2025: The Albums We Defended All Year
End-of-year lists love to play it safe. Everything’s lined up nice and neat, numbers slapped on, final word delivered. But music? It’s rarely that polite. It barges in, makes a mess, and sometimes leaves you reeling, and that’s exactly how we like it.
These album picks aren’t meant to be definitive or “objective.” They’re the albums we found ourselves defending all year, sometimes passionately, sometimes stubbornly, sometimes just because they stuck when we didn’t expect them to. Some of these records are messy. Some are polarizing. Some might even be a bit divisive on purpose. And the same goes for the entries themselves!
Renée Rapp’s sophomore album, Bite Me, is an emotionally honest follow-up to the original work presented in her debut project. Focusing more on lyricism and direct storytelling, the album steps into a more narrative direction while allowing the sound to fall into a pop rhythm. Despite criticism that questioned the originality of her voice compared to her previous work, when it comes to vocal difficulty across the tracks, Rapp is a trained theater vocalist with impeccable vocal control. The album is one that fans truly shouldn’t miss, and it does a disservice to anyone looking to get into her music, as she presents a more vulnerable side at the forefront.
With incredibly catchy tracks like "Leave Me Alone," it’s an album that’s easy to get pulled into and have on repeat while looking for a fun listen, while also offering some depth.
- Alivia Stonier, Staff Writer
The departure of guitarist Nick McCarthy in 2016 forced Scottish band Franz Ferdinand to restructure the lineup that had been in place since 2002. Though new members Julian Corrie and Dino Bardot were announced at the same time, Julian was the only member part of the recording process for 2018's Always Ascending, which meant Bardot sometimes found himself without much to talk about during the press run for that album. October 2021 saw the departure of their original drummer, Paul Thomson, and the recruitment of Audrey Tait. We got a small taste of what the new lineup sounded like for “Billy Goodbye” and “Curious,” two new tracks included on their greatest hits album released in 2022, Hits to the Head. Still, this year’s The Human Fear is (finally) a complete snapshot of what the current lineup of Franz Ferdinand is capable of for a band that’s 23 years and two major lineup shake-ups in. The fact that they sound so reinvigorated and adventurous caught even me, a longtime fan, a little off guard. No other mainstream band was bold enough to break out a bouzouki as Franz did for “Black Eyelashes,” and there was not a single hook this side of “Golden” that took up space in my brain the way the chorus of “Night or Day” did. There are also a few unguarded songs about love from Alex Kapranos, something that may or may not have to do with him being a husband and father to a son now. In the past, Karpanos has written about love in a very poetic yet removed way – like he rolled the idea of it into a cigarette and smoked it outside of an art gallery he only wanted to view through the windows. But “Hooked” and “Night or Day” are certified Franzy-dancy but also vulnerable. Some critics have argued that this album isn’t revolutionizing their sound, but I don’t think that’s the sound it’s supposed to sound like. I don’t think the world needs another Franz Ferdinand or Tonight from them, and, to be completely honest, the fivesome don’t seem all that interested in doing that. It feels like they’re more focused on, at least for the moment, keeping the world dancing on the foundation they’ve had to break apart a few times and rebuild in the last decade, and I’m quite alright with that.
- Amanda Mack, Staff Photographer
Conan Gray's album Wishbone is an exceptional piece of work that was released this year. This album has stuck out to me from everything that I've listened to this year. It's drastically different from Conan's album Found Heaven, trading theatrics and retro grandeur for a more intimate feel. It's less about performing heartbreak but accepting and living in it. Every track feels like a different story that's whispered into the night.
What makes Wishbone special is how remarkably it captures the "in-between" stages of life- when you know you're not who you used to be, terrified of who you'll become, and finally accepting life. Conan writes about lingering love, fragile self-worth, the ache of wanting to be chosen, and freedom, all without sounding performative. The production is soft and skeletal but still polished. It allows the lyrics to really hit and bruise, which makes the album feel more intimate. Even if some may argue that this album is too subdued, they're missing exactly what type of album Wishbone is. That restraint allows the album to hit harder, proving that emotional impact doesn’t require spectacle to be devastating.
Ultimately, Wishbone earns its place as my album of the year not for being the loudest record, but for being the most honest. The feelings that flow out of each track as they end linger with me, which is why I chose it to be my album of the year.
- Kaitlin Torre, Staff Photographer
In The Blue Light is a live compilation album from one of the most unique R&B artists to date: Kelela. Originally recorded during her Blue Note debut in May of 2024, this record was released in February of this year. Already known as a master of the alternative and electronic R&B scene, In The Blue Light showcases how advanced Kelela truly is as an artist. Combining tracks from various releases throughout her 10+ year career, the album also experiments with musical arrangements. Many tracks have been instrumentally altered to fit a live jazz band, and multiple songs weave in and out of one another, creating complex live remixes. The slight changes she makes to her already distinctive sound only improve the listening experience of this album. Anyone who has not listened yet is missing out on a once-in-a-lifetime listening experience filled with a wide range of raw emotion and an honest display of talent.
- Natalie Hogan, Staff Writer
A forward-reverse-forward trip into neo retro funk and prog funk, vocalist Peter Aagaard (aka re-Pete) and producer Tomas Nerba Smagesjo (aka Dr. Bumpenstein) make up Norwegian funk duo The Bump Squad. The pair serves up high energy and lays down heavy bass with their third release, Guilty As Funk, a 21-track double album that pays and plays an immersive tribute to Parliament Funkadelic.
The title track, “Guilty as Funk,” weds bass-laden grooves to a playful narrative that packs broader current social commentary (“I don't hate, I just celebrate/What a premise:’ Eat Sleep Funk Re-Pete‘”) into an irresistible, funk-drenched effect.
Aagaard and Smagesjo have christened their style “Sci-Funk,“ where futuristic themes, funk, and sci-fi qualities intersect. Their second album, He Who Dares, Flares!”, released in 2022, was named Best Funk Album by Funkatopia.
Beyond the central Parliament-Funkadelic focus, in The Bump Squad’s expanded roster of funk titan influences, the spirit and swagger of James Brown, Ohio Players, Zapp, Rick James, Sly and the Family Stone, Prince, and more are evident.
Deftly and passionately honoring the 1970s and 1980s, Guilty As Funk reaches back in time for a good time, bringing it into the present day in a way that’s never felt more needed.
- Jordana Landres, Staff Writer
There’s always a moment when a band reaches a certain level of visibility, and the contrarians start crawling out, insisting that nothing new or exciting is happening in music anymore. This year, that band is Geese.
And yes, I’m aware this reads like another entry in the ever-growing Geese glazing archive. Proudly, that’s exactly what this is.
I fell for Geese months before the release of their third album, Getting Killed, back when 3D Country and the 4D Country b-sides were all I had and caught me in a chokehold. Things were quiet for a bit, but several months later, Geese finally announced a new record, and my excitement felt genuine rather than hype-driven.
I loved the singles, especially the zany, eerie track “Trinidad,” and was more than ready to stop relying on the unofficial YouTube rip of “Islands of Men.” When the album finally came out, it didn’t immediately click the way 3D Country did, but that never stopped it from becoming an important record to me.
Part of the backlash came from how quickly Getting Killed was crowned a classic (which I do have my opinions on, but I’ll save that for another day). Honestly, I remember when I first stumbled across some comments under a post from one of the big magazine outlets and thinking, “Here we go...” That kind of hype always invites skepticism, industry plant accusations, overexposure discourse, and the usual tired takes. But even as the noise got louder, the album stuck with me. It’s honest, sharp, and intentional, but there’s also a purposeful weirdness and discomfort that pulls you in and makes you pay attention. The album is loud and repetitive in all the right ways, and Cameron Winter’s vocals are striking, distinctive, and powerful, even if they’re an acquired taste.
What I love most is the band’s clear sense of not really giving a shit in the best possible way. They expand on ideas that already exist, stretching them until they turn into this chaotic, singular thing that only Geese could make. There’s no interest in playing it safe or adjusting course to please critics, just a band committed to doing exactly what they want, as loudly and confidently as possible. And beneath all of that mess, there’s a level of maturity and sophistication that’s hard to come by in a lot of younger bands right now, which is ultimately what makes the record so magnetic.
Is it my number one Geese album? No. Is it an easy number two? Absolutely. And that’s precisely why I’ll defend it, because Getting Killed doesn’t need to be perfect or definitive to matter this much.
- Bailey Blake, Editor-In-Chief
