The 2025 albums you need to hear right now

Lady Gaga - Mayhem

On her new album Mayhem, Lady Gaga brings together the best of her early career. It’s clear she wasn’t trying to create The Fame Monster 2.0 or Born This Way 2.0. Instead, she has crafted an entirely new sound and concept. Mayhem is nostalgic not only for her own past styles but also for the music of previous decades, reimagined in her unique way. To the surprise of fans, her seventh album is incredibly diverse – featuring dance tracks, dark experimental songs, and heartfelt ballads.

This wide range came as an unexpected twist after the release of the dark singles Disease and Abracadabra, which made it seem like the entire album would follow that same heavy tone. Mayhem is complex, multi-layered, and, true to its name, beautifully chaotic. Throughout the album, you can hear echoes of David Bowie, Prince, Nine Inch Nails, Michael Jackson, and even Taylor Swift. Yet Gaga remains unmistakably herself – her vocals, lyrical imagery, and signature theatricality make Mayhem one of the most intriguing pop releases of the year.

Must-listen tracks: Killah, Abracadabra, Shadow Of A Man.

Lorde - Virgin

Lorde has long established herself as an artist capable of creating completely different albums. Her debut, Pure Heroine, was a breakthrough that revealed societal issues through the eyes of a teenage girl. Her second album, Melodrama, turned into a confessional masterpiece, filled with the experiences and emotions of a grown New Zealand singer, and it immediately received widespread critical acclaim. Her third album, Solar Power, surprised listeners with its bright, acoustic sound that stood in stark contrast to her previous work. However, it was met with mixed reactions, even from her fans, possibly because it came out in the pandemic era, when the sunny island aesthetic felt distant and unrelatable to many.

Lorde’s fourth album, Virgin, much like the X-ray of her pelvis with an IUD on the cover, is an open and deeply intimate dialogue with the listener. In these new songs, she addresses themes of body dysmorphia, personal trauma, heartbreak, and eating disorders, particularly on tracks like Broken Glass. For the first time, she also explores questions of gender fluidity on Man of the Year and Shapeshifter. Lorde has never been this honest – the story she tells on Virgin is a brave attempt to understand and accept herself for who she is, without fear of judgment.

Must-listen tracks: Shapeshifter, Man Of The Year, David.

Bon Iver - SABLE, fABLE

Bon Iver’s fifth album, SABLE, fABLE, is Justin Vernon’s bold attempt to step away from the image of the solitary singer-songwriter who once retreated into the Wisconsin woods to record the cult classic For Emma, Forever Ago. Instead of the melancholic isolation that gave us songs like Skinny Love and For Emma, this new album feels like an invitation into life in all its complexity.

SABLE, fABLE is divided into two parts. The first, SABLE, is short, dark, and minimalist, creating a mood of inner struggle, anxiety, and isolation. It includes three tracks from his SABLE EP (2024), forming an emotionally charged introduction. The second part, fABLE, reveals Vernon’s brighter, more joyful side. Filled with lush arrangements, it explores soul, R&B, soft rock, and country, and feels almost like musical therapy, as Bon Iver shifts away from his signature sparse folk sound into a richer genre palette.

As NME noted, the album is partly informed by Vernon’s recent mainstream projects – in 2020, he recorded two duets with Taylor Swift for her Folklore album, and last summer his version of I think about it all the time on the Brat remix album surprised listeners with its emotional depth. While SABLE, fABLE is not Bon Iver’s answer to “Brat summer” by any stretch, many of those same existential questions linger here.

Must-listen tracks: Everything Is Peaceful Love, From, S P E Y S I D E.

FKA twigs – Eusexua

Professionally trained as a dancer since the age of 12, FKA twigs has always made movement a central theme in her work. On Eusexua, this is more evident than ever – the fluidity and power of dance form the core of her sound, turning each song into an almost choreographed experience.

Eusexua is her first studio album in five years since Magdalene (2019), and her first full-length project in over three years following the 2022 mixtape Caprisongs. On this new album, she explores the concept of EUSEXUA – a feeling of instant transcendence that goes beyond ordinary euphoria, triggered by art, sex, music, and the dancefloor through human movement. The title itself combines the words euphoria and sexual, capturing this unique state of being.

The album has already been compared to Madonna’s Ray of Light and Erotica for their shared themes of bodily freedom, sexuality, and spiritual rebirth, but twigs reimagines these ideas in her own contemporary way. One particularly striking moment is the appearance of North West, Kanye West’s daughter, on the track Childlike Things. As FKA twigs explains, the song is about her own childhood dream of becoming an artist: “It was about a dream rooted in my childhood… where I could go, who I could meet, and what I could create.

Must-listen tracks: Eusexua, Perfect Stranger, Wanderlust.

Sam Fender – People Watching

On his new album People Watching, Sam Fender explores the struggles of working-class life through the eyes of an artist who has already found success. A three-time Brit Award winner and Mercury Prize nominee, the indie rock singer-songwriter turns stories from his life and the lives of those around him into a powerful blend of pop-rock and heartland rock, inspired by Bruce Springsteen and The War on Drugs.

Throughout the album, he touches on themes of capitalism, poverty, and coming home – back to North Shields, his hometown, which remains at the heart of his music. Producers Adam Granduciel (The War on Drugs) and Markus Dravs, working alongside Fender himself, created a rich, layered sound filled with strings, saxophone, piano, and even harmonica, adding depth, emotion, and power to the tracks.

People Watching closes with Remember My Name, a song dedicated to the musician’s late grandfather – a touching farewell and a tribute that feels like the perfect final note to this record.

Must-listen tracks: Wild Long Lie, Remember My Name, TV Dinner.

Addison Rae – ADDISON

ADDISON isn’t just an album from a TikTok star. Addison Rae has created a bold, conceptually cohesive record where experimental pop anthems blend with sensual energy and intimate storytelling, shaping her as a new pop icon for the TikTok generation.

Although musical ventures by influencers are often met with skepticism, Rae has managed to change that perception. After her 2021 debut single Obsessed, many told her to give up on singing, but just three years later, her track Diet Pepsi landed on best-of-the-year lists by Billboard, Rolling Stone, and Pitchfork.

On ADDISON, she continues her search for a unique sound. The album combines electronic experimentation with the melancholic tones of Lana Del Rey and the boldness of Charli XCX, at times echoing Madonna’s Ray of Light, yet still sounding fresh and distinctly her own.

And while nearly half of its songs were released as singles before the album’s launch, for those discovering Rae for the first time, ADDISON will be a true revelation.

Must-listen tracks: Diet Pepsi, Aquamarine, Fame is a Gun.

Earlier, Kazinform News Agency reported on 2025's most anticipated album releases.