Kesha making the top 10 over Ruel? I fear this EOY has to be cancelled already

So many great albums in the top 40 though, particular YAS to Conan, sombr, Ruel of course, Bradley, Addison, JADE, 5SOS (surprised they made it!) and Will. Always makes me sad that Daniel's album didn't make it to #1 for you, or stick around for a particularly long time

I've not listened to many (if any) albums this year so I'll probably comment more on the singles, but I know Tom Odell had a few good songs out this year, and Sombr has certainly made a splash in the charts!

22 hours ago, LewisGT said:

Hi Joseph

'D R E A M S I C L E' has been one of my favourite surprises this year. I've never really got into Maren much before but I loved this one.

I seem to be alone on thinking 'Man's Best Friend' is stronger than 'Short n Sweet' My #1 album of the year

I'm glad to see that you liked the Taylor album too. I think it's one of her weaker efforts but the reaction to it online has been well OTT.

'So Close To What' is very deserving of a top 5 position! I thought Tate's first two albums we're all about the singles but this one feels like a proper cohesive and consistently great album.

Loving the Jade Addison Rae & Lorde albums too!

Excited to see what else is to come.

17 hours ago, Jade said:

Hi Joseph looking forward to following this!

Quite a few albums I've heard in your list so far but Addison is unsurprisingly my favourite *.* an unexpected highlight of the year was her being announced as my support act for Lana when my stanning was at its peak...!! intrigued to see if any of the singles pop up in your countdown.

17 hours ago, Calum said:

Kesha making the top 10 over Ruel? I fear this EOY has to be cancelled already

So many great albums in the top 40 though, particular YAS to Conan, sombr, Ruel of course, Bradley, Addison, JADE, 5SOS (surprised they made it!) and Will. Always makes me sad that Daniel's album didn't make it to #1 for you, or stick around for a particularly long time

7 hours ago, PeteFromLeeds said:

I've not listened to many (if any) albums this year so I'll probably comment more on the singles, but I know Tom Odell had a few good songs out this year, and Sombr has certainly made a splash in the charts!

Thanks all for your comments!

@Calum no Kesha shade in this thread pls xx

Albums: Top 40

4 Lady Gaga - MAYHEM | 1-3-2-3-5-4-5-5-5-6-6-7-7-8-11-11-14-15-15-6-3-3-5-6-8-7-10-12-11-14-2-6-8-14-14-x

One thing I always love about a new Gaga album is how much it feels like an event. It's all over my socials, and of course, a huge part of my friendship circle's discussions too, so the buzz is irresistible. MAYHEM is an album worthy of such buzz, too. Previous album Chromatica arrived five years prior, shining light in a dark period across the world, and whilst MAYHEM keeps the quality consistently high much like Chromatica, it feels like a much darker record all round. Right from the release of Disease, my excitement was high, from the pulsating, building instrumental to the strength of her vocals, and this continues through much of the album. There's moments of fun throughout too, though, with the likes of Zombieboy and late addition The Dead Dance. It works well as a full package, wrapped up by global smash hit Die With a Smile, which sounds perfectly at home with the ballads at the end of the album.

Charting songs from this album

01 Disease

02 Abracadabra

04 Die With a Smile (Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars)

09 The Dead Dance

29 Zombieboy

30 Shadow of a Man

35 Garden of Eden

3 Benson Boone - American Heart | 1-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-5-6-8-7-6-12-13-11-12-12-2-3-4-4-5-4-4-4-...

Though he couldn't quite make it to #1 for a second year running, Benson Boone's sophomore album nonetheless scores a very respectable EOY position. Lead single Sorry I'm Here for Someone Else set the tone perfectly, with a more confident, upbeat tone with a nod to the 80s, which is very much found throughout the album. Mr Electric Blue is another great example of this, and it suits Benson's impressive vocals to a T. He doesn't completely shy away from the kind of ballad he first broke through with, though - Take Me Home is a slow-burner of a track but it really earns its place near the end of the album, with a nice lyrical nod to his debut EP, while Momma Song is a touching ode to his parents. I wish the album was longer than 10 tracks but it's a tight, concise effort and I'm glad Benson's already showing off his desire to experiment with his sound, and I hope we don't have to wait too long for even more new music!

Charting songs from this album

01 Momma Song

01 Mr Electric Blue

01 Mystical Magical

01 Sorry I'm Here for Someone Else

06 Wanted Man

07 Young American Heart

10 Man in Me

13 Take Me Home

16 Reminds Me of You

17 I Wanna Be the One You Call

KNOX vs LILY ALLEN for #1!

Benson ha flop

Albums: Top 40

2 Lily Allen - West End Girl | 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-...

One of the things I've always loved most about Lily Allen is her honesty. From album 1, she was never one to hold back on telling us her unfiltered, genuine thoughts, and she doesn't use heaps of metaphors to make this appear more fanciful or artistic because she doesn't need to. There's no truer example of this than new album West End Girl. Lily's second divorce album in a row brings a different vibe to 2018's No Shame, in that this one tells a story from beginning to end. We learn where things began to go wrong, what Lily's initial reaction was, how she tried to cope with it (and how she ultimately didn't cope), the depths to which her now ex-husband's lies sank, to finally building herself back up and moving on. Every step of this album is honest and vulnerable, even by Lily's standards, and it makes for a heartbreaking listen. It's also impressive how, what's essentially an exposé, actually comes across as dignified and classy, and that's a testament to Lily's storytelling. It was also a welcome reminder of just how essential a voice like Lily's is in music, and I really hope it's less than 8 years before we hear from her again, because this album more than proves that she still has it.

Charting songs from this album

01 Beg for Me

02 Pussy Palace

03 Madeline

05 Tennis

06 Sleepwalking

07 Dallas Major

08 Nonmonogamummy (Lily Allen & Specialist Moss)

11 4chan Stan

12 Ruminating

14 West End Girl

18 Fruityloop

20 Relapse

21 Let You W/In

23 Just Enough

1 Knox - Going, Going, Gone | 1-1-1-1-1-1-2-2-1-3-4-4-4-4-4-1-1-1-1-2-4-1-3-1-1-4-5-5-5-7-6-8-6-6-3-2-2-3-...

I discovered Knox in 2022 by, I think, trawling some Spotify playlists such as Discover Weekly and the like. I found his (proper) debut single Sneakers, and I loved the pop/rock vibe of the track, alongside its big singalong chorus. Right up my street! He's released regularly since then, with two EPs and a string of standalone singles through 2024, before finally, he started to gear up to his debut full-length album. Despite being a fan of his, I wasn't actually expecting the album to be this good.

Opening track Now & Then sets the tone, with a punchy delivery and cutting lyrics ("baby take my wallet, go and buy yourself some shame"). This doesn't let up for the whole album, which was 16 tracks at the time of release, concluding with 2023 US radio hit Not the 1975. Knox shows he can still pull off the anthemic uptempos through the likes of lead single Pick Your Poison and catchy album track Happy Ever After All, but also really shines on the ballads, with D.N.A featuring some of my favourite lyrics of 2025 ("you're still in my DNA, so do not ask, do not ask if I'm okay"). A lot more to come on many of these individual songs, as 13 of the album's expanded 18 songs feature in my songs countdown, but despite it being the only album in my top 3 not to place its entire tracklist in my weekly top 40, its domination continued over a significantly longer period than most album drops would.

I'm always keen for a surprise in music and this album was just that - I knew it would be good, but I'd never have called how good until it arrived! Going, Going, Gone has spent 14 non-consecutive weeks at #1 in my chart, which is the third highest tally of all-time. I also got to hear much of the album live in September at Knox's first ever London show, which was one of my favourite nights of the year. Knox is already promising new music for 2026, and the snippets of what he's teased thus far shows he's not letting up, so bring it on.

Charting songs from this album

01 D.N.A

01 Going, Going, Gone

01 The DJ

02 Pick Your Poison

02 Voicemail

03 You Happened

04 White Knuckles

05 Happy Ever After All

08 50/50

08 Not the 1975

09 Maybe I Do

09 Now & Then

15 A Heart Still Breaks

19 She's Not Okay

34 All American Tragedy

Albums: Top 40

01 Knox - Going, Going, Gone

02 Lily Allen - West End Girl

03 Benson Boone - American Heart

04 Lady Gaga - MAYHEM

05 Tate McRae - So Close to What

06 Bradley Simpson - The Panic Years

07 Louise - Confessions

08 Kesha - .

09 Conan Gray - Wishbone

10 sombr - I Barely Know Her

11 Ruel - Kicking My Feet

12 Tom Odell - A Wonderful Life

13 Taylor Swift - The Life of a Showgirl

14 JADE - THAT'S SHOWBIZ BABY!

15 Will Linley - Don't Cry Because It's Over

16 Demi Lovato - It's Not That Deep

17 Ava Max - Don't Click Play

18 glaive - Y'all

19 Isac Elliot - Vanhasta Uuteen

20 Justin Bieber - SWAG

21 Anson Seabra - You'll Always Be Mine

22 MARINA - PRINCESS OF POWER

23 Marcus & Martinus - The Room

24 Powfu - the life of a lofi boy

25 Daniel Seavey - Second Wind

26 Addison Rae - Addison

27 Zara Larsson - Midnight Sun

28 Artemas - LOVERCORE

29 Selena Gomez & benny blanco - I Said I Love You First

30 5 Seconds of Summer - EVERYONE'S A STAR!

31 Cardi B - AM I THE DRAMA?

32 Maren Morris - D R E A M S I C L E

33 Perrie - Perrie

34 Djo - The Crux

35 Lorde - Virgin

36 Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Perimenopop

37 Sabrina Carpenter - Man's Best Friend

38 Christopher - Fools Gold

39 Doja Cat - Vie

40 Mariah Carey - Here for It All

NEXT: Hit 300 Awards, recognising some of my favourite aspects of music that aren't covered elsewhere!

Nice to see "American Heart", "Mayhem" and "So Close To What" reaching the top 5 in your album year-end chart!

Breakthrough Artist: sombr

As mentioned in the album countdown, I hadn't really heard of sombr before 2025 began. I listened to back to friends when I noticed it climbing the streaming charts, and it was love at first listen. I heard it midweek, and by my weekly chart that Friday, it had already secured a #10 debut. That Friday, undressed was released, and sombr ended up with two songs in my top 10 a week later. It's not entirely unheard of for an artist to score multiple breakthrough hits at the same time in my chart - artists such as The Kid LAROI, Boy In Space and Alyssa Reid all arrived with multiple simultaneous hits - but to see those same two songs taking over global charts together was pretty cool, especially when they show two different elements of sombr's sound. Further 2025 releases only enhanced this, with the anthemic 12 to 12 being a further highlight, while the album was a remarkably assured effort for a debut album. What's more is that this is just the start of sombr's career, and I think there's so many interesting directions he could take his sound in the future.

1 hour ago, Sergej said:

Nice to see "American Heart", "Mayhem" and "So Close To What" reaching the top 5 in your album year-end chart!

Thanks so much Sergej!!

Great to see Gaga and Lily in your top 5 albums!

Fond memories of 'Disease' dropping the day before one of the meet-ups at Bal's the era properly grabbed me with 'Abracadabra', which felt like an immediate all-timer in her singles catalogue, coupled with an amazing video <3 then I ended up loving quite a few album tracks too, especially 'Zombieboy'

My mind is still blown by how much of a cultural moment West End Girl turned out to be *.* but totally deserved for how raw and gripping the storytelling is. Looking forward to my physical copy turning up soon now we're into 2026!

1 hour ago, Jade said:

Great to see Gaga and Lily in your top 5 albums!

Fond memories of 'Disease' dropping the day before one of the meet-ups at Bal's the era properly grabbed me with 'Abracadabra', which felt like an immediate all-timer in her singles catalogue, coupled with an amazing video <3 then I ended up loving quite a few album tracks too, especially 'Zombieboy'

My mind is still blown by how much of a cultural moment West End Girl turned out to be *.* but totally deserved for how raw and gripping the storytelling is. Looking forward to my physical copy turning up soon now we're into 2026!

Thanks Jade Disease weekend was particularly iconic

Best Era: Lily Allen - West End Girl

Whilst I revealed my favourite albums of 2025 above, this category is for the all-round era, encompassing more than just the music. Lily Allen's West End Girl is an album that speaks for itself, with a surprise drop ruling out pre-album singles, allowing us to absorb the full narrative on first play. This was a genius release strategy despite my initial scepticism that it would pay off - I didn't realise how powerful word of mouth would be, but I'm so glad I was wrong. We've yet to have any music videos from the era, but each song has a visualiser with some impressive art, tying in with the aesthetic of the album photoshoot, and the immediately memorable album cover, painted by Nieves González in the style of 16th and 17th century paintings. Lily's SNL performances of Madeline and Sleepwalking perfectly complemented the era, and I love that she's touring the album in theatres, including three nights in London's west end - how appropriate! As for me, I'll be hearing the album live (in full, by the sounds of it) at the O2 next year, and I can't wait, because this is a package that clearly has a lot of thought and dedication into its presentation, and that only enhances the already fantastic music that I talked about in my earlier commentary.

Group of the Year: dearALICE

The art of the pop group feels somewhat lost in the streaming era. At least, in western terms. Since Little Mix's hiatus and Why Don't We's split, there's only been flashes of western pop group success, even on a small scale. The Vamps have slowed down and 5SOS have released less regularly than they used to, and as far as new groups go, there are few around. Enter dearALICE, whose early days were documented on Made in Korea: The K-Pop Experience, a docuseries that followed their K-Pop style training. 2025 brought their "proper" arrival, with debut single Ariana early in the year, followed by an EP and also their very first tour. While success hasn't really found them yet, dearALICE are showing there's stuff to be learned from K-Pop groups, with energetic routines and introducing rap into their otherwise very poppy music, best evidenced in Drums, a fan favourite single from the EP. It's been really fun following a boyband again, and I'm excited to see what they'll bring to the table in 2026. It was also great to see them live, and meet them!

2026 will be their year, let’s manifest it! I think they’re a complete package so I hope things click for them. Or at least they continue to be able to release music and tour for a smallish but loyal fanbase (but tbh we need the fanbase to expand x). A highlight of the year was meeting up with you to go and see them.

Lily *.* I definitely need to dedicate some more time to the album, but it’s an extremely solid project and certainly one of the most memorable of 2025, and fantastic to see her smashing it in the charts again.

Just now, -Jay- said:

2026 will be their year, let’s manifest it! I think they’re a complete package so I hope things click for them. Or at least they continue to be able to release music and tour for a smallish but loyal fanbase (but tbh we need the fanbase to expand x). A highlight of the year was meeting up with you to go and see them.

Lily *.* I definitely need to dedicate some more time to the album, but it’s an extremely solid project and certainly one of the most memorable of 2025, and fantastic to see her smashing it in the charts again.

A classic Jayseph moment it was such a great day and a brilliant show!!

Best Music Video: Benson Boone - Mr Electric Blue

We were done dirty with music videos during the American Heart era, with both Sorry I'm Here for Someone Else and Mystical Magical having their music videos weirdly made into lyric videos with text over the top, meaning the only proper music video we got was Mr Electric Blue. I'll save the complaining about how this is only seemingly getting a single push now, over six months after its music video release, because the video itself is heaps of fun. Complementing the energetic nature of the track, Benson pokes fun at himself, with a t-shirt saying "one hit wonder", a "moonbeam ice cream" van, and selling (very tight) jumpsuits. It's a great display of Benson's sense of humour and the awareness of the brand he's created for himself, and let's be real, he looks great while doing it. Beneath it is a slightly damning look at the industry, even if it's decorated heavily with comedy!

Live Artist of the Year: Delta Goodrem

I was able to attend loads of great gigs in 2025, but one of my most anticipated was particularly special. To celebrate 20 years of her second album, Delta toured Mistaken Identity with two London shows, and nothing would've stopped me attending - it's one of my favourite albums of all time, and my personal favourite of Delta's. From seeing her live shows, I'd heard a very small handful of the album live, but being able to hear the full thing, from start to finish (albeit in the Australian tracklist order and not the European one I'd grown accustomed to ), was a magical night. From the drama of the title track, to the beauty of Be Strong and Last Night on Earth, it was perfect. An encore of Delta's hits from other eras was the cherry on top. Crazy that it's been over 20 years with such a breathtaking album but this was the best way to celebrate, and is my concert highlight of 2025.

Delta must be a great artist to see live - a very consistent artist over a long period of time! Glad it was everything you hoped it would be, there are always albums that resonate and to hear it live from start to finish must be special.