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Best albums of 2025: #4 Wet Leg “Moisturizer”

Honestly, I didn’t plan it this way at all. If you read the post on my fifth favourite of 2025, Suede’s “Antidepressants”, you might recall that their previous album, “Autofiction”, hit the same mark on my Best albums of 2022 list. Well, in a weird twist of fate, Wet Leg’s amazing self-titled debut was my number four album three years ago and now, their sophomore record “Moisturizer” is number four as well!*

As I wrote back in 2022, the duo of Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers formed Wet Leg in 2019 after working on separate projects over the years on the Isle of Wight. That debut album was a massive hit for them, buoyed by several viral singles, successful tours, and garnered them a number of awards, including some Grammys. Obviously, I was not immune to the album and the band’s allure, excitement, and energy. In 2024, Wet Leg added touring musicans Henry Holmes, Josh Mobaraki and Ellis Durand as official bandmates, and set about writing music for a sophomore album as a quintet.

When I first sat down to “Moisturizer”, I did so fully expecting not to like it. It’s a rare thing that a band can successfully follow up an album that sees so much so success without the band buckling under the weight of so much expectation. It becomes even rarer and nay, almost an impossibility, when that successful album is their debut. Music history is chock full of examples of bands that spent their careers toiling in the tall shadow cast by their immense and in some cases, legendary debuts. In my own estimation, its less about the expectations and the need for the band to recapture the same magic than it as about the band not letting those things dictate their future and their direction.

The reason why “Moisturizer” is number four in 2025 is precisely because it is not the same album that was that number in 2022. Indeed, Wet Leg surprised me again. Perhaps it helped that Teasdale and Chambers included their three new bandmates in the songwriting process, perhaps it was the experience gained by the touring and performing in front of massive crowds, or perhaps it could be that they are even more talented than they hinted at with their debut. I don’t know. And I guess it really doesn’t matter. “Moisturizer” incredibly finds more energy and variation than the debut and strikes out from the band’s nearly obvious influences to find their own ground in which to take root.

You’ve more than likely heard one or more tracks from the album but if not, here are three picks for you to check out.

“Catch these fists”: “Some guy comes up says I’m his type. I just threw up in my mouth, when he just tried to ask me out.” Wow. Tell us how you really feel, Rhian. The first, advanced single to be released off the album is a kiss off to the unwanted attention young ladies can attract while out partying with friends on the dance floor. It’s a very real, universal tale. You’ve seen it, I’ve seen it, and Rhian’s obviously lived it. It definitely has a dance floor feel. Angular guitars, a bouncy bass line, rapid fire drumming with lots of fills, and fists in the air, punchy vocals. It feels by times playful and by times snarky and angry. I chose to believe it’s all in good fun but I definitely wouldn’t want to find myself on the wrong side of her, catching those fists. Best to keep on dancing in my own space.

“Mangetout”: “Good God, she took a break, made a mistake when she met Trevor. Get lost forever.” And the snarkiness continues. Our protagonists shift their focus to kissing off “Trevor”, who we are assured does not exist, but is an amalgam of many “Trevors”. The lyrics read like an angry tirade but the music they set them to, makes it a whole lot more fun. Loose and slack guitars, rumbling bass, laid side by side against a hopping drum beat, and man, such a joyous melody, vocals that beg to be by times crooned and by times shouted along with. Yeah, Teasdale uses all the weapons in her vocal arsenal here, no two lines sung in the same way, back to back. “Get lost forever!”

“U and me at home”: “Sometimes, I get so sad and my blue eyes fade to grey. You tell me it’s not so bad. You always know just what to say.” And now for something completely different. As antagonistic as my first two picks were, this one feels like sunshine and rainbows. A real love song. Domestic bliss and creature comforts. A frenetic drum beat starts the proceeding, followed by a bass line that feels pulled from The Breeders toolkit, and the vocals are relaxed and lovely, oh so chilled out. Then, suddenly the crunchy guitars are thrown in the mix and we know it’s a real party. A great upbeat way to close out the album. So good.

*Before you go back to check out the rest of that list in 2022, I’ll put to rest that this is where the coincidences stop.

We’ll be back shortly with album #3. In the meantime, here are the previous albums in this list:

10. Snocaps “Snocaps”
9. Nation Of Language “Dance called memory”
8. Robert Ascroft “Echo still remains”
7. Doves “Constellations for the lonely”
6. Miki Berenyi Trio “Tripla”
5. Suede “Antidepressants”

You can also check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.

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Albums

Best albums of 2025: #5 Suede “Antidepressants”

Here we are sliding into my top five favourite albums of the year and it’s a band that is no stranger at all to these pages. Indeed, they last appeared care of a post back in September on a song for my best tunes of 2013 list, a track called “It starts and ends with you” from the first of what is now a litany of five great reunion albums. I wrote then that despite being a fan of pretty much everything coming out of Britain in the 90s, I didn’t start out being a fan of Suede. Of course, that’s all ancient history and I’ve been following the Brett Anderson led five-piece through all their ups and downs: the early popularity, the loss of their original guitarist, the even greater fame with the Britpop explosion, the drugs and the trials and eventual dissolution of band, and through to their triumphant return and beyond.

The fifteen years since that successful reunion back in 2010 has seen the group release as many albums as they had during their initial run and though perhaps not as commercially successful, these last five have all been critically lauded. Instead of being rehashes of old glories or vanity projects to accompany reunion tours to play old hits, as have done many of their contemporaries, Suede have built on their sound and their legacy with this new music, retaining the energy and excitement they exuded in their early years.

“Antidepressants” is purportedly the second of what is planned to be a trilogy of albums that are thematically and aesthetically “black and white”. The first album of said series, “Autofiction“, was incidentally my fifth favourite album of 2022 and was what frontman Brett Anderson called the group’s “punk album”. Its followup was meant to be bigger and more dramatic, the opposite of “Autofiction”’s stripped back lightning energy, and instead, the direction became slightly more inevitable, angular and dark. Yes, this is their take on post-punk and goth. And man, does this outfit suit Suede like a slinky glove.

“Antidepressants” is eleven excellent and replayable tracks that sparkle when taken out of context but explode as part of the whole. You can’t go wrong having a peek at any of tracks as samples but I’ve nonetheless collected three picks for you below.

“Trance state“: “If I’m unsociable, it’s fine. I’ll blame it on the Mirtazapine. I hope I’m going somewhere nice.” The first of these picks explicitly names one of those antidepressants to which the album title refers. The drug is named as a barrier between people but really it’s just an excuse, a surrogate for a deeper set issue. This theme of connection and disconnection is constant throughout the album but here is prominently flaunted like a new tattoo or a rebellious piercing. The haziness of the guitars and synths are set against a punishing drum line and a muscular, Peter Hook like bass. And Anderson is doing his best to be an objective narrator but he gets caught up in the emotional void in spite of himself.

“Broken music for broken people”: “And under endless skies we fell in love and then we died but when the lights went out, we believed in something rather than nothing.” Members of Suede have referred to the album as a “wide-screen” record and nowhere are those words truer than here. “Broken music” is the closest thing to a classic Suede song as this album gets but it is bigger and more epic, every rimshot, every guitar lick, every hip shake dialled up to eleven. It is an anthem, a call to arms, celebrating the broken people, rather than looking down on them. And it’s not singling anyone out. We are all broken people in our own sense, with our own histories, but we are shined on in a positive light. We are all in this together.

“Disintegrate”: “My baby, feel the rage. Your relationship’s a lie, and the friction makes you scream, but you hold your love like a weapon in your hand.” Track one, the introduction, the tip of the hat, is where the goth influence feels most evident. From the sinister Sisters of Mercy guitars to the haunting Joy Division bass drums and guitars to the playful nod to The Cure’s iconic album for its title, you could be forgiven for double checking the artist name on your music player of choice before Brett Anderson’s unmistakable vocals kick in. “Disintegrate” is deniable. It is punishing. It is fists in the air. It is wearing sunglasses at midnight and dancing in the wee hours like there’s no work in the morning. Such a great tune.

We’ll be back in about a week’s time with album #4. In the meantime, here are the previous albums in this list:

10. Snocaps “Snocaps”
9. Nation Of Language “Dance called memory”
8. Robert Ascroft “Echo still remains”
7. Doves “Constellations for the lonely”
6. Miki Berenyi Trio “Tripla”

You can also check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.

Categories
Albums

Best albums of 2025: Albums #10 through #6

Hello again!

The calendar has rolled over to December 1st and that, to me, means that the countdown to Christmas and the end of the year begins in earnest. It used to be an unwritten rule that this was the date that Christmas songs started being trumpeted in the stores and decorations were brought out and trees put up at home and at the office, etc, but that date has been steadily pushed forward over the years. And now it seems the Hallmark movies start on November 1st pretty much on cue and the Christmas decorations and chocolates appear in stores as soon as the Halloween candies are put away, and in some cases (Hello, Costco), even beforehand. I remember a Far Side cartoon from many years ago that I am reminded of every Autumn, that features a gobsmacked person at the door to give out Halloween candy and finds there none other than Santa Claus himself.

I could rant about things like this all day, more so the grumpier I get with age, but that’s not what this particular blog is about, so let’s get back to the music. Yes, December 1st also is a great day to publish the post that starts counting down my top ten favourite albums of the year in earnest. So that’s exactly what I’m doing: starting it all today with albums #10 through #6. (If you missed my post from last Monday, I invite you to backtrack and check out some of the other great albums that just missed the cut.) Then, I plan to share my favourite five over the next few weeks, one a day, sprinkled in with other posts, hopefully getting them all in and finishing on schedule on New Year’s Eve.

With all the excellent releases in 2025, I am sure I missed out on one or two, so as we go through my own ten favourite albums, I welcome your comments and thoughts and perhaps even your own top ten favourites in the comments spaces provided.

Let’s do this.

#10 Snocaps “Snocaps”

We start this top ten countdown with an album I would have never expected to be here a few months ago. Surprise announced and released on the same day back on Halloween, “Snocaps” is the self-titled debut album* by a sort of supergroup led by twin sisters Allison (Swearin’) and Katie (Waxahatchee) Crutchfield and rounded out by current “it” musician MJ Lenderman and producer Brad Cook. I’d been a fan of the work of both Crutchfield sisters since I came across them close to a decade ago, but lesser so of late, given Allison’s break from music and Katie’s move away from the sound that first drew me to her and towards a more folk singer/songwriter feel. Happily, together, their sound feels like a return to form for me, each sister taking turns at the microphone and having each other’s back throughout. You can almost hear the sisterly ribbing and laughter that must’ve occurred during the recording sessions. It is music for music’s sake.

#9 Nation Of Language “Dance called memory”

I got into the Brooklyn based synth pop trio back in 2020 with the release of their debut, falling hard for “On division st.“, a standout single from the album. I’ve been following them ever since, with each successive album, I keep waiting for the ball to drop. A band with heavy leanings to the past, plucked straight out of a 1980s John Hughes film soundtrack, you might think that they might hit a wall eventually, run out of ideas, but the opposite keeps happening. And now, with their fourth long player and first to be released on indie powerhouse Sub Pop records, they might have recorded their best yet. “Dance called memory” is aptly named, continuing their sound blend of retro and fresh music to dance to and to remember and to make new memories to.

#8 Robert Ascroft “Echo still remains”

Of course, an album this cinematic and moody and atmospheric would be made by a photographer, director, and producer. Robert Ascroft has now added recording artist to his list of accomplishments but he hasn’t done it alone. For his debut album, “Echo still remains”, he enlisted a host of collaborators that range from Ruth Radelet (Chromatics) to Christopher Owens (Girls) and from Britta Phillips (Luna) to Zumi Rosow (Black Lips). Each song is an adventure reflected in raindrops glistening on the windshield of a car hurtling down a deserted highway in the dead of night. The colour palette is David Lynch. The finish is dream pop and psychedelic and far too cool for school. It is instantly replayable.

#7 Doves “Constellations for the lonely”

“Constellations for the lonely” is the sixth studio by Manchester trio Doves and the second since reforming after an eight year hiatus. Much like their previous work, the album is dark in the feels and big on atmospherics but the group was purposeful here in evoking an apocalyptic world. It was inspired by the lows the group was experiencing in the wake of the release of their previous album, 2020’s “The universal want“, frontman Jimi Goodwin’s mental health struggles and the need to cancel the promotional tour. But rather than tearing them apart, Doves persevered and grew stronger, themes reflected in this new album and indeed, there is more sharing of vocal duties across it than on previous outings. Despite all the darkness, there is hope and a renewed sense of the group as one.

#6 Miki Berenyi Trio “Tripla”

The Miki Berenyi Trio was formed by Oliver Cherer, Kevin McKillop, and the band’s namesake, Miki Berenyi, when their previous band Piroshka stalled after only two albums**. This new group originally started out playing Lush covers as part of Berenyi’s book tour, enlisting the services of a drum machine because Piroshka/Lush drummer Justin Welch was busy touring with Jesus and Mary Chain. This lineup necessitated a change in name and style and though it’s Berenyi’s name at the forefront, the trio is really the key, as evidenced by the title of this debut album. Although they continue to be mainly a dream pop outfit, dance elements have kicked in along with the drum machine and we’ve also seen an increase in synth washes and effects for a more intense sound all around. I really like where this is going and can’t wait to hear more.

*And perhaps last album as well?

**In my opinion, great albums, both of them.

Stay tuned for album #5 on this list. In the meantime, you can check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.