chaosincurate's 2025 Favourites (12/12) - Top 20 Albums of the Year

20. John Michel & Anthony James - Egotrip

Genre: Hip-Hop

19. Saya Gray - SAYA

Genre: Art Pop

18. Jim Legxacy - black british music (2025)

Genre: Pop Rap

17. $ilkMoney - WHO WATERS THE WILTING GIVING TREE ONCE THE LEAVES DRY UP AND THE FRUITS NO LONGER BEAR

Genre: Abstract Hip-Hop

16. JID - God Does Like Ugly

Genre: Hip-Hop

15. Ninajirachi - I Love my Computer

Genre: EDM

14. Deftones - private music

Genre: Alt. Metal

13. Jane Remover - Revengeseekerz

Genre: EDM

12. Clipse - Let God Sort Em Out

Genre: Hip-Hop

11. Joey Valence & Brae - HYPERYOUTH

Genre: Hip-Hop

10. Model/Actriz - Pirouette

Genre: Dance Punk

9. Hayley Williams - Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party

Genre: Indie Rock

8. Mei Semones - Animaru

Genre: Jazz Pop

7. McKinley Dixon - Magic, Alive!

Genre: Jazz Rap

6. Danny Brown - Stardust

Genre: Hyper-Hop

5.

It's probably to be expected that after losing their lead singer and writer of all of their songs Black Country, New Road would head in a new direction, but I didn't expect it to be such a unique and interesting one. That was a blessing, but it absolutely started out as more of a curse. I initially found myself struggling to adjust to their new sound, which made much more use of woodwind instruments and a fantastical musical style reminiscent of what you might hear in a medieval setting. There are many artists out there who have dabbled with the idea of taking non-modern styles and recreating them with modern sensibilities, but I often found myself disappointed that they rarely go all in. The Last Dinner Party's first album comes to mind: I loved the classical elements in the album, but it often reverted to your typical indie rock fare, and left me yearning for something more out there by giving me a glimpse of what could have been.

This album, in contrast to that disappointment, dove head first into the bard music idea, not just musically, but often lyrically gravitating towards historical allegory, reading like an old fable. Once I was able to adjust to that shift (which isn't quite as extreme as I may have made it sound, it is still very much modern music made to be recorded), I developed a deep admiration for the remaining members of the band. They took a massive swing here, and it paid off really well in my opinion. Historically the band haven't stayed put on a specific sound for long, but I am on board for whatever they try next.

4.

This just in: online music nerd thinks highly of Getting Killed. In other news, a knife has been found in a kitchen drawer, and it's a rainy day in the UK.

I was slightly surprised by my liking this album so much though, seeing as I didn't even like what I heard of 3D Country enough to listen. I know that not everyone is a fan of the vocal style of Cameron Winter, and it is certainly an awkward approach to singing, sounding almost yodel-esque, but I thought it was really effective at the style of music that is found on the album. As weird as it hits the ear, it is very emotional and desperate, and many of the songs on the album are going for that exact vibe. In particular, a favourite of mine, Au Pays du Cocaine, is that down to a T, as laid out simply and subtly in the lines "You can be free and still come home" and it's alternate permutations.

There are many incredible lyrics that I could point out and rave about if not for the fact that I'm writing this best of 2025 list in March of 2026 (I highly recommend giving the album a listen if you're into lyricism though, there are gems all over it), but all of those great lyrics are elevated by a musical restraint. The band do play very interesting instrumentals across the entire album, but when they need to dial it back, they aren't afraid to dial it all the way back and let the lyrics shine. And yet, there is always something really cool going on for your ear to latch onto, which all speaks to the band's exceptional creative intuition.

3.

After a couple of synth-heavy indie-pop albums, Japanese Breakfast wanted to take things in a more guitar-driven direction. When I heard that would be the case, I assumed that would mean going back to something similar to the shoegazey indie rock of their first album, so I was shocked to hear Orlando in Love prime listeners for a more laidback sound. And indeed, while there is absolutely some shoegaze and rock influence in the album, the main inspiration seems to come from the realm of indie folk and country (which was then, of course, filtered through the band's own style). Normally, as someone who could never get into those genres too much, I would be concerned about whether I'd be able to enjoy such an album (after all, I had that exact experience with Beyoncé's music following Renaissance), but there are a few people I trust with any creative venture, and the main creative force behind the band (and an accomplished author) Michelle Zauner is absolutely one of them.

I know that the reception to the album was a little mixed, with a lack of hate balanced out with a lot of underwhelm, but I feel as though my faith was more than repaid here. I continue to be impressed by the depth of not just the lyrics, not just the music, but even the relationship between the two within Japanese Breakfast's music. It is of course normal and expected for the instrumental of a song and it's lyrics to feel congruent (or purposefully incongruent, After Laughter my beloved), but I find there to be an extra layer of connection with the vast majority of Japanese Breakfast's discography that just makes the music hit harder than the stuff from most artists, and that trend continues on this album.

2.

It's definitely not a fun or laid-back listen, but if you want to be unsettled by profound lyricism steeped in the trauma of black oppression (which is, of course, relevant to us all as it is upstream of the general oppression we will all eventually end up facing), then this is the album for you.

The album is slow, less like relaxation and more like stalking. It makes heavy use of dissonant melodies and disjointed sounds alongside disturbing samples, all in an attempt to keep you on high alert and hit hard.

I know it's the point of a blog, but in this case more than any other I can't speak for it better than it speaks for itself. Hopefully I've given you enough to know if you would like the album, but for me to discuss anything beyond that as if I can do it justice would be foolish. It is a fantastic album. A must listen for fans of highly experimental and evocative rap.

1.

Songs of praise for a proletariat with little to praise. That is the sentence that keeps coming to mind for me when I think about this album. Maruja take the punk philosophy of enlightening the proletariat through music while giving us more respect than many punk bands do. The punk bands of old compromised on the message by watering it down and keeping it simple so everyone could understand, and the punk bands of today compromise on the message by refusing to touch on anything radical or by taking the hippie approach of saying "love will conquer all". Neither are necessarily wrong, and both come up in this album, but Maruja know that there is a time for love and a time for rage. To succeed in any mission from outside of power requires both. They also know the masses know that politicians can't be trusted, and that they are being oppressed, and that they're ready to hear about the exploitation inherent to capitalism, and that it an unrequited class war that has our quality of life dwindling year by year.

There is plenty of room in punk and punk-adjacent music for all sorts of approaches: songs of unity, songs of war, songs of exorcism... But this is what I want to hear more of in the future. Music that unifies with class consciousness as it's north star. You won't hear hatred for working class Trump or Farage voters here, as understandable as that would be, because Maruja know that our numbers are what will lead us to success, and that we can't afford to be divided. Critical, absolutely, but division is not an option when the entire world is staring down the barrel of the gun of fascism. These people get mislead into voting for fascists because they feel their class oppression, but they aren't told that is what it is, so that oppression can be mislabelled. That is why voters will swing more easily between supporting radical politicians than from radical politicians to establishment ones. They know something is rotten, they've just been lied to about what that is.

I know I've gotten off track a little there talking about the political moment we find ourselves in all over the world, but it feels extremely relevant to this album. The music is also exceptional, don't get me wrong. I love the way the saxophone blends into the heavier rock sound. But first and foremost, this album is it's message, so it feels apt to give that message the bulk of my attention here.