In comparison to the mythical year for music and production that was 2024, 2025 has had a notable shortage in hard-hitting albums with solid replay value. Despite the overall underwhelming nature unifying the projects that were released this year, here are a few albums that stood out and contributed to music in their own unique way — in no particular order.

1. Baby by Dijon: Dijon, a contemporary R&B and soul singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, released his sophomore album Baby, which featured 12 tracks and a run time of 37 minutes, on August 15th. His inclusion of indie and electronic styles while remaining balanced towards a romantic and soft thematic baseline made the entire project feel dreamy, optimistic, and easily able to be replayed; his ability to reverb his vocals to match the occasionally overwhelmingly layered instrumentals is undoubtedly impressive and provides an almost clarifying narrative for first-time listeners. For those that aren’t used to his typical musical choices, the album may be a bit confusing at times; however, the album is incredibly accessible and remains fairly consistent with his stylistic choices in his 2021 album Absolutely. Despite this, he does experiment slightly with various instruments and production effects, making the album extremely interesting to listen to and difficult to skip through. My personal favorite track was “Yamaha”; it has extremely catchy lyrics that are easy to follow, interpret, and enjoy, while its instrumental experiments with electronic influences and Dijon’s vocals maintain soulful elements. The outro is a highlight of the song; it demonstrates his incredible ability to layer various instruments, noises, and effects without feeling distracting from the vocals or messaging of the song itself. Overall, I’d rate the album an 8.9/10. 

2. Essex Honey by Blood Orange: Although Blood Orange is renowned for his ability to integrate both dreamy shoegaze and raw, soulful R&B into his projects, it is incredibly apparent that he is even more successful in this practice in his most recently released album. Essex Honey, which was released on August 29th, featured 14 unique, hauntingly beautiful tracks, each woven with masterfully selected features, layered operatic vocals, and ethereal instrumentation. His previous five albums similarly strategically used these elements to create comprehensive yet accessible projects; Essex Honey is no exception to that success, demonstrating a layer of personal stylistic mastery that is unique to Blood Orange and his identity as an artist. The album felt like a manifestation of every notable and uniquely beautiful aspect of Blood Orange’s previous work and style, proving that, yet again, jazz, R&B, and soul have a place to coexist in the modern age of musical production. While it is difficult to select favorites, as the entire album can exist just as impressively as singles, mine have to be “I Can Go” and “Look At You”. Featuring Mabe Fratti and Mustafa, “I Can Go” is a lyrically stunning, instrumentally haunting, and nearly divine trifecta of incredibly powerful and melodramatic vocals. It feels almost spiritual upon first listen, providing listeners with a sensation of peace, tranquility, and hope through religious and spiritual elements of production. “Look At You” is what enters the listener into the atmosphere of the album, featuring electronically layered instrumentation and echoey, reverberated vocals. The lyrics feel entirely poetic in nature and feature snippets of authentic audio that connect the listener automatically and authentically with the grief that the narrator of the track is experiencing. I’d rate the album a 9.2/10. 

3. Virgin by Lorde: Returning after a considerable four-year hiatus from music, Lorde released her 4th complete album on June 27th, flooring listeners with the single most vulnerable, confessional, and raw series of tracks she has ever introduced to the musical sphere. With a mere 11 songs and 34-minute duration, the album seems minuscule compared to the more narrative and lengthier albums she has released; however, I’d argue that this album is her most narrative and most emotionally extensive. What makes the album feel so incredibly intimate, relatable, and groundbreaking is the focus on her raw vocals for a majority of the duration; rather than distracting listeners with upbeat, catchy pop instrumentation that she chose stylistically in her earlier career, she overpowers the still empowering electronic layering of instruments with her hauntingly intense vocalization. Lorde invites the listener on a comprehensive journey of her struggles, her battles with mental health and womanhood, and her overall inability to truly grasp her identity as an adult woman, something that is incredibly invaluable to female listeners and made the album entirely more important in the context of a modern age. My personal favorite tracks were easily “David” and “Favorite Daughter”. They perfectly exemplify the contrast that the album does so masterfully; while “David” feels like an intimate and somber conversational piece surrounding identity, societal expectations and labels, “Favorite Daughter” addresses a feeling of self-exploration, existentialism, and embracing the difficult moments in a more upbeat, stylistically pop and energetically optimistic instrumentation. I’d give the album an 8.9/10.