Nothing says Mid-February like a belated Best-of Album list from the previous year. Not sure why it has taken me this long, have known my list since before the end of last year. I listened to a lot of music again last year but struggled to get to 10 new music albums that I really backed and as such there are a couple of questionable inclusions, not because they aren't good but whether my rules that I have been so strict on normally should allow them, anyway;

10. Lambrini Girls - Who Let The Dogs Out?

A feminist punk band from Brighton coming through with their debut album. The band have been together for a few years and released an EP and some stand alone singles previously. I saw them live this year supporting The Libertines and they were just as fun as I was expecting, angry, shouty and everything you want them to be, they even changed the lyrics to one of their songs which i thought was an improvement on some poorly chosen, if well meaning, original lyrics. As for the album, I enjoyed it, though it does geta bit samey as you go through, stand outs would be; "Cuntology 101", "Company Culture" and "Filthy Rich Nepo-Baby".

9. Moonchild Sanelly - Full Moon

I had not heard of Moonchild Sanelly before December 2025, even though looking back now she has been around for a good deal of time. I heard her initially as a feature on the Africa Express album and then delved a bit deeper and found she had done some work with Gorrilaz but also an extensive back catalogue. The South-African rapper, born Sanelisiwe Twisha provides up-beat, catchy, very camp and in some places quite sexy songs, some of my favourites are "Do My Dance", "Sweet & Savage" and "To Kill a Single Girl (Tequila)". 

8. Ex-Vöid - In Love Again

Ex-Vöid were the exact opposite to Moonchild Sanelly in that I discovered the 4-piece London based band right at the start of the year and I listened to their Twee-Indie pop non-stop throughout January, especially "Swansea" a song about love gone wrong. Ex-Vöid have risen from the ashes of another indie band Joanna Gruesome who i had remembered the name of but not particularly the music. Other tracks I enjoyed from the album included the title track "In Love Again" and "July".

7. Grouplove - Rock'n'Roll won't save me (Live)

The first, slightly iffy inclusion on this list is Grouplove's first live album. I have been a fan of LA band Grouplove for more than 10 years now, with last.fm telling me I have listened to them more than 1500 times. A live album though.. should it count? I have decided yes as it was quite a different experience, more than just a selection of greatest hits, it shares with you a true experience of watching the band live, hearing the banter between Hannah Hooper and Christian Zucconi and if that wasn't enough they also throw in a cover of Blur's song 2. Tracks I particularly enjoyed were "Shark Attack" and "Close Your Eyes and Count to 10" but mainly for me it was the on stage rapport. 

6. Pulp - More

Back to a more conventional album, this the first album from the Sheffield veterans for 24 years! And what a come back it was, a  UK number 1 and nominated for the Mercury prize. Musically the band just kind of carried on from where they left off with Jarvis Cocker's droney, half talking, half singing vocal style and lyrics that are in part deep and in part extremely funny and satirical. I didn't initially fall for the first single, "Spike Island" but it grew on me and then when the follow up "Got to have love" dropped I was obsessed. Other favourites include "Grown Ups" and "Farmers Market". It also led to me really falling back in love with a lot of their old stuff which is a bonus.

5. John Glacier - Like a Ribbon (Deluxe)

Both the original and deluxe versions of Like a Ribbon came out in 2025 but it is the Deluxe version that i put on the list. Glacier is a mysterious artist, she doesn't even have a wikipedia page despite her music having one which feels very deliberate. I would tentatively describe her as a rapper, although I could accept poet or spoken word artist, her instagram describes her as an "airy-boss". Whatever she is I fell for her song "Money Shows" last year and was extremely excited for the full album release, I was initially, disappointed with the original release as the majority of it was just songs regurgitated from her 3 previous E.P releases but when the deluxe came out later in the year it made me appreciate them all over again along with a few new gems. Favourites on the release include, of course "Money Shows" but also "Dancing in the rain" and "Cover me".

4. Lisa O'Neill - The Wind Doesn't Blow This Far Right

Now this... This really takes the biscuit as far as the rules go, The Wind Doesn't Blow this Far Right is a 6 track E.P, not an album at all. Its very good though and were it a full length album maybe it would have caused trouble at the top of the list. All 6 tracks are bangers from the very political title track, to "Homeless in the Thousands" which features an interesting guest vocal from Peter Doherty, to the haunting cover of "In the Bleak Mid-Winter". It feels like a disservice that I am not recommending every track but that would be greedy. I first discovered O'Neill when she performed the female vocal on "FairyTale of New York" at Shane MacGowan's funeral, I don't think her style is for everyone but her voice really tells a story that I always want to lsiten to.

3. Peter Doherty - Felt Better Alive

I promise, traditional album releases from here on in. I surprised myself when I decided that this wasn't going to be even higher because I really did enjoy it, the problem is I suppose that I always expect to enjoy a Peter Doherty release so it needs to be extra special to really impress me. The title track was a nice introduction but then when "Calvados" dropped I knew it was going to be good. I saw the man himself perform on the week of the albums release and despite it being a unconventional choppy setlist, it was a good show that showcased a lot of the new songs. Saying that apart from the aforementioned Calvados, he didn't play my other favourite from the album at that show, "Poca Mahoney" which features a certain Lisa O'Neill, they clearly did each other a solid this year, a song about some of the church's less favourable history. An odd inclusion on the album was an alternate version of "The Baron's Claw" which appeared on the most recent Libertines album the year before.

2. The Wombats - Oh! The Ocean

 In truth it was a toss up between this and Pete for the no.2 slot and I gave it to the Wombats mainly on the fact that it was unexpected. I loved the band's first album but since then I have not really liked all that much apart from the odd single but this, the Liverpool band's 6th album is an absolute cracker. My early favourite was "blood on the Hospital Floor" which despite its title is super catchy and singable but then came "Sorry I'm late, I didn't want to come" which perfectly describes how I feel about socialising in my advancing years. Then when you thought the album was drying up it hit me with "Gut Punch" (see what I did there) which gave the project a new lease of life and kept me listening throughout the year. This really was a great comeback, I hope they can keep it up with any future releases.

1. Varo - The World That I Knew

Now to the winner and this was, from the moment it was released my favourite album of the year. I have got quite heavily into Irish music in recent years, largely since the passing of Shane MacGowan, before that I listened fairly exclusively to the Pogues and the Dubliners but now my love of the nations music has grown and a lot of the artists are features on this album by female due Varo. Now calling Varo an Irish band is a stretch in itself, they are 2 fiddle players, one from France and the other, Italy, but with a penchant for the Irish sound. The first track that grabbed me was my favourite of all tracks released last year, "Green grows the Laurel" featuring John Francis Flynn, it is long and droning and beautiful, his deep voice between the bands more delicate ones was a nice contrast. When the album was released soon after it featured singers from Lankum and Junior Brother amongst other up and coming Irish folk acts. It is hard to choose favourites on the album as I really do like the whole thing from start to finish but if I had to choose a couple I would pick "Red Robin" and "Heather on the Moor".

And there we have my belated list of "albums" from 2025, honorable mentions go to the latest Wet Leg album, Franz Ferdinand and Wolf Alice but in the end they didn't do quite enough and had I put them in place of my less conventional picks I would not have been happy. Until we meet again!