Some Upcoming Releases to Get Excited About in 2025

During a slow early January, I'm getting ramped up for the year ahead with my own spin on the album release calendar.

I wish I could say that with a new year comes a refreshed verve for scouring new music for you. Alas, my need to work through the holidays has left me squarely stuck in the “new music sucks” slump of the music discovery emotional timeline I shared with you before signing off last year.

Thankfully (well, for me anyway), the first few weeks of January are shaping up to be pretty slow for exciting new releases. That means we have a little breathing room to take stock of what the rest of 2025 has in store for us.

Below, I’ll go through a few of the albums I’m most looking forward to hearing this year… plus a few I’m somewhat suspicious about.

You can skip ahead using these links.

1. The Old Guard

2. The Heavy Hitters

3. The Likely Gems

What 2025 record releases are you most excited about?

Part One: The Old Guard

You know them, you love them, do you really want more of them?

Maybe nostalgia guides my listening habits to this set of albums a bit more than actual interest. That doesn’t mean they won’t be any good; it just means they have a lot of “back in my day” hurdles to jump over first.

• Franz Ferdinand - The Human Fear (January 10th, Domino) — I have skipped every release from these early aughts trailblazers since 2005’s You Could Have It So Much Better, but I remain cautiously optimistic despite (because of?) some of the singles tipping precariously close to the Electric Light Orchestra line.

  

• Ben Kweller - Cover the Mirrors (May 30th, Noise Company) — One of the early 2000s’ better known Bens is back to release a record on what would have been his late son’s 19th birthday. Gut wrenching inspiration aside, if the lead single is anything to go by, this record may be better suited to recovering than wallowing. Collaborations with MJ Lenderman, Waxahatchee, and the Flaming Lips have my interest piqued.

  

• Manic Street Preachers - Critical Thinking (January 31st, Columbia) — I have a sneaking suspicion they’re going further down The Ultra Vivid Lament rabbit hole with this one, which isn’t a directional change I ever got on board with.

  

More:

• Ringo Starr - Look Up (January 10th, Lost Highway)

• Stereophonics (TBA)

• The Darkness (TBA)

• Blondie (TBA)

• The Cure (TBA)

Listen to the best new songs of 2025 — this playlist will keep growing as the year goes on.

Part Two: The Heavy Hitters

You don’t need me to tell you about these releases, but I will anyway.

I usually try to focus on the little guys, but I’m genuinely excited to hear these records, so bear with me.

• FKA Twigs - Eusexua (January 24th, Atlantic) — I don’t recall having many feelings one way or the other about her most recent record, but 2019’s MAGDALENE remains one of my steadfast favorites. I’ll never miss a release. The title track is out already, and it’s a slow burn. Give it time.

• Olly Alexander - Polari (February 7th, Polydor) — I was not-so-secretly obsessed with Palo Santo, the 2019 record that Olly Alexander released as part of Years & Years. Since then I’ve been consistently confused how his oeuvre isn’t constantly mined for viral TikTok sounds. Anyway, this is the answer to “where are all the men in pop music these days?”

  

More:

• The Weeknd - Hurry Up Tomorrow (January 24th, XO)

• A$AP Rocky - Don’t Be Dumb (Date TBD)

• Lady Gaga - LG7 (Date TBD)¹

• Chappell Roan (TBA)

• Rosalía (TBA)

Part Three: The Likely Gems

These are the albums from smaller artists that I anticipate will be solid.

I end up wrong more often than not, though. The fun is in the discovery of the albums that don’t end up anywhere on the “highly anticipated” lists, but those are the ones we’ll learn about as the year progresses.

• Japanese Breakfast - For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) (March 21st, Dead Oceans) — As a melancholy brunette AND a sad woman, this feels like cheating. Michelle Zauner has been enjoying some serious accolades in both music and literature over the last few years, so there may be some undue pressure on this particular record.

• L.S. Dunes - Violet (January 31st, Fantasy) — How did I miss a supergroup made up of band members from Thursday, Circa Survive, My Chemical Romance, and Coheed & Cambria? Like leftover pizza, this will be amazing even if it’s terrible.

  

More:

• The Weather Station - Humanhood (January 17th, Fat Possum)

• Central Cee - Can’t Rush Greatness (January 28th, Columbia)

• Sharon Van Etten - Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory (February 7th, Jagjaguwar)

• Squid - Cowards (February 7th, Warp)

• Bartees Strange - Horror (February 14th, 4AD)

• Horsegirl - Phonetics On and On (February 14th, Matador)

• Mallrat - Light Hit My Face Like a Straight Right (February 14th, Nettwerk)

• The Murder Capital - Blindness (February 21st, Human Seasons)

• Miya Folick - Erotica Veronica (February 28th, Nettwerk)

• Sports Team - Boys These Days (February 28th, Bright Antenna)

• Sasami - Blood on the Silver Screen (March 7th, Domino)

• Courting - Lust for Life, Or: 'How to Thread the Needle and Come Out the Other Side to Tell the Story' (March 14th, Lower Third)

• Car Seat Headrest (TBA)

• Julien Baker, Torres (TBA)

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If you’re already feeling overwhelmed, fret not. I threw a selection of tracks from these upcoming records onto my Best Tracks of 2025 playlist so you can follow along.

I reserve the right to remove anything that ends up feeling lackluster after a while, though. It’s way too early in the year to really be calling anything “best,” so this is just a place to keep track of songs I like until I know better.

What records did I miss?

What debut records are you most curious about this year?

Who is way overdue to release a new album?

Also on Amazon, Apple, Tidal, and YouTube.

1. Does Gaga belong in the first category? Probably. There’s overlap. This isn’t a science.