Readers from around the English-speaking world named their favourite albums of 2025 in a year that blended breakthrough debuts with established superstars. Submissions collected by The Guardian highlight everything from baroque art‑rock and maximalist R&B to intimate singer‑songwriters and experimental electronic palettes. Contributors cited specific tracks, live performances and lyrical moments as reasons for their picks, producing a cross‑section of taste rather than chart‑driven consensus. The responses underline how 2025’s strongest records connected on stage, in headphones and in memory.
Key takeaways
- Respondents ranged in age from 18 to 65, with locations cited from Surrey, UK to Pennsylvania, US and Perth, Australia, showing an international spread of voters.
- Geese’s Getting Killed was praised for layered, rhythmic production and Cameron Winter’s writing; the reader highlighted “Islands of Men” as a standout track.
- Veteran and mainstream artists featured alongside newcomers: Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl, Florence + the Machine’s Everybody Scream and Self Esteem’s A Complicated Woman all received strong endorsement.
- Electronic and experimental entries — Ninajirachi’s I Love My Computer and Oklou’s Choke Enough — were singled out for inventive sound design and memorable singles (Oklou’s ICT noted for its ice‑cream truck theme).
- Hip‑hop and soul also featured: Clipse’s Let God Sort Em Out earned praise for emotional depth and Pharrell’s production, while Brooke Combe’s Dancing on the Edge was highlighted as modern British soul with a 1970s feel.
- Several voters tied albums to live shows, arguing that records such as Self Esteem’s and Geese’s achieve fuller impact in performance contexts.
- Readers repeatedly cited songwriting and emotional honesty — from Loyle Carner’s parenting themes to Jerskin Fendrix’s family‑rooted narratives — as the decisive factor.
Background
Year‑end lists and reader polls have become a parallel record of musical taste to formal charts and streaming tallies. The Guardian’s call for favourite albums of 2025 drew individual submissions rather than a tally based on sales, producing a qualitative snapshot of what listeners connected with across scenes and countries. This format privileges subjective intensity — how a record sounded at a gig, how a lyric landed in a moment — over pure consumption metrics.
2025’s releases arrived amid continued debate about the role of touring in artist visibility, the persistence of genre hybridisation, and an industry still adapting to playlist economics. Many entries in this round of reader picks emphasize composition and live energy, suggesting that for a substantial subset of listeners the album as an artistic unit remains central. The list also reflects a mixture of major label-backed work, independent releases and experimental projects, illustrating the plurality of contemporary music pathways.
Main event
Geese’s Getting Killed was hailed by an 18‑year‑old from Surrey for its tight, layered grooves and Cameron Winter’s novels‑in‑miniature lyrics; the voter singled out “Islands of Men” for its hypnotic build. Picture Parlour’s debut EP earned praise for Katherine Parlour’s distinctive voice and Ella Risi’s guitar work, with a live show at Brixton’s Windmill cited as evidence of upward momentum. Self Esteem’s A Complicated Woman was described by a concertgoer as an album made for the stage, pairing theatrical choral arrangements with blunt, intimate lyricism.
Longer‑established names also dominated responses. Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl inspired obsessive listening for some voters, with tracks such as “The Fate of Ophelia” becoming described viral moments. Florence + the Machine’s Everybody Scream drew attention for its vocal peaks and narratives about power and relationships, while Big Thief’s Double Infinity was framed as a deeply personal soundtrack for a listener’s travel memories.
On the experimental and electronic side, Ninajirachi’s I Love My Computer was likened to a modern Wall of Sound built around digital textures and playful retro bleeps. Dijon’s Baby earned notice for dense R&B arrangements and high‑profile collaborators like Pino Palladino, Justin Bieber and Justin Vernon. Oklou’s Choke Enough was the pick of a Perth listener who praised its irresistible hooks and singled out ICT as an inventive, characterful single.
Hip‑hop and genre‑bending releases made strong showings: Clipse’s Let God Sort Em Out was celebrated as one of the year’s best rap records for its candid opener about personal loss and Pharrell’s production, and Loyle Carner’s Hopefully! was noted for parenting themes and finely wrought songwriting. The list also includes soul and instrumental projects such as El Michels Affair’s 24 Hr Sports, which mixes dusty production with hip‑hop sensibilities.
Analysis & implications
The diversity of reader picks underlines a key trend of 2025: listeners prize emotional specificity and craft over homogenous streaming visibility. Multiple submissions celebrated albums that reward repeated listens and live experiences, suggesting that the album format retains cultural value where it fosters narrative continuity or theatricality. This may help explain why acts who blur the line between record and show — Self Esteem, Geese, Florence + the Machine — featured prominently in reader selections.
Genre fluidity also shows up consistently. Voters placed baroque‑tinged art rock, maximalist R&B, electronic experimentation and classic soul in the same conversation, which reflects both artists’ willingness to borrow across traditions and listeners’ increasing comfort with hybrid forms. For labels and promoters, that means successful campaigns often foreground storytelling, collaborators and live performance as part of an album’s identity, not just single‑track streaming numbers.
These choices also point to the continuing role of local scenes and concerts in developing fandom. Several readers referenced small‑venue moments that crystallised their attachment to records, indicating that grassroots touring remains a crucial engine for momentum, particularly for emerging acts such as Picture Parlour and Jerskin Fendrix. For the broader industry, investments in touring infrastructure and development slots may still yield high cultural returns.
Comparison & data
| Artist | Album | Notable track(s) | Listener location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geese | Getting Killed | Islands of Men, Half Real | Surrey, UK |
| Lily Allen | West End Girl | (wordplay, layered vocals) | Ireland |
| Picture Parlour | The Parlour | baroque/art‑rock highlights | London, UK |
| Self Esteem | A Complicated Woman | The Deep Blue Okay, Focus Is Power | Exeter, UK |
| Ninajirachi | I Love My Computer | computer‑themed sound design | Pennsylvania, US |
| Oklou | Choke Enough | ICT, Harvest Sky | Perth, Australia |
| Taylor Swift | The Life of a Showgirl | Opalite, The Fate of Ophelia | Oxford, UK |
| Clipse | Let God Sort Em Out | emotional opener, Pharrell production | Scotland |
The table above samples the variety of submissions and underscores the geographic spread of voters. While not a quantitative poll, the list demonstrates recurring motifs — standout singles, live resonance and cross‑genre production — that help explain why these records lingered with listeners.
Reactions & quotes
“This record made me sing and cry at the same time — it felt enormous live.”
Jacqui Martin, 50, Exeter
Jacqui referenced Self Esteem’s combination of arena‑scale hooks and intimate lyricism as central to her experience; the live setting amplified the album’s emotional dynamics.
“I keep waking up with a Taylor Swift chorus in my head — it’s been my daily soundtrack.”
Anna Harries, Oxford
Anna’s submission describes how a few immediate hooks from The Life of a Showgirl became persistent earworms, a common thread among the most frequently cited albums.
“ICT is the most delightful song about an ice‑cream truck I’ve ever heard — utterly joyful.”
Chloe, 40, Perth
Chloe’s enthusiasm for Oklou’s single signals how an idiosyncratic hook can define a listener’s attachment to an album.
Unconfirmed
- Whether these reader favourites correlate directly with commercial sales or streaming chart positions — no sales or streaming data were provided with the submissions.
- Any claim that a single reader’s description (for example, “the greatest song ever about an ice‑cream truck”) represents a broader consensus — these are individual perspectives.
Bottom line
The Guardian’s reader submissions for favourite albums of 2025 emphasise the continued cultural value of albums that reward repeated listening, live performance and close attention to songwriting. From debut EPs to major releases, voters prized narrative cohesion, distinctive production and moments that translate into powerful concert experiences.
For artists and industry observers, the entries underline two practical points: first, investing in live presentation and storytelling around an album can deepen listener attachment; second, genre boundaries remain porous, and hybrid approaches often reap critical and emotional reward. Ultimately, these reader picks are a reminder that musical taste in 2025 is as much about personal connection as it is about metrics.