2024 was quite a year for music, with the inescapable brat summer and many pop and indie acts reaching superstardom. 2025 is already shaping up to continue last year’s trend of incredible music. Here’s a list of 25 pop, rock and alternative albums to look forward to as we enter the middle of the decade.
 

ETHEL CAIN — PERVERTS
8 January

Ethel Cain’s hard turn to ambience should come as no surprise—her debut Carpet Bed EP demonstrated an affinity for reverb, though balanced by acoustic elements and traditional songwriting structures. Perverts fully realises the crushing atmosphere of Cain’s existential lyricism with tectonic movements and piano chords saturated in pure dread.

MAC MILLER — BALLOONERISM

17 January

Mac Miller’s second posthumous album is a step back chronologically from Circles, but not in quality—he explores themes of uncertainty and dissatisfaction through his early work’s jazzy, psychedelic style. The world will forever be enamoured by the remarkable vision of a here 21–22-year-old Mac Miller and thankful for the care his estate takes to protect it.

FKA TWIGS — EUSEXUA

24 January

EUSEXUA, while cerebral at points, is never ‘a thinker’—it’s accessible, immediate and kinetic. Its understated beats are reminiscent of early Aphex Twin, and its genre-spanning experimentation is on par with Björk’s. The project’s abrasive, Y2K visuals contrast its smooth, R&B-infused techno, Twigs’ characteristically wispy vocals are driven by pulsing rhythms in a bold new direction for the artist.

INHALER — OPEN WIDE

7 February

The Irish rock band—whose vocalist is the son of U2’s Bono—returns with more anthemic pop-rock goodness. On Open Wide, they’ve substituted their punk sound for indie pop, lowering the guitars for dancier rhythms. Don’t fret, the stylistic shift hasn’t worsened their sound: standout single ‘A Question of You’ is a brilliant new wave jam.

OKLOU — CHOKE ENOUGH

7 February

This will be the pop album of 2025 that people will be celebrating for months. Oklou’s choke enough shimmers gently with Y2K and electronic influences but also entirely strips them back. These dance songs are incredibly sparse and weightless, yet still feel larger than life. Above all else, Oklou evokes the playfulness of the earlier, happier internet.

SQUID — COWARDS

7 February

On Cowards, Squid reckon with apathy and complacency. Few of the explosive post-punk barrages that defined their previous releases remain. Instead, they perform confidently with slow burners: sparse arrangements with regal strings breaking judiciously into sweeping crescendos. With gripping themes and musicianship, it’s no wonder Cowards is the album Squid wish they first unveiled.

VENTURING — GHOSTHOLDING

14 February

Jane Remover might’ve ditched the fictional band concept attached to this side project, but the songs haven’t suffered. There’s no shortage of ethereal, slick, and occasionally noisy indie rock and shoegaze. An earnest throwback to ‘90s indie rock, Ghostholding is the perfect listen on a late-night stroll in suburbia.

BATHS — GUT

21 February

After seven years, Baths returns with a new proper album of his gorgeous, fantasy-like glitch pop. Gut is aptly titled—it’s his honest effort to write from the stomach. Addressing topics such as his sexuality, harmful fantasies, and dissonant self-identities, this belligerent pop record is immediate and urgent.

ICHIKO AOBA — LUMINESCENT CREATURES

28 February

Ichiko Aoba’s soft, introspective ballads touch the heart. The singles in the lead-up to Luminescent Creatures—‘Sonar’, ‘Flag’, and ‘Lucifèrine’—all hint at another expansive, new age record exuding pure calmness and tranquillity upon ears.

PANDA BEAR — SINISTER GRIFT

28 February

After some experimental collaborative projects, the Animal Collective founder returns with his new solo album. Sinister Grift promises more psychedelic, jangly chords accompanied by Panda Bear’s signature fluttery falsetto. The standout is ‘Defense’, with Cindy Lee providing irresistible electric guitar noodling.

LADY GAGA — MAYHEM

7 March

So far, Mayhem looks to be a singularly Gaga release—a long-awaited return to form. It is well-timed, where the recession pop of Born This Way was an unmistakable influence on the club culture-obsessed Brat Summer. The reception of singles ‘Abracadabra’ and ‘Disease’ suggests her hyper-danceable dark-pop not only competes but flourishes in the poptimist landscape of 2025.

CLIPPING — DEAD CHANNEL SKY

14 March

clipping.’s choice to release a cyberpunk-themed hip-hop album was a bold one, but it’s paying off. With a highly anticipated feature by Aesop Rock and homages to the likes of Cybotron and Egyptian Lover, this album’s afrofuturist vision looks to match the ambition of their broader discography.

WEATHERDAY — HORNET DISASTER

19 March

Weatherday’s noisy emo pop has made waves within internet circles for its fervent, distorted chords and impassioned energy. It’s been five years since their debut album, Come In. Hornet Disaster is their long-awaited follow-up with double the number of tracks—there’s bound to be heaps of guitar earworms.

JAPANESE BREAKFAST — FOR MELANCHOLY BRUNETTES (& SAD WOMEN)

21 March

This new entry in the Japanese Breakfast discography continues their emotive and poetic songwriting. It seems to wear its poignancy on its sleeve, down to the title pointing to its audience and the solemn acoustics and swirling strings heard in ‘Orlando in Love’.

GRENTPEREZ — BACKFLIPS IN A RESTAURANT

28 March

A rising star in Australian music, grentperez has cultivated a breathtaking discography for a 23-year-old. His second album, Backflips in a Restaurant, sports three singles characterised by punchy kick drums, modulated guitar and serene synths. The track ‘2DK’ particularly showcases his excellent storytelling in a newer, hip-hop direction.

PERFUME GENIUS — GLORY

28 March

The vulnerable art pop musician pivots directions once more with Glory. The lead album teaser, ‘It’s a Mirror’, has a strong alt-country sound, not too dissimilar from the newly trendy folk scene of artists like MJ Lenderman and Adrianne Lenker. Perfume Genius remains impressively everchanging.

SPELLING — PORTRAIT OF MY HEART

28 March

SPELLLING’s spectacular, golden voice takes on a different shape with the new acoustic backdrop on Portrait of My Heart. The title track takes her rich baroque pop style and drenches it in art rocky guitars, the outcome an incredibly triumphant return to form.

BALL PARK MUSIC — LIKE LOVE

4 April

Ball Park Music, though making extensive use of synth and guitar effects, produce a sunny kind of pop that feels fundamentally acoustic. Their new singles ‘Like Love’ and ‘Please Don’t Move to Melbourne’ drip with nostalgia and reflection, with a folksy charm reminiscent of Boy and Bear and The Paper Kites.

BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD — FOREVER HOWLONG

4 April

Forever Howlong is Black Country, New Road’s first studio album since the departure of their lead vocalist Isaac Wood. Their dread-inducing post-punk with him is also long gone, this new record capturing the band regaining their footing. Lead single ‘Besties’ sees the ensemble clinging onto sunny, orchestral arrangements and handing vocal duties to their female members.

PANCHIKO — GINKGO

4 April

It’s amazing how Panchiko’s unearthed demo disc D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L got them to make music again. Those 2000s–era recordings carry the authenticity of bygone sentimental slacker rock, like Radiohead’s Britpop era. Ginkgo is that but in high definition—the title track ‘Ginkgo’ is the most Radiohead-sounding song not by the acclaimed art-rockers.

THORNHILL — BODIES

4 April

Thornhill’s latest offering sounds cinematic. Spacey, reverberated guitars colour the soaring vocals in despair, rage and triumph. Thick, razor-sharp bass perfectly accompanies Jacob Charlton’s screams, each single from the album marrying heartful passion with desperate aggression.

BON IVER — SABLE, fABLE

11 April

Justin Vernon may have started Bon Iver as a solo endeavour, but with each album, it becomes clearer that the project thrives as a five-piece. In particular, the song ‘THINGS BEHIND THINGS BEHIND THINGS’ beautifully paints a fractal landscape of layered trauma. Each single is a wave of acoustic melancholy, in an album shaping up to be Bon Iver’s most personal yet.

VIAGRA BOYS — VIAGR ABOYS

25 April

Building on their unique brand of impotent electro-punk, viagr aboys is the new album from the limb-swinging and mic-peaking Swedish band Viagra Boys. Its single ‘Man Made of Meat’ promises that this release will be as lyrically rambling as their previous work, though instrumentally tighter and more stripped back.

SPACEY JANE — IF THAT MAKES SENSE

9 May

Only one single has been released for If That Makes Sense: ‘All the Noise’ is a loser anthem built around an angular earworm riff courtesy of Ashton Hardman-Le Cornu. It’s a promising direction for the band—Caleb Harper delivers a lament, in contrast to his usual pop delivery—and it works. This edgier release could be a watershed moment for Spacey Jane.

LANA DEL REY — THE RIGHT PERSON WILL STAY

21 May

Lana hasn’t blessed us yet with any singles for The Right Person Will Stay, but the release date is currently set for 21 May. Hot off of her critically acclaimed 2023 album, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, these 13 new tracks have confirmed contributions from Luke Laird, Jack Antonoff, Zach Dawes and Drew Erickson.