Townsend Albums Of The Year 2025

2025 delivered - and then some.

From genre-bending breakthroughs to long-awaited comebacks, this year’s music scene didn’t just push boundaries, it redrew them. Artists reimagined the past, leaned harder into storytelling, and gave us albums that stuck with us, soundtracking everything from quiet moments to cultural shifts.

In no particular order, these are Townsend’s favourite album releases of the year.

Cardiacs - LSD

Picked by Callum

LSD is the long-delayed final album by Cardiacs, begun in the late ’90s but halted after frontman Tim Smith suffered a heart attack and strokes in 2008. Tim continued to inspire its completion until his passing in 2020. His brother Jim Smith and longtime collaborator Kavus Torabi later finished the record using Tim’s original material. The album also includes additional vocals from Mike Vennart (Oceansize, Empire State Bastard & Biffy Clyro); helping realise Tim’s final musical vision.

Musically, it blends the band’s trademark euphoric chaos: jagged time-shifts, luminous choral harmonies, explosive brass, and haunting pastoral passages. Smith’s intricate arrangements feel both frantic and tender, moving from punkish bursts to ornate, almost symphonic peaks. LSD stands as a heartfelt tribute to his extraordinary creativity and the devotion of those closest to him.

Alan Sparhawk - With Trampled by Turtles

Picked by Callum

Alan Sparhawk With Trampled by Turtles is a collaborative album uniting Low co-founder Alan Sparhawk with the Minnesota folk/bluegrass band Trampled by Turtles. Longtime friends with shared musical history, they recorded the album in late 2023 at Pachyderm Studios, capturing spontaneous, emotionally open performances shaped in part by Sparhawk’s grief after the passing of his wife and bandmate, Mimi Parker.

Musically, the album blends Americana, acoustic folk, and light bluegrass, pairing Sparhawk’s raw vocals with warm ensemble textures—banjo, mandolin, fiddle, and cello. The material moves between sorrow and resilience, with Trampled by Turtles’ organic arrangements adding depth and warmth to Sparhawk’s intimate songwriting, resulting in a heartfelt, communal sound.

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Suede - Antidepressants 

Picked by Alex

Suede’s tenth album, Antidepressants, leans more into post-punk than their previous record, Autofiction, which had stronger new wave influences. The album carries the band’s signature characteristics but feels darker and more urgent. ‘Dancing with the Europeans’ is my personal pick on the album with a brighter, more upbeat energy. The track feels like the perfect single material, that holds on its own even if its tone doesn’t entirely match with the darker, post-punk mood of the rest of the record.

Shame - Cutthroat

Picked By Alex

This year’s album from Shame is, as the title suggests, a more refined and unapologetic release. It feels like a true return to form, with a clearer sense of direction and purpose. Each track brings something of its own, creating a balanced collection that recaptures the energy and feel that defined their earlier work. Highlights for me have been the tracks 'Quiet Life', 'Lampiao' and the title track 'Cutthroat'.

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Louis Dunford - Be Lucky

Picked by Bruce

A super talented songwriter of real depth, fresh charisma and attitude who's a genuine breath of fresh air. His lyrics tell such relatable stories surrounded by timeless pop melodies often covering dark narratives.

Stand out tracks Queer, Lucy, Superman, The Unlucky Ones....

Listen + Enjoy!

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Barry Can’t Swim - Loner

Picked by Lucas

Loner is my album of the year because it manages to feel deeply personal while still hitting with real intent. From the moment “The Person You’d Like To Be” opens with that driving siren-like drone, the tone is set - restless, propulsive, and slightly uneasy in a way that pulls you in. That motif runs through the entire record, subtly binding everything together and giving the album a sense of momentum even in its quieter moments.

What I love most is how naturally the record undulates. Tracks like “Kimpton” settle into warm, head-down grooves that feel reflective and lived-in, before pivoting into full-blown floor-fillers like “Still Riding,” which hits with confidence and release. It never feels forced or scattergun; the shifts in energy feel deliberate, human, and intuitive. I’ve come back to Loner in all sorts of settings, from headphones or the car, to filling a room on vinyl, and it always holds up. That combination of emotional pull, forward motion, and replay value is what separates it from the pack this year.

Turnstile - Never Enough

Picked by Lucas

Never Enough is a very close second on my list... first if you go by Spotify Wrapped. With every release, Turnstile have grown, but this record feels like a real leap. They’ve leaned even further into melody and structure without losing the raw, kinetic energy that made them unmissable in the first place. The result is a bold, confident album that’s equal parts cathartic and euphoric. Tracks like 'I CARE' and 'NEVER ENOUGH' hit like modern anthems, while 'SOLE' and 'DULL' show a more expansive, textured side to the band. There’s a melodic depth running through this record that elevates it beyond their hardcore roots, and for me, it’s their most complete work yet.

Turnstile are evolving fast, and Never Enough is proof they’re not just keeping up with the moment - they’re defining it.

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Geese - Getting Killed

Picked by Harvey

Geese’s Getting Killed has quickly become one of my most replayed albums of the year, a record that channels the project’s evolving identity into something both shadowy and strikingly precise. Driven by the creative genius of Cameron Winter, it feels like the band’s boldest and most fully realised statement yet - shaped by production handled by the band themselves alongside Kenny Beats at Putnam Hill Studio, where they spent up to 14 hours a day refining every detail. The album’s odd time signatures and unconventional song structures give it a hypnotising pull, drawing you deeper with every listen. Cameron’s vocals carry a spectral, aching quality reminiscent of Thom Yorke’s most emotive moments, floating above the instrumentation with a fragile intensity that cuts straight through. Instead of leaning on distortion, the band builds its atmosphere through intricate interplay - taut rhythms, restless bass lines, and glimmering, off-kilter guitar motifs that coil and unravel with deliberate tension. Every track is crafted with meticulous care yet still pulses with raw, unfiltered emotion, making the entire album feel intensely alive. And while it’s stellar front to back, the standout for me is “Taxes,” a slow-burning eruption that distills everything Geese does best into one unforgettable moment.

Deftones - private music

Picked by Harvey

Deftones’ Private Music stands out as one of my favourite albums of the year, a record that condenses decades of the band’s evolution into something equal parts atmospheric and ferociously focused. As their tenth studio album, it feels like a culmination of everything they’ve refined over the years - made even stronger by the return of producer Nick Raskulinecz, whose work on Diamond Eyes and Koi No Yokan helped shape some of their most beloved sounds. Chino Moreno’s vocals drift between dreamlike vulnerability and serrated intensity, while Stephen Carpenter’s guitar riffs are as towering and muscular as ever, anchoring the record with a sense of scale only he can deliver. The production is immaculate - lush, heavy, and spacious - letting every texture breathe without losing the band’s signature bite. And while the whole album is exceptional, the standout track for me is “Infinite Source,” a soaring, emotionally charged highlight that captures the record’s full power.

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