The 12th Best Album of 2025
I found a ton of artists in 2025, or finally listened to them if I had heard of them before. Ethel Cain is one of those artists. I'd heard the name but never really listened, but the hype around her upcoming album was incredible so I figured I should give it a shot when I saw a single drop. And "Nettles" turned out to be one of my favorite songs recorded in the 2020s. My lord that song is so damn good. Its 8 minutes long and I can't count how many times I restarted it immediately after listening. It builds and swells and bursts with emotion and the lyrics are just so good. Truly one of my favorite songs since returning to seeking out music. Wow. So #12 is the accompanying album "Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You".
I want to like this album even more, because its kind of two albums. Part beautiful singer-songwriter ballads and part slowcore/post-rock interludes. And the singer-songwriter tracks are SO GOOD. The aforementioned Nettles, but also Fuck Me Eyes, Dust Bowl, the 15 minute long closer Waco, Texas. And the slowcore parts aren't bad, by any means. They're even quite good I think. But the songs with lyrics are just so good that I selfishly want more. But altogether it still is a hell of an emotionally charged package, a 73 minutes well spent in my opinion.