After reading Jedda’s recap of last year’s music and Monocyte’s post with album recommendations, I thought “and why not both?”. So take this as kind of a quote and reply to both. ♡
For the over 24k scrobbles1 I recorded on 2025, of course most of them are from songs or albums that have been on my library for years. I use to put it all on shuffle, but still I want to highlight some of the albums I discovered last year. Some weren’t even released in that year— but it was when I discovered them, so in my head it still qualifies.
Genres are (un)surprisingly varied, so I hope you can find something you like if you give them a listen.
Twenty One Pilots — Breach (Alternative Pop, 2025)
On 2024 I got hooked on Twenty One Pilots’ Clancy after never having paid much attention to them. Their huge emphasis on the percussion, pop hooks and a surrounding production with strong synths caught me hard and this album was not an exception— it’s a direct sequel to Clancy, after all. To understand what I mean, listen to City Walls or The Contract.
Fox Stevenson — Sunk Cost Fallacy (Drum’n’Bass, 2025)
This guy is incredible. After having known him 15 years ago as Stan SB, he moved around genres and finally settled in a mix of goodfeel, catchy DnB with poppy vocals. What makes him special is a weird mix between introspective, more often than not venting lyrics (that you usually find on heavy hitting emo music) and uplifting, catchy vibes. Exile is a Habit is a prime example that hit a bit too close to home, and the homonym song feels like the perfect way to close the album too.
KiLLOWEN — six missed calls (UK Garage, 2025)
Nobody warned me how in 2024 I was going to get hooked on UK Garage again, and it was fault of Niko B and an adorable bouncing Toyota Yaris— but this year it was my turn to discover KiLLOWEN. Pick your poison would be my pick (hehe), but if I’m honest the one I heard the most comes from another album: Holding On.
Royal Coda — To Only a Few at First (Swancore, 2022)
After all the Dance Gavin Dance debacle these last years, I was in the mood for some similar groups, and then I found Royal Coda, in which there’s also Will Swan himself, guitarist from DGD. And gosh, it slaps. Kinda similar sound to DGD, but I’d say with some Emarosa touches, which I also love. After hearing the first song, As We Fall Into Deep Waters, you’ll know what I mean.
Shirobon — Breaker (Chiptune, 2025)
I’ve been listening to chiptune since the late 2000s, and Shirobon is a hood classic. In this EP he made his magic on a Dirtywave M8 tracker, but keeping his classic EDM touch. As he diverged a bit to Synthwave in these last years, this feels like a back to the roots. If you liked Shirobon’s previous works, you’ll like Cypher.