches, he explores the depths of grief, though he is often left with nothing but the continued search for peace.
All of the above said, there are some serious SONGS on this album. His collab with Waxahatchee, “Dollar Store,” is peak Kweller, starting as a whisper with noodly guitars before exploding into a soaring Foo Fighters-esque rocker. Its incredible hook makes it another one that will instantly make you want to start it over as soon as it ends. “Don’t Cave” is a steady builder about holding on through those dark moments. “Optimystic” wrestles with the depths of dealing with depression over a power pop musical backdrop (it might be stuck on the bottom of your shoe, it’s still bubblegum).
The heavy subject matter may not be for everyone (it also features songs called “Depression,” “Trapped,” and “Letter to Agony”), but once again, but ultimately, hope does persevere. And for anyone who has endured a serious bout of grief, this album will put so many feelings into words that often seem too hard to articulate when you are in the depths of it.
Album closer, “Oh Dorian,” (featuring now-everywhere man, MJ Lenderman) is a direct letter to his son. But instead of just being a devastating “good-bye,” he offers up a hopeful “see you later.”
Oh, Dorian
Where did you go?
Oh, Dorian
Please let me know
Oh, Dorian
My best friend
I can't wait to hang with you again.
In darkness, the smallest glimmers of light, even the ones you may not be able to yet see, shine brighter. Thank you, Ben, for providing this light through your darkest times. RIP, Dorian.
10. Goose - Everything Must Go
Let's be honest, jam bands rarely release great albums. Goose may have released two great ones in 2025. This one really hit me, though. From the expansive lead single/towering live jam, “Give it Time,” to the yacht rock of “Your Direction,” to the funky strut of “Thatch,” to the album closer (appropriately titled) “How It Ends," this album is chock full of great songs. Even when the jams stretch out, the production remains tight.
I know Goose takes some heat for being a “corporate jam band.” I’m not entrenched enough in this scene to really understand that, but I do understand a collection of great songs when I hear them. This is one of my favorite albums from a jam band in years.
9. Bon Iver - SABLE fABLE
Minimal robot whimpering!!!*
Let's be honest, jam bands rarely release great albums. Goose may have released two great ones in 2025. This one really hit me, though. From the expansive lead single/towering live jam, “Give it Time,” to the yacht rock of “Your Direction,” to the funky strut of “Thatch,” to the album closer (appropriately titled) “How It Ends," this album is chock full of great songs. Even when the jams stretch out, the production remains tight.
I know Goose takes some heat for being a “corporate jam band.” I’m not entrenched enough in this scene to really understand that, but I do understand a collection of great songs when I hear them. This is one of my favorite albums from a jam band in years.
9. Bon Iver - SABLE fABLE
Minimal robot whimpering!!!*
As one does, I recently decided to take this album on a long, cold December walk after a snowfall (the ultimate setting for Bon Iver music since his debut). This album played like a career-spanning greatest hits of new songs.
There are moments of Radiohead intensity, glitchy anthems of what it sounds like to fall in love, quiet somber ballads of love lost, somber 80’s synth ballads that sound like they are coming from underwater, violins, and layered saxophone solos. Not too many other artists could pull all of this off and make it all sound cohesive. And, to put it more directly, it’s great to hear more of his actual voice….instead of the sounds of a vacuum coughing (sorry, I couldn’t resist!).
*I really wanted to end the review right after that sentence and just leave it at that. But this album is too good to do just that.
8. Bruce Springsteen - Faithless
Despite not releasing an album of newly recorded material in 2025, Bruce Springsteen had A YEAR. A biopic, Deliver Me from Nowhere, about the making of Nebraska and Born in the USA starring Jeremy Allen White, was released (WARNING: Many fans go into this film expecting a bombastic over-the-top rock 'n' roll ride, but it's far from that. It's more Rocky 1 than it is Rocky 4. I went into it with that expectation and freaking LOVED it. It's an amazing documentation of Bruce overcoming his darkest demons through song to become the biggest rock star in the world).
The Boss also released two massive box sets. The second one was a deluxe box of the album Nebraska. The first one was the expansive seven-disc outtakes collection, Tracks 2. Where his previous collection of outtakes, titled, you guessed it, Tracks, was a collection of b-sides and deep cut songs, Tracks 2 includes six never-before-released ALBUMS (?!?) and an additional disc of collected tracks. I find it simply incredible that he has piles of albums lying around that he never got around to releasing.
My favorite of these lost albums is titled Faithless (disc 3). It’s a collection of songs that Bruce wrote and recorded for a movie soundtrack that was never created. Bruce described the concept of the film as “a spiritual Western film that was preparing to be made around 2004.” He wrote the music over a two-week period and played most of the sounds you hear himself.
Its tone is like a darker, stripped-down version of some of the music he made for his album of Pete Seeger covers, The Seeger Sessions. It’s folky and earthy and features some great songs of exploration. Despite the album’s title, many of the songs focus on faith. This is admittedly not usually my wheelhouse, but the raw authenticity, songwriting, and performances make these songs undeniably great.
“All God’s Children” sounds like a stripped-down Tom Waits spiritual. “God Sent You” is a beautiful love song, which, like many great spirituals, could be about a deity or a loved one. “Goin' to California” (not that one) sounds like a modern take on a Woody Guthrie song. The highlight for me, however, is “My Master’s Hand.” It’s a churning ballad about being the humble hand of God through the work we do. It’s stunningly gorgeous and powerful.
After hearing this lost soundtrack, I just have one question: Can’t a director take these songs and create a Western movie around them? Or better yet, let’s have an entire film fest where different directors make films around it. I don’t know what the original film was that inspired it, but a film needs to be made that's inspired by this album.
P.S. I recommend diving into the entire Tracks 2 box set. Disc 2 is an album of songs in the broody and synthy style of “Streets of Philadelphia.” Disc 4 is an album of Nashville-style honky tonk jams (“Stand On It” and “Repo Man” are highlights), and the pedal steel is aplenty. Inyo is a cousin of his Ghost of Tom Joad album, with mournful songs about the border.
7. Prewn - System
My favorite current rock critic, Steven Hyden, described another album on this list as “it sounds like what it’s like to live in the year 2025” (more on that later). I would say this album comes in second place in that category. Filled with angst and anxiety, angular strings, and plodding percussion, it can feel claustrophobic at times, but that makes the payoffs like the back end of the title track that much more rewarding.
This collection of songs was never meant to see the light of day. It was more of a diary that Izzy Hagerup (the album’s sole contributor) would record late at night after working on other things. It can be manic, paranoid, fear-inducing, menacing, melodic, cathartic, and groovy….all in the same song. For a deeper peek into how her mind works, I recommend this track-by-track breakdown interview with her from Stereogum. It’s as all over the place as the album is.
My favorite of these lost albums is titled Faithless (disc 3). It’s a collection of songs that Bruce wrote and recorded for a movie soundtrack that was never created. Bruce described the concept of the film as “a spiritual Western film that was preparing to be made around 2004.” He wrote the music over a two-week period and played most of the sounds you hear himself.
Its tone is like a darker, stripped-down version of some of the music he made for his album of Pete Seeger covers, The Seeger Sessions. It’s folky and earthy and features some great songs of exploration. Despite the album’s title, many of the songs focus on faith. This is admittedly not usually my wheelhouse, but the raw authenticity, songwriting, and performances make these songs undeniably great.
“All God’s Children” sounds like a stripped-down Tom Waits spiritual. “God Sent You” is a beautiful love song, which, like many great spirituals, could be about a deity or a loved one. “Goin' to California” (not that one) sounds like a modern take on a Woody Guthrie song. The highlight for me, however, is “My Master’s Hand.” It’s a churning ballad about being the humble hand of God through the work we do. It’s stunningly gorgeous and powerful.
After hearing this lost soundtrack, I just have one question: Can’t a director take these songs and create a Western movie around them? Or better yet, let’s have an entire film fest where different directors make films around it. I don’t know what the original film was that inspired it, but a film needs to be made that's inspired by this album.
P.S. I recommend diving into the entire Tracks 2 box set. Disc 2 is an album of songs in the broody and synthy style of “Streets of Philadelphia.” Disc 4 is an album of Nashville-style honky tonk jams (“Stand On It” and “Repo Man” are highlights), and the pedal steel is aplenty. Inyo is a cousin of his Ghost of Tom Joad album, with mournful songs about the border.
7. Prewn - System
My favorite current rock critic, Steven Hyden, described another album on this list as “it sounds like what it’s like to live in the year 2025” (more on that later). I would say this album comes in second place in that category. Filled with angst and anxiety, angular strings, and plodding percussion, it can feel claustrophobic at times, but that makes the payoffs like the back end of the title track that much more rewarding.
This collection of songs was never meant to see the light of day. It was more of a diary that Izzy Hagerup (the album’s sole contributor) would record late at night after working on other things. It can be manic, paranoid, fear-inducing, menacing, melodic, cathartic, and groovy….all in the same song. For a deeper peek into how her mind works, I recommend this track-by-track breakdown interview with her from Stereogum. It’s as all over the place as the album is.
A broken, beautiful mess. 2025, anyone??
6. Colter Wall - Memories and Empties
Colter has gone and written some great and clever songs, the latter of which is really hard to do. There are teams of people in Nashville who can’t come up with lines this clever:
Well, I can might get high on a Saturday night
And decide to drag my hide to town
I find me a cue, lose a quick game of pool
To whoever just might be around
And after I'm done, and the evening's funds
Have been all but knocked back and drunk down
I call my ex-wife, tell her how great my life is
And could she drive me home from town?
And it's gettin' so that a man can't go
Into town just to have him a drink
Get by the cops and the mule deer
And, of course, there's you, dear, telling me just what you think
This music is just so authentic. Who else could write about his disappearance as “far off and gone, like summer wages,” besides a man who has lived the seasonal life of a cowpoke? The band is so tight and truly shines as well. They are so tight, and the production is great. This is his best album since his debut….maybe better.
6. Colter Wall - Memories and Empties
Colter has gone and written some great and clever songs, the latter of which is really hard to do. There are teams of people in Nashville who can’t come up with lines this clever:
Well, I can might get high on a Saturday night
And decide to drag my hide to town
I find me a cue, lose a quick game of pool
To whoever just might be around
And after I'm done, and the evening's funds
Have been all but knocked back and drunk down
I call my ex-wife, tell her how great my life is
And could she drive me home from town?
And it's gettin' so that a man can't go
Into town just to have him a drink
Get by the cops and the mule deer
And, of course, there's you, dear, telling me just what you think
This music is just so authentic. Who else could write about his disappearance as “far off and gone, like summer wages,” besides a man who has lived the seasonal life of a cowpoke? The band is so tight and truly shines as well. They are so tight, and the production is great. This is his best album since his debut….maybe better.
5. Jeff Tweedy - Twilight Override
A couple of years ago, my wife and I did a road trip from LA to Denver, hitting up National Parks in Utah and Colorado along the way (we were being chased across the country by the first hurricane to hit LA in 200 years, but that’s a whole other story). We drove through barren deserts of Nevada before nature exploded into the epic mountains and canyons of Utah. It was a long drive across that barren wasteland to get to Zion et al.
You’re probably wondering what a cross-country journey has to do with the new Jeff Tweedy album. This album is a HUGE (30 songs!!), expansive, low-key masterpiece. As I started listening to it, it played much like that drive through the desert. A lot of the landscape looks (err….sounds) the same at first. It’s a lot to take in. However, more listens reveal more contextual layers, the flatland starts to come alive and reveal its growing topography.
It's a lot to take on at first. For me, this started as an album to put on in the background and let it reveal itself. Bit by bit, moment by moment, you realize you are experiencing some epic landscapes.
In an era of micro-attention spans, releasing an album of 30 songs is at best a punk rock move, and at worst a bit stubborn (an even more punk rock move is to put a spoken word track in the 4 slot of the first disc…it somehow still works!). I honestly laughed when I saw the announcement of a triple album. Sometimes I wonder if Jeff Tweedy has the opposite of a Bruce Springsteen problem, where he shares everything. But, even if I don’t “get” or love a new release from Wilco or Tweedy, it always ends up rewarding me.
Sometimes it takes months, sometimes years even (as with Wilco’s Ode to Joy), but it’s always worth the journey. He actually revealed that this was initially a FIVE-disc album (presumably 50 songs??) that he whittled down that much. So maybe it’s not the result of releasing too much, but more his extremely consistent creative output. There are very few (if any) absolute misses in his catalog.
I could go into details of individual songs, and which ones were the first to gurgle to the surface for me, but I think that defeats the point. This album is meant to reveal itself to each listener as it will. You can’t drive to Zion from LA without going through the desert.
My wife and I had the distinct pleasure of catching this album's tour. The tour featured the same band that's on the album - Jeff's two sons, and a collection of their friends. Jeff explained he had either known everyone in the band since they were born or since they were young children. The live performance further drove home the deep and organic connection between all of these beautiful souls. It's apparent on the album as well, and their vocals blend in the same organic way, often creating a powerful wall of sound.
I’ll close with this - As a kid, before I even started school, I have a distinct memory of records playing from our large wooden console in a sunny room in our house. The sunbeams came in long and angular through the windows, and I remember watching dust float through the air in the light as the music played. For whatever reason, this album takes me right back to that feeling - the warm blanket of those sounds and sunbeams carrying me to a different place.
A couple of years ago, my wife and I did a road trip from LA to Denver, hitting up National Parks in Utah and Colorado along the way (we were being chased across the country by the first hurricane to hit LA in 200 years, but that’s a whole other story). We drove through barren deserts of Nevada before nature exploded into the epic mountains and canyons of Utah. It was a long drive across that barren wasteland to get to Zion et al.
You’re probably wondering what a cross-country journey has to do with the new Jeff Tweedy album. This album is a HUGE (30 songs!!), expansive, low-key masterpiece. As I started listening to it, it played much like that drive through the desert. A lot of the landscape looks (err….sounds) the same at first. It’s a lot to take in. However, more listens reveal more contextual layers, the flatland starts to come alive and reveal its growing topography.
It's a lot to take on at first. For me, this started as an album to put on in the background and let it reveal itself. Bit by bit, moment by moment, you realize you are experiencing some epic landscapes.
In an era of micro-attention spans, releasing an album of 30 songs is at best a punk rock move, and at worst a bit stubborn (an even more punk rock move is to put a spoken word track in the 4 slot of the first disc…it somehow still works!). I honestly laughed when I saw the announcement of a triple album. Sometimes I wonder if Jeff Tweedy has the opposite of a Bruce Springsteen problem, where he shares everything. But, even if I don’t “get” or love a new release from Wilco or Tweedy, it always ends up rewarding me.
Sometimes it takes months, sometimes years even (as with Wilco’s Ode to Joy), but it’s always worth the journey. He actually revealed that this was initially a FIVE-disc album (presumably 50 songs??) that he whittled down that much. So maybe it’s not the result of releasing too much, but more his extremely consistent creative output. There are very few (if any) absolute misses in his catalog.
I could go into details of individual songs, and which ones were the first to gurgle to the surface for me, but I think that defeats the point. This album is meant to reveal itself to each listener as it will. You can’t drive to Zion from LA without going through the desert.
My wife and I had the distinct pleasure of catching this album's tour. The tour featured the same band that's on the album - Jeff's two sons, and a collection of their friends. Jeff explained he had either known everyone in the band since they were born or since they were young children. The live performance further drove home the deep and organic connection between all of these beautiful souls. It's apparent on the album as well, and their vocals blend in the same organic way, often creating a powerful wall of sound.
I’ll close with this - As a kid, before I even started school, I have a distinct memory of records playing from our large wooden console in a sunny room in our house. The sunbeams came in long and angular through the windows, and I remember watching dust float through the air in the light as the music played. For whatever reason, this album takes me right back to that feeling - the warm blanket of those sounds and sunbeams carrying me to a different place.
4. Tyler Childers - Snipe Hunter
Tyler Childers is a brilliant songwriter, and as far as albums go, I honestly don’t think he’s had a miss in his entire career. He continues to grow from songwriter to full-on artist, and this album is his most artistic "I Am Me" piece. In other words, this is the album that Tyler went and did whatever the f*ck he wanted. Not that he hasn’t done this in the past, but from minute one of this album, it’s apparent that he’s ready to kick some notions about him in the teeth (and later, add them to his Bitin’ List). He brought in Rick Rubin to produce this, who, despite his brilliant Johnny Cash America album series, isn’t exactly known as an Americana guru (though he can now add that to his illustrious resume).
Childers drops a “motherf*ckin” in line three of song one, which is a sarcastic song about being big and rich (a classic country move), and we’re off to the races from there. He snarls, he kicks, he stomps, he pisses off a lot of his fan base (some even claimed that the album’s title implies that the whole thing is a big damn joke). He sings songs about catching rabies, koalas with STDs, sacred Hindu pilgrimages, and damn near goes full “Cotton-Eye Joe” on the album closer. If this sounds batshit crazy, well, it just might be.
In the process, he also corrals two of his oldest and best songs, which are perfectly produced by Rubin and performed by Tyler and the band. One, “Nose on the Grindstone,” immediately sounds like a song you’ve known your whole life. The other, “Oneida,” is the most longing and heartachingly beautiful song I heard all year. Its story is deceptively simple, but Tyler puts a yearning to it that drags you down the road to heartache with him. The production on this one is absolutely perfect as well, as the instrumental bridge is absolutely mournful. Lyrically, it’s not the actual story that’s so compelling, but the way that he reveals what the younger man and older woman need and gain from each other. The end result is downright devastating.
In a career full of home runs, this one is an inside-the-ballpark grand slam. It’s not orthodox, nor is it the easiest way to clear the bases. But by the end, it is one of the most thrilling plays you’ve ever experienced.
3. Brown Horse - All the Right Weaknesses
Who would have thought you’d have to go all the way to the eastern edge of England (Norwich - I had to look up where it is) to find some of the best Americana of the year 2025? As mentioned, I dug deep this year. This near-perfect album made it all worth it.
This road-ready album is the sound of a great band becoming a unit, an unstoppable force after countless days grinding it out together. Every song packs a punch in its own way. Opener “Verna Bloom” kicks the door open perfectly, moving from one set of riffs to another (I absolutely love the guitar tones on this album) with lead singer Patrick Turner’s weary vocals riding on top.
“Corduroy Couch” might be the stand-out track on this album as Turner trades vocals with bassist Phoebe Troup. Troup takes the lead on the chorus, which features these “can-you-imagine-writing-these-lyrics-in-your-early-20s” lyrics:
“Every tide takes a little more off the shore,
I used to want to live forever, but now I’m not so sure.”
I said “Corduroy Couch” might be the standout track on the album, but it also might not be. “Dog Rose” starts off like a dark and bendy Modest Mouse track, but steadily builds into a pummeling crescendo that releases then recrescendos! (I don’t think “recrescendos” is even a word, but my grammar app did not correct it…so, it probably understands after hearing this song).
The album deep track “Radio Free Bolinas” might also be the standout here as well. It starts off as a low-end brooder where you can tell shit’s about to hit the fan, and then that guitar riff kicks in and shoots you off into space. It alternates between these two modes while slowly building, and the riff continues to take over. As it builds, Turner’s vocal weariness turns to desperation as it speeds and speeds until the bottom drops out.
Beyond these songs, there’s not a miss on the album. Even the very back end soars with the end of the penultimate track, “Wipers,” as twin guitars carry it off in the distance.”Far Off Places” closes things out on a more jovial and light note. I want to see this album played live (check out this live session without an audience that looks like it was recorded in a Crawfordsville basement; they close out this set with a Jason Molina/Songs:Ohia cover). Much like this band, I know it will only get bigger.
Please come to the States, Brown Horse!
2. Geese - Getting Killed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqGU-1B9oMU STEVE HYDEN MOST 2025 ALBUM
On September 26th of this year, I randomly woke up an hour earlier than usual. Normally, this would frustrate me to no end, because that’s usually just enough time to think I can fall back asleep, but then thoughts of the day creep in, and I end up lying in bed awake for an hour instead.
This Friday was different, though. It was the day that Jeff Tweedy’s new massive triple album finally dropped. It had been getting rave reviews. It was autumn, a perfect time to take in a new Tweedy project. I had listened to every interview about it. I loved every eclectic song from it that Tweedy had released to that point. I was ready to put it on.
But then, like driving down the field to score a game-winning touchdown only to have a pass picked off at the goal line, a new article by my favorite rock music critic, Steven Hyden, intercepted the early morning moment. His article was about Geese (not to be confused with fellow fowl, Goose). He described it as an album that feels like what living right now feels like.
Geese' initial single, “Taxes,” didn’t grab me at first (boy, has that changed), so I was still reluctant. I put it on my phone while laying in bed. I was transfixed. I lay in bed for the entire 45-minute album. Having extra time that morning, I then got up to do some stretching (it’s yoga with a YouTube instructor, but I don’t think I’m at the point in my practice where I can consider it yoga just yet, so we’ll settle for…stretching).
I thought I’d put the dreamy Tweedy album for that session. But I couldn’t. I had to listen to the Geese again. Tweedy would have to wait until my commute. I stretched, got through my morning routine at home, and headed for the car, ready to dig in.
But I couldn’t. I just couldn’t NOT listen to the new Geese album again. It hit in a whole different way in the car. The band came alive, the layers, the flourishes, the bass, it all came to a disjarring head as the first track blew up in my car (pun intended, if you’ve listened to the lyrics of ALBUM OPENER, you’ll understand). Tweedy made it to the goal line, and Geese not only intercepted the pass...they ran the ball back for a pick-6.
This was the most exhilarating first listen (technically the third at this point, but first real listen) of an album I’ve experienced in years. It was mind-blowing. In fact, I can only think of two other first album listening experiences* that were as exhilarating:
- I would listen to Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot on my commute to my 12 hour shift for my box factory job in college, and that album would melt my mind every time.
- The first time I listened to Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion was on a cold February run in Chicago. By the end of track one, the majestic “In the Flowers,” I’m pretty sure I had just run faster than I ever had in my life and my heart was beating out of my chest.
So, that’s a pretty high bar. The opening track kicks you in the teeth and there are some beautiful melodic tunes between that one and "Taxes." This album may not hit you at first. It may not hit you at all. Cameron Winter's voice may be too abrasive. In my experience in talking about this album, it's about 80%/20%. The 80% don't get it or can't get over his voice, and turn it off after three minutes, but the 20% who get it are rabidly obsessed with it.
Art rock goddess, Patti Smith, described it as such, "Geese were on the radio, "100 Horses," suddenly I felt optimistic." Art rock god, Nick Cave, went even deeper:
"I put my earphones in and played Geese’s new album, Getting Killed. The first song starts with Cameron Winter singing, in his lovely, plaintive way -- I try/ I try/ I try so hard -- and I feel those simple words down to my soul, because we all try, because we all try so hard, and when the band kicks into the chorus -- I mean, my God, those drums -- and Cameron Winter screams, again and again -- There’s a bomb in my car! There’s a bomb in my car! -- all worry is laid to waste. The endorphins rushing wild from the freezing water, the music pounding through my body, the caffeine, the f*cking ducks and the God-roiling sky -- no what-ifs, no yeah-buts, no what-abouts, no caveats, at all. I am made happy, and that happiness is entire and incontestable. And all the way home, I go -- to my beautiful waking wife -- on this, the best day ever."
This band continued to storm the indie scene with their cross-country tour of way-too-small venues (tickets were going for $2,500+). I've listened and watched to so many of their live shows where they are just setting the room on fire. For a taste, check out this bootleg recording of the album opener, "Trinidad." The crowd absolutely EXPLODES on the chorus. This is not a standard sing-along-able chorus, but the crowd is so loud for it, you can't even hear lead singer, Winter's guttural yowls. Or check the video of this show from DC. The energy in the room is so palpable that you can feel it through the tinniest of laptop speakers.
This band took over the indie world in 2025. I hope their tour hits some bigger venues in 2026, because I can't wait to feel this infectious album live (and, if it's not your thing, great. There's a better chance for me to actually be able to score tickets!).
*barring the feeling of a new Pearl Jam album or bootleg as a teenager
1. S.G. Goodman - Planting By the Signs
I had seen her name before, but was unfamiliar with S.G. Goodman before I saw a Patterson Hood feature (of Drive-by Truckers fame), where he put together a mid-year list of his favorite indie country artists. He mentioned this was his favorite album of the year. He highlighted one song, “Snapping Turtle,” as a true masterpiece.
I couldn't agree with him more. The song begins with a jarring story (with a somewhat relieving twist) before delving into another tale of one of her friends growing up. She does a masterful job of weaving these tales together and leaving it to the listener to connect the dots. It’s something of a collage that, though disjointed in narrative, comes together to be more powerful than the sum of its parts. This style of storytelling always reminds me of John Prine’s incredible song, “Lake Marie.”
The mastery of this album runs much deeper than that brilliant song, though. The production is perfect, evoking a darker Waxahatchee vibe (the first three songs especially). I love the drums on a lot of these tracks, especially “I Can See the Devil.” There are dark and foreboding tales and perfectly light love songs like, “I’m in Love,” which features one of the most fun lines of the year, “I'm checking out Walmart collections of underwear," to describe the excitement of a new love.
The album closer, “Heaven Song,” is an epic send-off and the best album closer I heard all year. It tales the tale of a road trip with a dog nearing the end of its journey. Their trip includes visits to Heaven and Hell, and encounters with Jesus, and other characters named Sin, Hope, Real, Authenticity and more. It builds to an incredible climax with Goodman absolutely wailing on the vocals. It is a soul-stirring experience that even this description doesn’t come close to encapsulating.
S.G. Goodman is an absolute brilliant songwriter and her writing on this album approaches the material of some of modern Americana's best lyricists and songwriters (Isbell, Brandi Carlile, Lucinda, Waxahatchee, etc.).
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to dig deeper into her back catalog....
I hope to have another post of random notes and top songs up as well. Hopefully time will allow that to happen soon.
