The 22nd Best Album of 2025
Checking in at #22 we have a post-rock album that rules. This is Caroline 2 by Caroline. Caroline is a british post-rock outfit that debuted in 2022 with a self-titled album that I heard nothing about. For the second go round they ran it back with the cleverly titled Caroline 2. But it is really nice, all the things I enjoy about post-rock in a tidy 40 minute package. There's definite folk influences here, which I feel like always just fit well with post-rock. Idk maybe I just like folk-adjacent music more than folk music itself.
The album is a little front-heavy imo, with the two best tracks coming in the first three of the album with the opener "Total Euphoria" and then the Caroline Polachek feature "Tell Me I Never Knew That". Total Euphoria was the lead single (I think) and wew it absolutely rules. And as a certified Polachek stan I do think that track also rules. The rest is a step down, probably, but still very nice to listen to and worthy of a listen.