We spent all year writing reviews, arguing in Slack, and watching the view counts climb on certain albums that just hit different. These are the ones that kept us coming back – the albums our staff couldn’t shut up about and the ones you couldn’t stop reading about. They’re not ranked because honestly, how do you compare Miley’s grief-processing masterpiece to PinkPantheress making weed sound like a felony? You don’t. Some weeks we needed FKA twigs’ techno catharsis, other weeks we needed Sabrina’s disco revenge fantasy. The point is: all of these albums earned their spot here, whether through sheer streaming numbers, critical acclaim, or the fact that our editors physically could not stop playing them. Here’s what made 2025 worth paying attention to.
Sabrina Carpenter – Man’s Best Friend
Less than a year after Short n’ Sweet made her pop’s reigning queen of innuendo, Sabrina drops Man’s Best Friend and proves she’s not slowing down. This album is smart as hell—disco-tinged, country-flirting, ABBA-inspired production courtesy of Jack Antonoff, who brought sitars and agogôs to create something that feels both retro and completely current. From the opening “Oh, boy” on “Manchild” to the petty perfection of wishing her ex a lifetime of celibacy on “Never Getting Laid,” Sabrina turns romantic disappointment into something you actually want to listen to on repeat. Her vocals are stronger than ever, and the songwriting has that sharp wit that makes even the saddest moments feel a little bit funny.
Sabrina manages to be heartbroken and horny and self-aware all at once without any of it feeling forced. “Tears” has her only getting wet at the thought of a guy being responsible (relatable), “House Tour” drops the line “I just want you to come inside” with zero shame, and the whole thing plays like therapy you’d actually enjoy. She’s channeling Dolly Parton’s wit and ABBA’s production polish into 12 tracks that know exactly what they are—pop music that’s clever enough to make you think but fun enough that you don’t have to. It’s the kind of album that proves she’s figured out her lane and she’s staying in it, which is honestly the smartest move she could make.
Addison Rae – Addison
Addison Rae made a debut album that defied expectations, which is more surprising than it should be but here we are. Addison is 33 minutes of hypnotic, trance-like pop that draws heavily from Madonna’s Ray of Light era—the production from Luka Kloser and Elvira Anderfjärd is all pulsating synths and lush arrangements that know exactly what they’re doing. “Diet Pepsi” was the summer anthem that got everyone’s attention, “Aquamarine” channels that late-90s euphoric energy, and “Fame Is a Gun” has that early Grimes vibe that makes it the album’s most interesting moment. “Times Like These,” which dropped the same day as the album, is another solid addition that shows she’s got more range than anyone expected.
Addison isn’t trying too hard to prove anything—she just made the album she wanted to make and trusted her collaborators to execute the vision. The pitch-shifted trip-hop on “Headphones On” shouldn’t work as well as it does, but it’s one of the album’s standouts. There’s a confidence here that comes from knowing your influences and actually understanding what made them great instead of just copying the surface-level stuff. It’s not revolutionary, but it’s well-crafted pop music that knows its references and doesn’t apologize for leaning into them. For a debut from someone who started on TikTok, that’s more than enough.
Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco – I Said I Love You First
A collaborative album from an engaged couple could’ve gone full saccharine, but Selena and Benny had the sense to balance the sweetness with actual songwriting. I Said I Love You First is 34 minutes of ’80s synth-pop that chronicles their relationship with tongue-in-cheek humor mixed with genuine emotion. Benny’s production leans into that “crying on the dance floor” energy, and Selena’s vocals hit that sweet spot between vulnerable and sharp. “Younger and Hotter Than Me” takes shots at an ex’s dating pattern with just enough bite, while “Ojos Tristes” (featuring the Marías) is a bilingual reimagining that brings new life to the 1981 original.
The guest spots add real dimension—Gracie Abrams shows up on “Call Me When You Break Up” for the kind of ill-advised voicemail energy we’ve all been there for, and “Bluest Flame” channels Charli XCX in the best way possible. The entendre-heavy “Sunset Blvd” has them naked on a Hollywood street while concerned citizens call the cops, which is the kind of playful moment that shows they’re having fun with the concept. It’s Selena’s strongest vocal work in years, and the production knows exactly when to dial up the drama and when to pull back. The album hit number two on the Billboard 200 with their biggest first-week sales ever, and became the first album by a real-life couple to top the Vinyl Albums chart in history.
Lady Gaga – Mayhem
Gaga stripped away the concept-heavy overthinking and just made a nu disco-heavy dance album, which turns out to be exactly what she needed to do. Mayhem is her return to the pop roots that made The Fame work—synth-pop with industrial edges, electro-disco that actually moves your body, and production from Andrew Watt, Cirkut, and Gesaffelstein that knows when to go hard and when to pull back. “Disease” and “Abracadabra” set the tone up front with that introspective-but-make-it-danceable energy, while tracks like “Garden of Eden” could’ve fit seamlessly on The Fame Monster without anyone questioning it. She’s back to singing about fame, excess, and duality without overexplaining herself, and the album’s better for it.
Gaga moves between genres confidently without trying to dress it up as something more important than it is. “Perfect Celebrity” channels genuine anger about living in two identities at once, “Shadow of a Man” struts through industry commentary, and “Vanish Into You” builds tension the way “Bad Romance” did. Then “Die With a Smile” with Bruno Mars closes everything out with that dramatic balladry she does well when she’s not forcing it. The album hit number one in 23 countries, became her seventh Billboard 200 chart-topper with the largest first-week sales of 2025 for a female album, and went platinum.
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Tate McRae – So Close to What
Tate McRae spent a year on tour analyzing what makes people move, and she turned that research into an album that feels like it was designed for a stage show—which makes sense coming from someone who’s been training as a dancer since age six. So Close to What pulls heavily from 2000s R&B production—Timbaland and The Neptunes are all over the mood board here—and the result is pop music you can feel in your body. “It’s OK I’m OK” kicked things off with a debut at number 20 on the Hot 100, while “Sports car” somehow makes a reference to the Ying Yang Twins’ “The Whisper Song” work in 2025. The production is kinetic without trying too hard, and McRae’s vocals have grown into something that can handle both the club energy and the more introspective moments.
The intentionality behind it elevates this beyond standard pop—McRae worked primarily with women writers including Julia Michaels and Amy Allen, which gives the album a perspective that feels authentic rather than manufactured. “bloodonmyhands” brings in Flo Milli for a Miami bass throwback, “Purple lace bra” lands somewhere between The-Dream and Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die (Emile Haynie produced both), and the whole thing moves with the kind of confidence that comes from knowing exactly what you’re making. The album hit number one on the Billboard 200 with 177,000 first-week units and went platinum by October. The deluxe edition dropped “Tit for Tat,” which hit number three on the Hot 100 and became her third top-ten single. At 21, she’s figured out how to make pop music that respects its influences without being trapped by them.
FKA twigs – EUSEXUA
FKA twigs created a word to describe the state you reach right before orgasm and built an entire album around it, which is exactly the kind of move you’d expect from her. EUSEXUA is her first studio album in five years, and she spent that time falling in love with Prague’s techno scene before channeling that energy into 42 minutes of art pop that feels like wandering through a warehouse rave at 4am. The production—mostly from longtime collaborator Koreless—pulls from techno, IDM, and industrial sounds, warping and shifting depending on the mood. “Girl Feels Good” is slinky trip-hop hedonism, “Drums of Death” sounds like a short-circuiting sexbot imploring you to “serve cunt, serve violence,” and the whole thing throbs with the kind of physical intensity that makes you understand why she coined a new term for this feeling.
Twigs takes her concept seriously without overexplaining it—she trusts the music to communicate what she means by eusexua instead of spelling it out. “Perfect Stranger” and the title track capture that search for transcendence through connection, while tracks like “Sticky” channel Björk and Kate Bush in their vocal intensity. The album scored universal acclaim with an 87 on Metacritic, comparisons to Madonna’s Ray of Light, and a five-star review from Rolling Stone UK that called it “a superbly powerful statement on the power of joining her on the dancefloor.” She followed it up ten months later with EUSEXUA Afterglow, a sequel that explores what happens after you reach that state—the comedown, the reflection, the hours after the rave when you’re still riding the high. Both albums prove twigs is operating at a level where she can create her own vocabulary and make it stick.
Miley Cyrus – Something Beautiful
Miley made a visual album about healing from trauma and finding beauty in darkness, which could’ve been heavy-handed but she had the sense to let the music do the talking. Something Beautiful is 52 minutes of progressive pop that she executive produced with Shawn Everett, pulling in collaborators like members of Alvvays, Model/Actriz, Danielle Haim, Flea, and Adam Granduciel from the War on Drugs. It’s the kind of restless creativity that’s defined her career—she’s constantly shifting, never settling into one sound, and this album leans into that eclecticism without losing focus. “Reborn” delivers a mission statement over heavy disco grooves about killing your ego and starting fresh, while tracks like “Walk of Fame” (featuring Brittany Howard) and “Every Girl You’ve Ever Loved” (with Naomi Campbell narrating) show her working with voices that match her raspy intensity.
She balances existential themes with genuine accessibility—she’s not making this difficult for the sake of it. The album comes with a musical film that she wrote and directed, which premiered at Tribeca Festival and got released on Disney+ and Hulu, turning the whole thing into a full artistic statement. Critics called it “an absolute triumph” and a strong bid for best major pop album of 2025, with praise for how it oozes personality and showcases her powerfully raspy voice across varied production. The deluxe edition brought in Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, and David Byrne, which shows the kind of respect she’s earned from rock legends. She’s not touring it—citing sobriety, mental health, and industry infrastructure issues—but the album stands on its own as proof that Miley’s at her best when she’s given complete creative control.
Taylor Swift – The Life of a Showgirl
Taylor reunited with Max Martin and Shellback for her twelfth album, flying back and forth to Sweden between Eras Tour stops to make something that feels like a natural progression from her pop era work. The Life of a Showgirl is 41 minutes of confident, bright pop that pulls from the joy of performing while also examining the darker sides of fame and industry politics. She described the album as coming from a mischievous, scandalous, flirty place—a shift from the serious introspection of The Tortured Poets Department. “The Fate of Ophelia” leads with mature romance and fierce independence, while tracks like “Elizabeth Taylor” reference heavily-scrutinized Hollywood stars and the pressure of staying relevant. There’s playful wordplay throughout, darker undertones about cancel culture in “CANCELLED!”, and industry betrayal in “Father Figure,” which interpolates George Michael.
Swift balances the glittery showgirl aesthetic with genuine critique—she’s taking shots at critics and the system while also celebrating the life she’s building with fiancé Travis Kelce. “Eldest Daughter” hits as the emotional fifth track, “Wood” goes full saucy, and the title track features Sabrina Carpenter, who posted Swift kissing her cheek with “I love you Taylor” when it dropped. The album became the fastest-selling album in history with over 4 million units in its first week, hit number one in over 50 countries, and all twelve tracks monopolized the top twelve spots on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s her fifteenth number-one album, the most for any soloist. She made an 89-minute theatrical film called The Official Release Party of a Showgirl that premiered at theaters nationwide, and the whole thing feels like Swift at her most self-assured—making exactly the album she wanted to make after conquering the world with the highest-grossing tour of all time.
Jordan Corey – The Tunnel + The Light
Jordan Corey’s been a hidden gem in the alt-pop and R&B world for years—touring with Grammy-winner RAC, forming production duo CURIO with drummer Jeff Brodsky, landing placements with Apple and Google—but The Tunnel + The Light feels like the moment she steps fully into her own. Released in September, the album was written while caring for her mother through cancer, and it unfolds as a journey through longing, tangled relationships, and escapism before landing somewhere quieter. Bay Area-raised and pulling from soul ballads, classic rock, disco, and indie electronica, Jordan produced the 12 tracks herself alongside Ryan Aicklen, with Danny Thrasher helping on “Feel Me,” “Try Me,” and “Canadian Rockies.” The result is velvet-smooth vocals over grooves that blend indie electronica with alt-R&B in a way that captures being in transition—not quite arriving, but sensing the light ahead.
Jordan balances heavy themes with genuine hopefulness without forcing either feeling. “Friend Like Me” opens with effortlessly vibrant soul and gospel energy, while “Do the Thing” delivers shimmering modern pop with hooks polished enough to rival bigger names—it’s about committing to something personal and shaking off the pressure to be perfect. “647am” is an intimate slow-burner confession, “The Story” brings head-bobbing energy, and tracks like “Feel Me” sound like they were made for cruising in a convertible on a breezy summer day. The album captures the full spectrum of emotions without overcomplicating things, and reviewers called it refreshing and one of the best entry points into alt-pop and R&B for people who don’t usually explore that space. Jordan’s been in the industry for 14 years, and this album shows exactly why she’s earned respect from artists like RAC and landed her music in campaigns for major brands—she knows how to craft songs where vulnerability meets groove without sacrificing either.
Phoebe Huisman – Inside
Phoebe Huisman wrote Inside between ages fourteen and seventeen, and it shows in the best possible way—this is teenage girlhood documented without the polish or distance that comes from looking back years later. The Newcastle singer-songwriter pulls from the confessional lineage of Olivia Rodrigo and Gracie Abrams, but her debut album feels like diary pages that escaped into songs before she could decide if they were too raw to share. She studied music creation and composition through TAFE, which grounds her instinctive storytelling in actual craft, and the result is an album that captures those years with unfiltered clarity. “Inside” opens by naming how exhausting it is to pretend you’re fine in public, “No Want” turns teenage anxiety into a mantra she’s clinging to because everything else feels slippery, and “Hypocrites” is a glitter-pen diss track asking “Where were you then, when I was hurting?” with the kind of calm fury that cuts deeper than screaming.
The album moves through crush territory with “Not That Lucky,” self-loathing spirals on “But That’s Not Her” where she separates who she is from what her anxiety insists she is, and stubborn confidence on “Untamed” where she admits she’s a dark horse not ready to be tamed. “I See Ya” recognizes she has multiple selves and none of them are wrong, “Nemesis” sketches out her antagonist with exhausted clarity, and “Look At Me” becomes the thesis statement for being misunderstood. She softens things with “Settle Down” about complicated family love and “Dancing in the Rain” offering earned peace, before “Photograph” closes everything by rebuilding childhood through snapshots she’s holding onto while everything else feels unstable. There’s a ghost running through this—Janis Ian’s “At Seventeen” whispering from 1975 like she already knew what the next fifty years of girlhood would look like. Phoebe’s just getting started, and the world should probably buckle up.
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Mariah Carey – Here for It All
Mariah Carey’s first album in seven years is her first independent release, and 35 years into her career, she sounds like someone who knows exactly what she’s doing. Here for It All is 39 minutes of eclectic R&B that pulls from funk, disco, soul, and gospel—basically everything that made her catalog iconic in the first place, but filtered through a voice that’s evolved in tone while losing none of its understanding of melody. Executive produced by L.A. Reid and released through her own imprint Mariah via Gamma, the 11-track album includes Anderson .Paak, Kehlani, Shenseea, and the Clark Sisters. “Type Dangerous” became her 50th Billboard Hot 100 entry and won Best R&B at the MTV VMAs, while “Play This Song” with Anderson .Paak should’ve been the lead single—the two trade petty darts over elegant production, with Paak yelling about her missing the “steaks and skrimps” he used to buy while she’s stuck in the drive-in now.
The album doesn’t match the no-skip perfection of Butterfly or The Emancipation of Mimi, but it exceeds expectations for what a Mariah album can be in 2025. The opening “Mi” rides a subtle drill beat with quotable confidence (“I’m the D-I-V-A, that’s MC”), “Sugar Sweet” is a mellow groove with Kehlani and Shenseea, and ballads like “Nothing Is Impossible” show her vocal adaptability remains one of her greatest assets. “Jesus I Do” with the Clark Sisters and the title track close things out by honoring her gospel roots—she named the album after that final track because it felt personal and soulful in a way that represents who she is now. The production is bright and flavorful without drowning out her vocals, and even as her range has changed, she’s found new pockets of her voice to explore. It’s tight, concise, and one of her most consistent releases, proving the Songbird Supreme still has plenty to say beyond being a holiday meme.
PinkPantheress – Fancy That
PinkPantheress released her sophomore mixtape two years after Heaven Knows, and Fancy That finds the 24-year-old striking a better balance between her TikTok-shaped microsongs and more traditional pop structures. The nine tracks blaze by in under 20 minutes—there’s even an “Intermission” in the middle—but they pack more punch than her last album’s sometimes-too-conventional approach. Working primarily with 23-year-old Norwegian producer Aksel Arvid, she’s peppered the songs with cleverly utilized samples from Basement Jaxx (three of them, pulling from their 2001 classic Rooty), Underworld, William Orbit, and even Panic! at the Disco. The mixtape leans into UK garage and jungle influences with four-on-the-floor club energy, all wrapped in her ethereal, breathy vocals and Britain-coded aesthetic—the album cover features her in the Imperial State Crown surrounded by flowers and the UK’s iconic red telephone booth.
“Illegal” opens the project with her signature pitch-shifted vocals over deep bassline and sparkling synths, sampling Underworld’s “Dark & Long” into something that feels gritty and late-night. Originally conceived as a song about hiring a gigolo, it became a track about buying weed in the UK where it’s still illegal—PinkPantheress called it a “weed diss track”—and it earned a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Pop Recording while becoming a TikTok meme. “Tonight” flips Panic! at the Disco into a swooning house number, “Stateside” features The Dare on bass with PinkPantheress cooing “Never met a British girl, you say?” across the pond, and “Romeo” nods directly to Basement Jaxx’s 2001 hit. Critics praised the mixtape for being “equally forthright about sex and desire” and scratching “just about every nostalgic itch” while staying on pulse with what’s next. The album hit number three in the UK, got shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, and debuted at number 72 on the Billboard 200. She followed it up with Fancy Some More? in October, a 31-track remix album featuring everyone from Kylie Minogue and Bladee to SEVENTEEN and Nia Archives, proving she knows how to bottle and sell nostalgia better than anyone.
Reneé Rapp – Bite Me
Reneé Rapp’s second album arrived after she pulled a hard reset—ketamine therapy, ditching birth control, ignoring boardroom advice from men who don’t get it. Bite Me is 33 minutes of her stripping away everything that wasn’t working and making exactly the music she wanted to hear, mixing 2000s pop-rock energy with her commanding vocals and mischievous edge. The 25-year-old had been living what looked like a dream from the outside—Snow Angel in 2023, playing Regina George in the Mean Girls musical film, Coachella debut with Kesha—but privately she was a mess, constantly at war with herself and feeling like she needed to do more, work harder, be better. She set out to impress herself this time, and the result is an album about embracing sexuality, independence, and every chaotic facet of your personality without apologizing for it.
“Leave Me Alone” leads with bratty energy and a feisty drumbeat reminiscent of Toni Basil’s “Mickey,” Rapp firing shots at The Sex Lives of College Girls while purring about getting wet in the deep end. “Mad” is a hedonistic disco jam with Alexandra Shipp as her love interest in the video. “Shy” is pop-rock perfection with a chorus that keeps drawing you back (especially when she gets coy with ‘Okay, now take off all your clothes.) Rapp admits that track was hard to write because she kept reimagining it in different keys until it became what it was meant to be: cheeky and vulnerable at once, asking someone to dick her down while also being nice because she’s a little shy but completely in love. “Why Is She Still Here?” explores the emotional aftermath of non-monogamous relationships and might be the gayest song on the album, while “Kiss It Kiss It” showcases flirtatious energy with comparisons to Garbage’s “Stupid Girl.” She described the album as ripping off all your clothes and running naked down the street after violently crying, almost laughing because you’re done letting anything hold you. Critics called it “a lesson in unflinching pop excellence” that leans into chaos more than her debut, and Rapp—who grew up on rap, soul, and R&B, not pop—has landed fully in a genre she once kept at arm’s length. She’s in a great relationship now with guitarist Towa Bird, and she’s learned you don’t need to be miserable to make something this good.
Doja Cat – Vie
After Scarlet had Doja in full rap mode, Vie is her pivot back to pop – but not the playful Planet Her energy. This is three years of recording at Miraval Studios in France distilled into 1980s disco-pop and funk that sounds expensive and feels dangerous. She’s pulling from Grace Jones, early Madonna, and Prince while writing exclusively about love, romance, and sex without any emotional distance. “Jealous Type” dropped in August as the lead single – disco-pop production from Y2K and Jack Antonoff with Doja admitting she’s the kind of girl who’ll spiral over nothing because she feels too much. When she performed it at the VMAs with Kenny G as the opening performance, it somehow wasn’t corny – it was exactly the campy, confident energy the whole album rides on.
She wrote every song herself, brought in Antonoff to executive produce, and the 15 tracks include one feature from SZA. “Lipstain” has her rapping the post-chorus in French, “AAAHH MEN!” channels Queen while celebrating how goddamn maddening men are, and “Silly! Fun!” captures that drunk-in-love delusion where you’re talking babies and Vegas weddings with someone you met five minutes ago. The album hit number 4 on the Billboard 200 with 57,000 units and scored 78 on Metacritic – her highest rating yet. She’s supporting it with the Tour Ma Vie World Tour running through December 2026, and the whole thing feels like Doja finally stopped caring what anyone thinks she should be making and just made what she wanted.
So yeah, 2025 gave us everything – pop girls reclaiming their sound, rappers writing their own narratives, legends proving they’ve still got it, and newcomers announcing themselves like they’d been here all along. Some of these albums broke records, some broke the internet, and some just broke us emotionally in the best way. The through-line? Artists who refused to play it safe, who trusted their instincts over boardroom advice, and who remembered that making music is supposed to feel like something. These albums made us feel everything, and that’s why they’re here.
