What we listened to in 2025

If streaming companies’ year-in-review campaigns have proven us something, it’s that we’ve spent a staggering period of time drowning out the hum of on a regular basis life with music, podcasts and audio sequence. And with some unbelievable new releases this 12 months, we had been actually eatin’ good. Right here are a few of the Engadget workforce’s favourite issues we listened to in 2025.

Spiritbox – Tsunami Sea

I turned conscious of Spiritbox in late 2024 shortly before the band dropped its newest album, Tsunami Sea. At the time, I used to be in a deep Sleep Token part, and I don’t bear in mind how I stumbled upon Spiritbox, however I’m certain glad I did. Not realizing something about the band, I initially thought it had two singers: one for clear vocals and one other for the harsh, guttural screams.

Effectively, I used to be incorrect. Vocalist Courtney LaPlante handles all of it, and she or he is a pressure of nature. After studying of a brand new band, I do what any self-respecting music nerd does: I regarded up dwell movies of them on YouTube. The way in which LaPlante seamlessly transitions from ethereal, ambient singing to a few of the greatest growls you’ll hear in metallic music is easy. And after seeing Spiritbox dwell in individual earlier in December, I can attest to her capability to persistently nail each vocal types for the entirety of an hour-long set.

My infatuation with Spiritbox isn’t simply with the vocalist although. Guitarist Mike Stringer, LaPlante’s husband, additionally has a number of distinctive talents to provide. Stringer’s use of noise and whammy results in his riffs create a signature fashion, not to point out his mixture of nu-metal, djent and metalcore sensibilities. He additionally has a few of the thickest guitar tones I’ve ever heard dwell, and I used to be mesmerized for the full set. Stringer’s guitar work on Tsunami Sea is a chief instance of a  distinctive musician at the peak of his powers.

Tsunami Sea takes you on a trip. The primary two tracks are all-out ragers, and after a slight respite in “Good Soul” and “Hold Candy,” the album’s greatest track comes fifth. I’ve heard LaPlante dedicate it to “all the individuals I really like to fucking hate,” and it’s clearly written about her enemies. It’s additionally the good instance of what this band is able to. It’s three minutes of LaPlante’s screams interlaced with loads of Stringer’s trademark guitar work.

The remainder of the album showcases the band’s capability to mix dynamics, with “No Loss, No Love” and “Journey The Wave” offering the highlights on the again half of the file. The album’s title observe is a terrific car for LaPlante’s clear vocals, serving as the introduction to the album’s second act. Should you’ve been enamored with Sleep Token this 12 months like I’ve, give Spiritbox a go — you gained’t be sorry you probably did. — Billy Steele, Deputy Editor, Opinions

Bandsplain

I didn’t uncover Bandsplain in 2025, however I positively listened to it greater than every other podcast by way of complete time spent. Positive, that’s as a result of most episodes are over three hours lengthy, however I digress. Host Yasi Salek does a deep dive on “cult bands and iconic artists” to… ahem, bandsplain why individuals love them. There’s a deep catalog of again episodes, so there’s certain to be an in-depth evaluation of a band you’re accustomed to. However even in the event you assume you already know an artist, I’m keen to guess Salek will expose elements of the story you weren’t conscious of.

Jimmy Eat World’s Readability is a prime 5 all-timer for me, and Salek had a lot to provide about the narrative round that album I didn’t know. Her grunge sequence from 2024 was a historical past lesson I want I’d had in center faculty after I first found Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and the remainder of the lot. An older episode about 9 Inch Nails served as the primer for me seeing the band dwell for the first time in September. And that’s the factor about the present: the again catalog holds up. Should you’re ready for the subsequent installment to drop, there’s definitely one thing in the archives you’ll get pleasure from.

No shade to Salek’s colleagues at The Ringer, however the greatest episodes of Bandsplain are when the visitor is a musician. Thursday entrance man Geoff Rickly was glorious on that 9 Inch Nails episode, and Dying Cab for Cutie singer Ben Gibbard had me on the fringe of my seat when he was on to focus on The La’s — a band I’d by no means heard of before. I’d additionally extremely suggest the episodes on Oasis and the more moderen one on Alanis Morissette. However, actually, you’ll be able to’t go incorrect beginning from wherever on the episode listing. — B.S.

Lucy Dacus – Ceaselessly is a Feeling

I bear in mind being a young person and listening to from an grownup that they did not religiously search out, analysis, consider and introduce new bands and songs into their lives as if all existence would stop with out the life-sustaining power of recent music. I used to be confused, involved and rattling certain that wouldn’t occur to me.

the place this story goes: Job. Child. Home. Partner. Pets that may die if I don’t feed, stroll, play with and/or medicate them. I permit the algorithm to feed me new songs however not often does one thing stick, so I find yourself listening to tracks I bonded with in my teenagers and twenties.

This 12 months, Blossom & Bones, a three-day music pageant in Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, managed to push via the churn and lodge new music into my mind. Together with my child and a few mates, I camped amongst a few of the most stunning landscapes conceivable and ambled over to the stage every night for performances by Santigold, Ani DiFranco and a few dozen extra.

Lucy Dacus, one third of the indie group Boygenius, did a one-hour set with loads of songs from her newest album Ceaselessly is a Feeling. Listening to the songs for the first time, I felt like I’d been listening to them for years. Lilting harmonies and layered strings create a stunning backdrop for Dacus’s velvet voice, however there’s a sharpness to her observations about relationships, rejection and intercourse. I’ve been looping the album ever since. — Amy Skorheim, Senior Reporter, Shopping for Recommendation

Blanco White – “So Sure” (single)

Early on the final live performance of the day at that very same pageant, Blanco White took the stage. Individuals had been aimlessly milling about and the solar hadn’t but set. Children had been enjoying on the garden and the scent from the meals vans was intense, however I used to be enrapt by the 4 individuals on stage. The unhappy violin and strummy guitars floated with the hand-beat drum out into the crimson hills. The music appeared like I felt: rooted and wrapped in the harsh great thing about the desert and I used to be actually glad to take that dwelling with me. — A.S.

Martian Revolution 

Should you’re as massive a nerd as I’m, you may know that Leo Tolstoy did not take into account Struggle and Peace to be a novel. The story is what most individuals learn for, however in the creator’s thoughts, all the drama was a parable to illustrate his grand idea of historical past.

Over the final 12 months, historical past podcaster Mike Duncan has achieved an identical feat utilizing a medium Tolstoy by no means imagined. Duncan’s Revolutions podcast has lined ten completely different revolutionary upheavals throughout historical past, beginning with the English Civil Struggle and ending with the Russian Revolution. After wrapping up the Bolsheviks, Duncan took a number of episodes to counsel a grand idea of how revolutions unfold. For some time, it appeared like that was all we might get. Then, in the center of 2024, he began posting unique sci-fi — with none indication that this story, which adopted future Martians revolting towards their company overlords on Earth, was in any means completely different from the earlier ten seasons.

A part of what makes the Martian Revolution so glorious is Duncan’s deadpan supply. He by no means as soon as breaks character. He rattles off lists of fictional sources, apologizes for inaccuracies in prior episodes, and introduces made-up historic figures with the similar gravity he as soon as used to point out George Washington or Simon Bolivar. Should you’re a fan of Revolutions, you will have a blast recognizing character archetypes. (Mabel Dore is the Liberal Noble! Timothy Werner is the Man of Blood!)

However the podcast is nice even in the event you’ve by no means listened to an episode of Revolutions. It has a wonderful grasp of character and a way of inevitable tragedy, however with moments of pleasure leavened all through. I definitely hope we do not wind up in the megacorp-ruled way forward for the podcast, but when we do, it will be a terrific comfort if it will definitely seems the means Duncan imagines. — Sam Chapman, Senior Author

Ron Gallo – Checkmate

My favourite artists are ones that shock me, and Ron Gallo is a grasp of reinvention. He is dabbled in absurdist punk, psychedelia, storage rock, Beatles-tinged pop and, now, stripped-down acoustic music. This is not a style I’m sometimes a fan of, Elliott Smith withstanding, however Checkmate is one thing particular. His lyrical prowess is off the charts right here, buying and selling his normal wordplay for easy and emotionally-gutting truisms about life, love and, nicely, the finish of the world.

In fact, the lyrics would not work if the songs weren’t good. The songs are excellent. The title observe is nearly the good love track, with a main hook that will get misplaced in your head for weeks. Different tracks provide hints of Mac DeMarco, Dan Fogelberg, Kevin Morby and nearly everybody else who has crafted nice songs on an acoustic guitar. It is becoming that Gallo has discovered a house on the label Kill Rock Stars, which launched a lot of Elliott Smith’s work again in the day. As an apart, Gallo commonly posts songs about present occasions on TikTok and different social media platforms, which are value trying out in the event you like stuff like Jesse Welles. — Lawrence Bonk, Contributing Reporter

De La Soul – Cabin in the Sky

There have been hip-hop albums that explored the finality and tragedy of demise, however not many that actually tackled spirituality and long-term grief. De La Soul has finished simply that, following the passing of founding member Trugoy the Dove. This album serves as a ultimate testomony of types for Trugoy, as he is closely featured all through. In that means, Cabin in the Sky is harking back to A Tribe Referred to as Quest’s 2016 masterpiece We Received It from Right here… Thank You 4 Your Service, which adopted the demise of rapper Phife Dawg.

Like Tribe’s fashionable basic, Cabin in the Sky is stuffed with absolute bangers. It options standout beats by DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Trugoy, Jake One and others. The rhymes are nice and all three main De La members are given time to shine. Visitor rappers like Widespread and Nas received the memo, delivering a few of their most memorable verses in years. Heck, even Giancarlo Esposito is on board as the narrator. Some reviewers have dinged this album for being too lengthy however, come on, that is like complaining there’s an excessive amount of pizza. It is De La Soul. — L.B.

FKA twigs – Eusexua

This was a very good 12 months for brand new music IMO, a lot that I have been discovering it fairly troublesome to assume again and settle on my favourite releases. However, FKA twigs’ Eusexua undeniably did some heavy lifting for me, just about carrying me via the first six or so months of the 12 months with out a lot competitors, and I’ve circled proper again to it as the 12 months closes. It is an album that one way or the other appears to meet each vibe. It’s going to have you ever in membership mode and prepared for an evening of sweaty, filthy dancing in beneath three minutes, or feeling vibrant and upbeat like a noon stroll on the first day of spring — but it nonetheless hits if you’re having an excellent ol’ automobile cry.

“Woman Feels Good” is for certain considered one of my most-played songs of the 12 months, adopted intently by “Eusexua,” “Good Stranger,” “Hold It, Maintain It” and “Striptease.” If ever I am unable to determine what I am in the temper to hear to, I throw this album on and it does not disappoint. — Cheyenne MacDonald, Weekend Editor

Faetooth – Labyrinthine

Faetooth’s sophomore album, Labyrinthine, is face-melting, melancholic perfection. The band describes its sound as “fairy doom,” however do not let that first phrase idiot you into pondering it is not heavy as hell. Labyrinthine goes unbelievably onerous, and can have you feeling such as you’re eternally wandering a cursed lavatory, surrounded by the wailing of the unlucky souls who got here before you. Do not consider me? Put on “White Noise.” This is actually an album that ought to be loved in its entirety, although, and I am unable to individually identify half the songs on it as a result of I have a tendency to simply preserve the entire factor enjoying on rotation. — C.M. 

Orville Peck – Appaloosa

This EP is really a testomony to my capability to run my obsessions into the floor, as a result of it solely got here out in mid-November and one way or the other landed on my most-listened wrapup for the finish of the 12 months… which was launched some two weeks later. It is front-loaded with its strongest songs, a strong and sort of haunting trio that simply flows superbly from one into the different: “Dreaded Sunset,” to “Drift Away” into “Atchafalaya” (ft. Noah Cyrus). As a fan of musicals, I additionally cherished the inclusion of “Perhaps This Time,” a canopy from Cabaret, particularly since I used to be fairly bummed to have missed Peck’s stint as the Emcee in Cabaret on Broadway this summer time. — C.M.

Case 63 

I received into an audio sequence kick this 12 months, and dove into exhibits like Unicorn Woman, Stalked! and extra. However none of the dramatized fiction I listened to in 2025 had me hooked like Case 63. Setting apart that it’s voice-acted by A-listers Julianne Moore and Oscar Isaac, which is an exceptional pairing that gained me over on star energy alone. One of the best factor about Case 63 is its storytelling.

Moore stars as a psychologist, assembly Isaac for the first time in a jail interview. Isaac has been claiming to be a traveler of types, and thru recorded periods and voice notes, we hear his facet of the story, in addition to her reactions and supreme involvement in the adventures. Each step of the means, notably in the starting, there is clear rationalization as to why the alternate is being recorded. It isn’t essential, however it’s useful in my shopping for into the realism of the story.

It isn’t simply the methodology and technical features of the storytelling, in fact. Narratively, Case 63 is a gripping trip, and thanks to its brief episodes, it’s straightforward to binge actually rapidly. There is definitely a beneficiant use of cliffhangers to assist pace issues alongside, however I discovered myself keen to devour the complete sequence in a single commute. The story continued to linger in my thoughts days after I completed each present seasons, and I’m hoping the new one drops quickly. Should you’re searching for a fast and simple sci-fi audio sequence, do not miss Case 63. — Cherlynn Low, Managing Editor

Safe Love 

I spent a number of time this 12 months making an attempt to be taught extra about my attachment fashion and the way it exhibits up in all the relationships in my life. Between Stephanie Rigg’s On Attachment podcast, the TV present {Couples} Remedy and all the books on the matter of attachment types, trauma and extra, I’ve consumed them all. And whereas they’ve all been useful in several methods, one podcast caught out to me this 12 months. It’s hosted by Julie Menanno, MA, LMFT, LCPC, creator of the @TheSecureRelationship account on Instagram and the creator of Secure Love: Create a relationship that lasts a lifetime.

You’ll be able to most likely inform from that introduction what Menanno’s work is all about. Relationships, from the lens of attachment types. The Secure Love Podcast doesn’t simply re-deliver the similar information we’ve seen revealed throughout numerous media and platforms, although. Every season of the podcast (it’s partway via the second as of this writing) sees Menanno work with one couple via their adverse cycles, utilizing somatic practices to assist every associate perceive their feelings, triggers and reactions. As a result of we’re listening to actual individuals speak about real-life happenings, it’s not solely straightforward to relate, however listeners typically see themselves in these eventualities. At the begin of every episode, too, Menanno reads out or performs notes from the viewers, and you may see how fellow listeners have reacted.

This season, for instance, my buddy and another listeners appeared to actually dislike Brian, the anxious male associate on this season’s pair. Whereas I’ve definitely discovered a few of Brian’s methods of talking borderline offensive, I had much more sympathy for him as I began seeing his traits in my family members. I additionally began to establish along with his associate Bethany, who Menanno typed as having an avoidant attachment fashion.

As I listened to Bethany and Brian describe the causes they received into fights and clarify the place they had been coming from, out of the blue it felt like the world made sense. I noticed related patterns and reasonings in my very own relationship, in addition to these of my dad and mom, family members and mates.

It is barely voyeuristic to hear to one thing so intimate, in fact, however Menanno makes all of it instructional quite than simply entertaining. She gently interrupts elements of every episode to inform the viewers why she asks sure questions or what she’s trying to obtain by asking Brian or Bethany to sit with their troublesome emotions.

I discovered her methodology acquainted, as I not too long ago began working with a somatic coach whose method is related to Menanno’s, which is rooted in emotion-focused remedy (EFT). Staying with uncomfortable emotions makes me need to leap out of my pores and skin, however having the ability to endure them, query why they come up after which perceive the place they arrive from is essential to serving to uncover the pondering that causes them. Generally they’re the results of flawed logic, catastrophic pondering or a easy lack of context, however typically they’re very cheap reactions.

Should you’re trying to perceive your self and your feelings a bit higher, or simply need to get an thought of what EFT or {couples} remedy seems like, I can’t suggest The Safe Love Podcast extremely sufficient. — C.L.