I have come to understand best of lists as a tiny personal snapshot of time. And all of our many best-of lists are tiny little pieces that combine together to create a complete picture of a year or of any time period, and how beautiful is that? So here is my tiny personal piece of the whole, the albums that soundtracked my 2025 and meant so much to me this year, along with a bit about each. I am also sneaking in a bunch of extras, because doing so was the only way my heart would let me make the cuts and decisions involved in making such a top ten list in the first place. Here’s to KGNU and music forever! xx- Jess
| Artist | Album | Label | |
| 1 | Saadi | Birds of Paradise | Switch Hit |
| 2 | Lampland | Get Serene | Birdwatcher |
| 3 | Deep Sea Diver | Billboard Heart | Sub Pop |
| 4 | Oklou | Choke Enough |
True Panther Sounds
|
| 5 | Horsegirl | Phonetics On and On | Matador |
| 6 | Tunng | Love You All Over Again | Full Time Hobby |
| 7 | Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory | Self-Title | Jagjaguwar |
| 8 | Jenny Hval | Iris Silver Mist | 4AD |
| 9 | Ora the Molecule | Dance Therapy | Mute |
| 10 | The Cure | Mixes of a Lost World | Fiction / Polydor |
1) Saadi (because this album is perfect and I wish I wrote it – it is poetic genius)
2) Lampland (Elliot smith mixed with Nada surf and Peel Dream Magazine doing emo-indie-cinematic stunning beautiful perfection)
3) Deep Sea Diver (because I wish I could play guitar like Jessica Dobson and because the song Tiny Threads is just epic)
4) Oklou (experimental dance-pop perfection, sad and fun and haunting and beautiful and everything one could possibly want in an album from this super-talented French artist)
5) Horsegirl (produced by Cate Le Bon, written by a trio of super-talented super-young women. It’s simple in the best way and the swirly guitar sounds are perfection)
6) Tunng (“It was the snails causing trouble”…that lyric line kind of says it all. Quirky, sad, poetic, nonsensical, absolutely beautiful album that I will love forever)
7) Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory (gotta have mad respect for SVE. Here she brings in synths, the 80’s, and collaborates with her band for the first time. The results are seriously stunning)
8) Jenny Hval (A beautiful poetic serious sad joyful diverse album that will bring a new feeling or favorite with each listen)
9) Ora the Molecule (synthy-alien-space-disco-dance music about loss and grief – a dance/cry album, perfectly summed up by its title)
10) Cure: Mixes of a Lost World (It’s the Cure. And then it’s the Cure remixed by Paul Oakenfold, Daniel Avery, Four Tet, Orbital, and more. What else is there to say?)
And here is all the music I have to include as well, my heart insisted:
Most Magical: Elf Freedom: Visions of Utopia, DJ Koze: Music Can Hear Us
Most Understated: Molly Nilsson: Amateur
Top six albums that should be in my top ten: Kendra Morris: Next, Léna Bartels: The Brightest Silver Fish, QRTR: Ondas, Helen Ganya: Share your Care, Austra: Chin Up Buttercup, Stereolab: Instant Holograms on Metal Film
Top on repeat forever electronic: Tatyana: Amour Armour, Modeselektor: DJ Kicks, Weval: Ninja Tune Presents Weval DJ Mix, FaltyDL: Neurotica
Top EP’s: Sofia Kourtesis: Volver, Hirons: Future Perfect, Magana: Bad News
Top songs of 2025 that are not from my Top Ten albums:
Rapture in Blue: Daniel Avery (original & remix)
Pulled Me in Dark: Giant Claw
Johnny: Gelli Haha
The Whole Woman: Anna Von Hausswolff & Iggy Pop
Vertigo: L’Eclair
Snares: Bdrmm
Set Me Free: Deradoorian
Return to Jeurgen: Jim Putnam
Hot Zone, Regular Day: Helen Island
Voce: Hilary Woods
LITTLEMISSSIXTY: Emmeline
Wreck: Neko Case
Piroheutte: Hibou
