069/ Best music of 2025 so far
Happy July, since we’re halfway through the year, as usual here’s a quick tallying of my fave music so far. For me, it’s been a slight quality dip versus the last two years. Hopefully autumn will nail it back up there.
Somehow though, the drop in breadth and quality feels like my fault, rather than music’s fault. It’s as if my listening has retreated into patterns somewhat, from the last three-to-four years…
My three favourite albums so far in 2025 are Jasmine.4.t’s debut You Are The Morning, Rich(ard) Dawson’s End of the Middle and White Magic For Lovers’ debut The Book of Lies. These are all quiet-ish, off-kilter, emotionally excavating, song-based, outsider LPs, albeit Jasmine was produced by boygenius and she’s rising fast in US alternative circles. Her live trio rocks much harder than the album, by the way — her second LP could easily end up as a riffy beast. Meanwhile, there are several key records I’ve been disappointed by, several more already out that I haven’t yet sat down with (hello Lorde). So though it’s July, it’s early days. He wrote, optimistically.
Despite only seeing one gig in the first four months of 2025, I’ve now clocked up more than fifty artists, thanks to Primavera Sound and Glastonbury. My favourite live music sets so far have been: Chappell Roan and CMAT at Primavera Sound, followed by: ANOHNI & The Johnsons at Glastonbury and then MJ Lenderman & The Wind at Chalk. Behind them, Waxahatchee, Floating Points, Jasmine.4.t, Moulettes, Jopy, TV On The Radio, Kate Nash and Doechii were all stunning shows.
I wonder how ridiculously magnificent an artist will need to be, to dislodge Chappell and CMAT from those two top spots.
Charli is missing: her Primavera headline was the ‘Sweat’ show shared with Troye Sivan, which doesn’t have the intense energy of a full Charli show. I like Sivan, don’t get me wrong, but he’s languid and slower paced, plus of course he doesn’t remotely have her bangers now. ‘Sweat’ probably worked when they were both cult stars pre-Brat but now it’s unbalanced by the sheer quality of Brat material. ‘Sweat’ involves waiting fifteen minutes between each Charli bit, everyone going to the bar or the loo. Then at Glasto, despite being singularly focused on seeing her again (she was a key reason I decided to go) I had a last minute heart switcheroo and opted for Doechii.
At least Charli XCX re-asserts her dominance in the ‘live music onscreen’ category, as her sublime strut at Coachella via YouTube (Lorde and Billie Eilish both showing up for guest slots) will take some catching. Her Glasto set on the iPlayer isn’t so perfect but still ferocious, she eats the headline alive, pulls the biggest Saturday night crowd despite the clashes and I loved her playful “burning of Brat” symbolism. Some teasing of the future. Other music-on-telly highlights are: Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl half-time show, Bjork’s beautiful, confounding Cornucopia (watched at the cinema, unexpectedly, thank-you Camilla and Will for tickets), Lady Gaga’s sprawling Coachella production, Lorde doing the surprise Glasto run through her new record and Self Esteem at Radio 1 Big Weekend. I’m still lurching through the Glastonbury iPlayer archive, a little sad that Neil Young didn’t allow the BBC to put his set online.
My favourite pop videos of 2025 so far have been Lucy Dacus — ‘Ankles’, Miley Cyrus — ‘Something Beautiful’, both Kae Tempest singles, ‘Statue In The Square’ and ‘Know Yourself’ and Lorde’s breathless ‘What Was That’.
I’m keeping a ‘song obsessions’ list as well, in chronological order. But it already looks a bit weird, now I glance back through it. Partly, there is a lot of overlap with stuff already listed above. But I will mention Ezra Furman’s ‘Power Of The Moon’ and recent single from The Beths, ‘Metal’, both of which firmly lodged in my head for a long while.
Reading this back, it makes my 2025 feel narrowband, to a disconcerting degree. It’s as if there’s a huge breadth of listening I haven’t managed yet, moreso than usual. But to be fair, there is variety bubbling away, just beneath the surface of each list. Hopefully, enriching diversity will emerge.
icymi —
• Waxahatchee’s full set at Primavera Sound is now up on YouTube.
• John Doran interviews Mary Anne Hobbs for The Quietus.
• Lorde and Jim-E Stack talk Virgin on Tapenotes podcast.
• This is fab: Cynthia Erivo’s mini-doc for EW unpacking her favourite ever vocal performances by other singers.
• Fifteen years later, Welch and Rawlings go back to Tiny Desk.
A superb list and MY GOD yes ANOHNI & The Johnsons were stunning - so lovely to catch up with you both in BCN!
Have to admit to a sense of disappointment in Charli XCX at Glastonbury choosing to not employ a band (or even any dancers), in an era where it's increasingly difficult for pro musicians to earn a living. Artistic choice I get it, but still