2025 ended on a sour chord, mostly

2025s catalogue of music was disappointing. I recall weeks of the summer spent feeling like there was something good waiting just around the corner, only to poke my head out and repeatedly find nothing.  

Ironically, in their stead, I found myself listening to droves upon droves of tracks released the year prior, and the one before that. Songs that within months became soundtracks to swathes of my time had, in fact, found their first air before the calendar turned 25.  

Albums from MJ Lenderman, This Is Lorelei, Geordie Greep, Cameron Winter, Geese’s “3D Country” and MIKE’s “Burning Desire” were all played enough to etch themselves into my inner ear. Standouts such as these are bound to make other releases seem disappointing, but the reality is there was a shocking lack of 2025 releases I heard that could stand remotely nose-to-nose with them. 

That said, the surplus of disappointing releases did not amount to the entirety of 2025 releases – there still remain some albums that, within days, weeks and months, hypnotized me to the point of borderline obsession.  

There were also some that I just found to be pretty neat, which is cool too, but we’ll get there. 

Over the course of 2025, there was one new release that I could not escape - “The Passionate Ones” by Nourished by Time.  

I found the 12-track release around the same time I found a moment to breathe during last semester. I remember hearing the stripped back kicks, bass and keys of “It’s Time” for the first time and immediately being steeped in an atmosphere both haunting and devoted.  

On the record, Nourished by Time dances on a knife’s edge of love and obsession; favor and addiction; slavery and sanctity; past and future; in a tight-rope act that, for himself, may as well mean life or death.   

On “Max Potential,” the Baltimore-born artist sings, “Maybe I’m afraid of the future [...] Maybe it’s the comfort I’m used to.” On the following track, “It’s Time,” he follows up, singing, “In this world we must make decisions, but we can’t keep having masters.”  

No matter what revelations Nourished by Time finds, or revolutions he calls for, I had been afflicted by his work, and in similar circumstances to himself, I found myself consumed with confusion.  

For the longest, I didn’t even know if I liked “The Passionate Ones.” I couldn’t quickly pin down influences or narratives, link any threads or quite put my finger on anything – I could only find myself drowning in that same inky atmosphere that pulled me in to begin with.  

As time went on, however, I both could not get away from the record and could not get enough. I think, similar to the voices from the album’s narrative, I could not run from what I felt I needed – connection to something greater in a time of great need.  

Through a community of voices who need something more, who press forward whether by running or by chasing , Nourished by Time taps into the humanity in desire – in passion – and the evil of that which seeks to crush it.  

Now that I’ve written too much in a gush over my favorite record of the year, and I’ve made an ample excuse for my own yapping sincerity, we can move on to some more fun stuff. 

From his soul crushing crooning on his solo album “Heavy Metal” to his ridiculous lines and even more ridiculous vocal range on Geese’s “3D Country,” Cameron Winter’s songwriting defined much of the beginning of the year for me. That said, I would have been nuts to not have had my lid blown by the initial rollout of his band’s junior album “Getting Killed.”  

Title track “Getting Killed” slaps in you in the face while hit “Au Pays du Cocaine” leans in to kiss your still glowing cheek better. With the release, Geese made the argument of being the most promising up-and-coming band in the modern day, spoken through each member’s own unique and eclectic language.  

While it did not become my life as “3D Country” had for the prior months, it did still make my list for 2025, albeit a bit begrudgingly.  

It’s great, sure. It’s nothing to thumb your nose at by any means, but it’s also not much to blow your wig back about.  

It’s mature and fun in its own clever ways, but not in the infectiously charming and weird way I came to expect from Geese. Big whoop for the complaints, big deal for the band – give it a listen, it’s a good time.  

Third up is Jane Remover’s “Revengeseekerz,” something I initially judged and wrote off without really tapping in.  

“A flaming katana, a ‘stylistic’ z, and a name like ‘Revengeseekerz?’ Come on,” I said.   

I was proven wrong though.  

If you want something lyrically genius with consistent vocal flows, don’t bother – that's not where the record shines. If you can let yourself go, appreciate a bottomless bag of tricks and enjoy both the wind in your hair and the wall you’re doomed to crash into headfirst, then tune in, lead with your nose, die by the end.  

The more “Revengeseekerz” ruins my hearing, the more I turn it up regardless. It’s a weeknight drug trip, a high-speed foot chase, an ugly fight in a foreign language – something harsh, hard to understand, hard to forget.  

As soon as you think you know what Jane’s going to do or say on a track, they shoot a wink and prove you wrong. Over the twelve tracks, they wire through a series of haymakers, feints and magic tricks.  

I just want to see the songs’ DAW timelines that are assuredly bursting at the seams. Also, I want to know if people actually like Danny Brown’s verses or if his fandom is running some inside joke I’m taking too seriously – let me know.  

Last minute inclusions – Wednesday’s “Bleeds” is brilliant and a taste of how good country could be if the tasteless stopped inflating the Morgan Wallens of the world into country-sized balloons full of nothing but hot air.  

Earl Sweatshirt’s “Live Laugh Love” proved further that, with a good pen and an ample amount of wisdom, you can barely move your jaw and still speak gold. An old soul, an endless well of knowledge to be shared, a preference to be real and a short 24 minutes well spent.  

Glaive dropped his first good album, proving me wrong that his career wasn’t built on flukes, they were just followed by some pretty miserable creative flopping. His stuff is finally fun, genuinely charming and worth a shot again. While not entirely, he seems to be largely over the whiny, babyish boohoo-ing that made his past three albums such eye rollers.  

Finally, Way Dynamic’s “Massive Shoe” is an absolutely excellent bit of classic-ish soft rock that pulls from the best of the best. This guy’s favorite Beatle is undoubtedly Paul; he’s got that Mac Demarco charm and “My Visit (To Hell)” might just make you love the guy.  

Now, as a final word, the best song of the year is two hands and ten toes down MJ Lenderman’s cover of This is Loreleis’s “Dancing in the Club.” Listen to it, define it yourself, love it as I do.