Published Issue 144, December 2025
In a year of outstanding, meaningful releases across all realms of music here are a mere 44 albums that stood out and commanded repeated listens.
Anna von Hausswolff – ICONOCLASTS
Transcendent, elemental, operatic darkwave jazz drone.
Black Moth Super Rainbow – Soft New Magic Dream
Post-synthwave dream pop for abandoned Backrooms arcades.
Bonnie “Prince” Billy – The Purple Bird
The most pointed, poignant, tender, humane revolution folk record in decades.
Bria Salmena – Big Dog
Sensuous, swaying slowcore, hypnogogic Goth popgaze.
Buck Gooter – King Kong Lives: Thereminsanity
Deep observations on mortality, rebellion and transcendence in the language of lo-fi industrial synth psychedelia.
Ches Smith – Clone Row
Instant IDM prog fusion classic.
Chris Stamey – Anything is Possible
An inspired reincarnation of genius AM radio power pop.
Claire Rousay – A Little Death
Impressionistic snapshots of warmly hazy memories and daydreams.
Clipping. – Dead Channel Sky
An amalgamation of 70s art rock, 90s big/break beat and noise.
Cloakroom – Last Leg of the Human Table
Heartwarming shoegaze jangle sludge.
Deerhoof – Noble and Godlike in Ruin
10 Jazz Funk Math Pop Greats.
doubleVee – Periscope at Midnight
Emotionally vibrant, warmly cinematic indiepop.
Ethel Cain – Perverts
Like a slowcore ambient album made by Cowboy Junkies.
Firefriend – Fuzz and Blue Radiation
Four sides of snapshots of the fiery psych shoegaze revolutionaries in all their live performance glory.
Fletcher Tucker – Kin
Hypnotic drones infused with pastoral mysticism and personal myth-making.
Fotoform – Grief is a Garden (Forever In Bloom)
Truly leaning into feeling melancholy and dissolving it with blissful melodies.
Goon – Dream 3
Breaking soul deep despair with joy cast as daydreamy psychedelia.
Guerilla Toss – You’re Weird Now
Impassioned, psychedelic, hip-hop-infused dance punk.
Hayden Pedigo and Chat Pile – In the Earth Again
Heartbreaking songs of finding shards of hope in a world devastated by greed and neglect.
HIDE – Spit of Swallow Every Soul Will Taste Death
Industrial noise punk explosions of radical empathy for our collective internalized despair and outrage at late capitalism.
Hilary Woods – Night CRIÚ
Engrossing drone folk dream noir pop.
Horsegirl – Phonetics On and On
A fascinating orchestration of space, texture, momentum to express emotional immediacy.
Japanese Breakfast – For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)
Orchestral meditations on getting exactly what you thought you wanted.
Kaput – I
Invigorating clawings for vitality and dignity against the anxieties of the attention economy and late capitalism.
Knox Chandler – The Sound
Visual/musical manifestations of transitions from urban life to the tranquil rural.
Kilynn Lunsford – Promiscuous Genes
Peak weirdo No Wave poignant post-punk pop genius.
Lana Del Rabies – Omnipotent Fuck
Diamanda Galás-esque death industrial dissection of the darkest ends of romance and sexuality.
Latter – What Lives Inside of Me
A sustained shredding of the idea that one’s humanity is disposable.
Laveda – Love, Darla
Noise dream pop songs of post-heartbreak and self-rediscovery.
Marissa Nadler – New Radiations
Lush, stirring Lynch-soundtrack-esque dream folk.
Masma Dream World – Please Come To Me
Cross-cultural, cosmic, underworld ritual drone.
Patrick Shiroishi – Forgetting is Violent
Minimal ambient jazz against the imperial program of cultural erasure.
Planning For Burial – It’s Closeness, Its Easy
An entire album of raging grief and acceptance of loving reconnection.
PYRAMIDS – Pythagoras
Sublimely melodic black metal shoegaze reggaeton.
Sextile – yes, please.
Further push into techno-punk bass music.
The Stargazer Lilies – Love Pedals
Psychedelic shoegaze with heavy Julee Cruise vibes.
Stūrī Zēvele – arLabunakti
Strikingly original indie/dream/art/chamber pop from Latvia.
Swans – Birthing
A profound reflection on one’s own cycle of becoming and transformation until reuniting with the infinite energy of the universe.
The Whimbrels – s/t
Paradoxically transporting, wiry, shimmery, maximalist art punk prog noise rock for fans of Mission of Burma.
They Are Gutting a Body of Water – LOTTO
The perfect balance of caustic, grungy, metallic, ethereal, beat-driven, post-shoegaze, spoken word jangle punk.
Viagra Boys – Viagr Aboys
Once again an inspired set of irreverently surreal culture jamming commentary presented as mutant post-garage punk art hooliganism.
Wednesday – Bleeds
Effortlessly witty, literary, countrified emogaze snapshots of regular American life through the lens of the Southern experience.
Wet Leg – Moisturizer
Bold, ferocious, sensuous, clever anthems of living with an unapologetically passionate nature and a refreshingly untamed sense of self.
For more see queencitysounds.org
Tom Murphy is a Denver-based music writer and science fiction/fantasy/horror creator. He is also a musician, historian and itinerant filmmaker.
Head to our Explore section to see Tom’s monthly install of Queen City Sounds.