The 21st Best Album of 2025
So close to the top 20 but not quite, this next album came with plenty of hype as the bands debut full-length after multiple well received EPs. Ok they put out a basically extended demo in 2024 but I dont think that really counts a fully fleshed out debut album. Maruja's Pain to Power lands at #21.
Maruja has been around for a bit, releasing their first EP in 2019, but came onto the radar in late 2023 with the EP Knocknarea. Two more highly acclaimed EPs dropped in 2024, Tir Na Nog and Connla's Wall. With so much positive momentum I'd say Pain to Power was one of the more anticipated releases of the year and imo the Mancunians delivered splendidly. Taking a distinctly heavier view on post rock than the previously mentioned Caroline, Maruja airs much more on the post-punk/post-hardcore side of things and does it very well. Walls of sound wash over the listener again and again, dense and almost frantic energy imbued with jazz vibes courtesy of a saxophone to give it a little unique feel. There is one thing that holds the album back in my view though, and that is the vocal delivery. Even on the EP's the vocals skewed more spoken word than rap in my memory, and while spoken word also isn't my favorite, it's a far sight better than this attempt at rapping. It's stilted and awkward at times and drags down what would otherwise be a clear top 10 album of the year. There's so much good here that I can't drop it down the list too far, but there's also too much bad rapping that I can't justify pushing it any higher either. I look forward to seeing where they go from here, because there's an epic waiting to made by these guys.