Pitchfork’s editors are already sorting, compiling, and straining to remember all the music that’s been released this year. So we’re spotlighting some of 2025’s most outstanding records to date by rounding up albums that have earned high scores and Best New Music designations with a quick list of RIYLs (that’s Recommended If You Like) and links to our coverage.
Unlike our year-end lists, this one is organized in reverse chronological order. To help you keep track of the year’s best music, we’ll be updating it periodically throughout the remainder of 2025.
(All releases featured here are independently selected by our editors. When you buy something through our retail links, however, Pitchfork may earn an affiliate commission.)
March
RIYL: Psychotic art rock; drummers; New York noise rock; Battles; Hella; rototoms; bands so tight they sound electronic
Listen/Buy: Amazon | Apple Music | Bandcamp | Rough Trade | Spotify | Tidal
RIYL: Power pop done right; yung Guided by Voices; Royal Headache; big lo-fi hooks; Chicago rock; DIY spaces; a pill that makes you stay young forever
Listen/Buy: Amazon | Apple Music | Bandcamp | Rough Trade | Spotify | Tidal
RIYL: Having a formative Andy Warhol phase as a teenager; maximalism; analog synths; the concept of lipsyncing for your life; this photo of David Bowie and Trent Reznor hanging out; a touch of funk; campy horror movies; inventing your own nachos
Listen/Buy: Amazon | Apple Music | Rough Trade | Spotify | Tidal
RIYL: Model/Actriz; Modest Mouse; Deafheaven; “weightlifting music” generally; the tortured artist; the intentionally ugly; getting it off your chest
Listen/Buy: Amazon | Apple Music | Bandcamp | Rough Trade | Spotify | Tidal
RIYL: Alan Watts; jiu-jitsu; meditation retreats; Total Refreshment Centre; woolly sweaters; baby animals; joining a The Artist’s Way book club
Listen/Buy: Amazon | Apple Music | Bandcamp | Rough Trade | Spotify | Tidal
February
RIYL: Anti-capitalism; open-source software; culture-jamming; UbuWeb; the Electronic Frontier Foundation; 2000s electroclash; gabber remixes; self-aware bangers that aren’t afraid to break a sweat
