Amoeba Music

2025 is about to sail off into the sunset, which means that Brad, our head music buyer at Amoeba Hollywood, has released his eagerly awaited and world famous Top 50 albums of the year. Read on to discover some new sounds or something already loved.

#50 Flock of Dimes - The Life You Save (Sub Pop)
Jenn Wasner is one half of the band Wye Oak. She has one of those heartbreaking voices that is bound to have an effect on you. Are you really a human if you don’t tear up when she sings? A country-tinged indie rock album full of optimistic heartbreak.

#49 dust - Sky Is Falling (Kanine Records)

Australian post punk band dust have created a very frenetic and fun album. This band seems like they would be a really exciting band to watch live. I need albums like these to break up my day and give me a jolt of energy. I can’t survive on shoegaze alone.

#48 Living Hour - Internal Drone Infinity (Keeled Scales)

The first of many Canadian bands making it on my list this year. This Winnipeg based shoegaze band creates an album that is a nice mix of twangy indie rock and shoegaze. 

#47 Sea Lemon - Diving For A Prize (Luminelle Records)

A gorgeous album of pacific northwest dream pop. The album cover is perfect for what you will find within this album. Like a futuristic dreamscape in some underwater land full of weird mythical creatures.

#46 Circuit Des Yeux - Halo On the Inside (Matador)

Circuit Des Yeux is Haley Fohr doing her best spooky electronica. Like a mix of goth queens Nico and Diamanda Galas. Or like the female version of TR/ST. She creates song you could imagine popping up in a Silence of the Lambs type movie. These are all things that I love and I basically think she had made an album just for me. So thank you.
 

#45 Melody’s Echo Chamber - Unclouded (Domino)

French psychedelic dream pop to wash away your day with. A perfectly lovely album that is hard not to love. This album captures a cool sophistication that is timeless. 

#44 No Joy - Bugland (Hand Drawn Dracula) 

No Joy perfectly captures the Curve era of shoegaze. More dark and synthy and electronic based.  Basically a more goth sort of shoegaze for the raver set. Another super fun album this year on possibly the best named label. 

#43 Lust For Youth & Croatian Amor - All Worlds (Sacred Bones)

My ideal music is often the kind of music I could imagine goth elves playing in some hidden icy forest in Norway. Something that sounds like it came from the future but also firmly influenced by the dark wave 80s and electronic 90s. This is about what this sounds like. The opening track “Friendzone” is one of the best of the year. Sublimely addictive dark electronica. For fans of The xx.

#42 Gelli Haha - Switcheroo (Innovative Leisure)

If you want a fun album then look no further then Gelli Haha. Angel Abaya is basically the synthed out musical version of SNL star Sarah Sherman. Quirky and weird and all kinds of fun. Just try and not love the song “Bounce House.” Paul Reubens would approve.

#41 TOPS - Bury The Key (Ghostly International)

The world is just simply a better place with new albums by TOPS. They are one of the many Canadian bands in my top 50 this year. I can never get enough modern Sophisti-Pop. A nice mix of super sweet twee and indie rock bangers. For fans of Tennis and Camera Obscura.

#40 Sword II - Electric Hour (Section1)

This album will take you right back to the days of 90s indie rock. There are elements of bands like Modest Mouse, Juliana Hatfield, Versus, & Veruca Salt. It is a nostalgic journey I never mind taking. This Atlanta based trio gave me a perfect little album right when I needed it most.

#39 James K - Friend (AD 93)

Jamie Krasner gives us a hazy electronic album that is both fun and dreamy. Edging us between dream pop and trip hop. I never know where this album is gonna take me but I do know that I always want to be there. 

#38 Winter - Adult Romantix (Winspear)

Samira Winter wrote this album as a sort of goodbye love letter to LA. It follows in the footsteps of other great shoegaze bands like Starflyer 59, Drop Nineteens and Medicine. These songs are often sweet and twee but in a shoegaze kind of way. An album that is easy to relax into and enjoy while reminiscing about your own memories of love and heartbreak in whatever city you live in. 

#37 Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - Gift Songs (Mexican Summer)

This album feels like an ambient jam band just sat down in your living room with the goal being to make you relaxed and peaceful. Just let this music wash over you like a late night rain. A perfect album to escape into.

#36 Dlina Volny - In Between (Italians Do It Better)

This dark wave trio from Belarus could have easily released this album decades earlier. Spooky and moody music made for late night drives. Goth jams for fans of Cold Cave, Clan of Xymox and Lebanon Hanover.

#35 Purity Ring - Purity Ring (The Fellowship)

I am always happy to have this baby voiced Canadian duo back in my life. Another perfect album of shimmering and dreamy electronic pop. This album is the soundtrack to an imaginary video game that never existed. It brings me back to a simpler time in the 2010s when bands like this were popping up. “Place Of My Own” was on heavy rotation for me this year. 

#34 Buscabulla - Se Amaba Así (Domino)

An excellent and sexy synth pop album from this sexy Puerto Rican duo. This album works on many levels for me and I kept coming back to it this year. Stand out songs are “El Camino” and “Miraverahí.”

#33 Provoker - Mausoleum (Year0001)

Dancey pop music for goths is the best way to describe a Provoker album. Songs full of spooky imagery that will get you on the dancefloor. Hopefully these boys can someday do the soundtrack to a horror movie based in a spooky old amusement park. But I guess they already have. 

#32 Mareux - Nonstop Romance (Warner)

What do you do for your second album when you have already created a near perfect album. It is not an easy task. Lovers From the Past was one of my favorites from 2023 and I often revisit it. This album is more of the same. Moody & sexy dark wave goth jams to make your life better. The stand out song is “Laugh Now Cry Later.” However I also love anything featuring Riki who shows up on one of the songs on this album.. 

#31 Hannah Jadagu - Describe (Sub Pop)

Hannah Jadagu could be many things. I could see her easily fronting an ethereal dream pop band or a more dance heavy synth album. She does all these things and more on this album full of emotional and honest alternative pop songs.

#30 CMAT - EUROCOUNTRY (CMATBABY)

I love that there is nobody quite like Irish singer Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson. She has a great sense of humor and wit that always comes across in her songs. I hope that the world gets on the CMAT train and loves her version of alternative celtic country as much as I do. And I recommend seeing her live next time you get the chance. I have never seen a band have so much fun with each other on stage.

#29 Big Thief - Double Infinity (4AD)

A lovely new album from Adrienne Lenker and company. This is the band's sixth album and they are still managing to put out relevant albums worth your time. Adrienne really bares her soul for us on these albums. We connect with albums like this because they express the emotions we feel but can’t easily express. This album sounds like some old familiar album that your parents or grandparents loved that you now love. Alternative country jams to help you get through the day.

#28 Steve Hauschildt - Aeropsia (Simul Records)

My love for Steve Hauschildt and Emeralds knows no bounds. I have never been to Chicago but I imagine this is what it sounds like. He is our modern version of Vangelis or Klaus Schulze. Creating beautiful soundscapes for movies that never were. Albums like this are my go to for a peaceful introspective moment. Music truly is the best therapy and can heal your soul. This album has a slow simmering pace and it feels like it takes you to another dimension. What I imagine sophisticated aliens listen to.

#27 Everything Else - Another One Making Clouds (Big Potato Records)

I usually have no idea what these shoegaze bands are even signing about. But the music evokes so much emotion that it really doesn’t matter. It is sort of like listening to music in a language you don’t understand. I often wonder if any of these bands would exist without Slowdive coming first. Or maybe I just wouldn’t like them if I had not fallen in love with everything Slowdive at a very impressionable emotional age. Listen to this album loud and you will not regret it. 

#26 Wisp - If Not Winter (Interscope)

You might think that we have enough shoegaze albums about grief. But I always have room in my heart for another one. I have learned to process my emotions through shoegaze albums so I need these records. Wisp is the perfect name for this wispy and breathy album. Shoegaze can be loud and angry and all those things. But it is always nice to have it mixed up with beautiful swirly guitars and reverb. 

#25 Nation of Language - Dance Called Memory (Sub Pop)

Modern sophisti-pop from one of my favorites Nation of Language. They perfectly mingle soulful tunes with synth pop on their fourth album. Sophisticated and dreamy. One of the best at making heartbreak feel good. 

#24 Shaki Tavi - Minor Slip (Felte Records)

More grungey shoegaze to keep me happy. Like a mix of the Dandy Warhols & The Jesus & Mary Chain. In all my wildest dreams I could not have imagined getting so many shoegaze adjacent albums in 2025. But there will never be too many of these albums in my opinion.

#23 Glare - Sunset Funeral (Deathwish)

Some bands are able to still get the shoegaze sound just right. This album is clearly influenced by the shoegaze of the early 90s. However they also sound like a catchy 90s indie rock back with lots of reverb. The best of these albums allow you to completely lose yourself in their music and never want to come out. Mission accomplished.

#22 SASAMI - Blood On the Silver Screen (Domino)

Another great album brought to you by SASAMI. She has created a new sound for herself again and really outdid herself with this one. “I’ll Be Gone” was one of my most played songs this year. Propulsive dance music mixed with guitar rock for fans of Robyn and Georgia.

#21 Katie Schecter - Empress (Soul Step Records)

Indie rock with soul for fans of Amy Winehouse. This album seems like it is bursting at the seams with a vibrant and addictive energy. One of those timeless records that could be from the 60s or 20 years in the future. 

#20 They Are Gutting a Body of Water - LOTTO (ATO Records)

I love a band that melds shoegaze and grunge. Loud and reverby and dreamy all mixed up together. This is a new band that sounds like they came out of the angsty gen X 90s. For fans of Smashing Pumpkins & Dinosaur Jr.

#19 Men I Trust - Equus Asinus (Men I Trust)

Men I Trust gifted us with two new albums this year. This album is more dreamy twee pop that will make you swoon. Haunting, gorgeous and super sweet like we have come to expect from these Canadian indie rock heroes. 

#18 Biosphere - The Way of Time (AD 93)

This Norwegian electronic composer has been giving us music since the early 90s. I got obsessed with this album and listened to it almost every night driving home for many months. Not an album for everyone. But I absolutely love his sample of an obscure 1950s radio play. An ambient masterpiece that puts me under a trance every time I listen to it.

#17 New Candys - Uncanny Extravaganza (Fuzz Club)

Italian synth rock for fans of The Raveonettes and A Place to Bury Strangers. Sounds like a band from 2025 sounding like a band from 2007 who sounds like a band from the 90s sounding like a band from the 80s. But it works and pulls me in every time.

#16 Rochelle Jordan - Through The Wall (Rochelle Jordan)

R&B with a lot of dancey house music vibes and so much fun. Super catchy and easy to love. A seductive breathy album that feels full and expansive and ready to take over the world.

#15 Sally Shapiro - Ready To Live A Lie (Italian Do It Better)
I am so happy to have Sally back in my life. Disco Romance is still one of my favorite albums all these years later. This new album is just as good. A dreamy italo disco synth pop album that can’t help but make you feel good. Something about her just gets under my skin and makes me tingle with joy. When I listen to this album I feel like I am at a late night Swedish dance club in the middle of a snowstorm in the middle of a forest having the best time of my life.

#14 Skullcrusher - And Your Song is Like a Circle (Dirty Hit)

You might expect a dark ambient black metal album from an artist with a name like this. But instead you get an album of atmospheric haunting vocals that is absolutely breathtaking. It’s the kind of album that I could listen to while getting acupuncture but with a beat.

#13 Sister Ray Davies - Holy Island (Well Kept Secret)

Shoegaze from Alabama based on an ancient religious outpost off the coast of England. Sign me up! Super dreamy and swirly. For fans of Slowdive and Ride. A perfect album that was pretty easy to fall for. 

#12 Toria Wooff - Toria Wooff (Sloe Flower)

This album of dreamy folk-country rock sounds like it comes from a different era for sure. For fans of Neko Case and beautiful enchanting voices. 

#11 Ritual Howls - Ruin (Felte Records)

Another band that never lets me down. Dark and moody goth music with a twist of country. For fans of Nick Cave and Sisters of Mercy. Imagine your goth music with a cowboy hat played in the desert. They mix up the genre like many industrial goth bands did in the 90s on labels like Wax Trax! I would join this cult if this band was a cult. Death jangle is the perfect description for this Detroit band.

#10 Marie Davidson - City of Clowns (Because Music)
I really needed this album this year. But when don’t I need an album like this? Spooky and dark synth from my favorite Canadian weirdo. A bit silly and super fun. There is nothing really conventional or normal about this record. Marie Davidson is the kind of weirdo I love. But it is so catchy and familiar that it feels like an album that has always existed. Imagine the darker side of the Human League. Or possibly an album you would hear in a vampire night club. “Demolition” is one of my favorite songs of the year for sure.

#9 Desire - Games People Play (Italians Do It Better)
It is hard to believe that the self titled debut album from Desire was in 2006! The year that Italians Do It Better was created and we got the perfect albums from Chromatics, Glass Candy & Desire. Those albums are still as good as they were when they first came out. Sort of timeless since they straddled so perfectly futuristic dream pop and retro synth. Desire is yet another project of Johnny Jewel with vocalist Megan Louise. These albums are always so cinematic. You can immediately imagine some sort of futuristic world where this is playing in a nightclub. This double album gives you 21 songs but I can never get enough of Desire. I even love their dreamy cover of “Tell It To My Heart.”

#8 Deep Sea Diver - Billboard Heart (Sub Pop)
Jessica Dobson and Deep Sea Diver have been making albums for over 10 years. But she only just made her way into my heart. Their last album came out during peak pandemic times when Amoeba was closed and I totally missed out on it. The album is full of punky energy and is a nice break from my more ethereal dreamy listening habits. This album always wakes me up when I listen to it and is a great way to start my day. Super catchy and an essential album of the year.

#7 Erika de Casier - Lifetime (Independent Jeep)
I can always count on Erika de Casier to bring it. She always brings such a cool mood with her albums. I just really want to live inside this record. She captures a late 90s vibe that bands like Lamb and Everything But The Girl were able to encapsulate. Dreamy electronic R&B that is so addictive. I always want to capture that feeling of listening to her albums for the first time. Her album Still from last year was one of my favorites so I was doubtful she could make me fall in love with another album just a year later. But she sure did. Futuristic R&B for fans of Aaliyah and Bjork.

#6 Joanne Robertson - Blurrr (AD 93)
Thankfully I always get a couple albums like this in my life every year. They seem to come out of nowhere.I just never know who they are gonna be made by or when they are gonna find me. Wispy and dreamy. Peaceful and haunting. Blurry is another perfectly named album this year. This album is sometimes hard to focus on. Like she is just barely singing. Like she is in the room next to you playing an album by herself and you are so intrigued that you have to get closer to listen. The album is subtle for sure and you could easily sail right by it. But it is so special once you give it the time it deserves and let it take you over.

#5 Kali Uchis - Sincerely, (Capitol)
When a friend told me this sounded like the Cocteau Twins I was obviously immediately intrigued. I love when an artist does something different but does it so brilliantly that it works and doesn’t feel forced. This really feels like the album Kali Uchis was always meant to make. Just try and listen to “Lose My Cool,” or “Territorial” and not fall in love. The album is so lush that it is easy to fall into and forget where you even are. Sexy and dreamy in a way that few people can pull off. Imagine a Cocteau Twins album made in the 60s performed in a smokey jazz club. Truly epic and special. It has been one of my favorites of the year since I first listened to it. I did not know she lost her mother during the production of this album until many months after I listened to it. But it all makes so much sense. There is a touch of girl group tragedy throughout but also just enough optimism to remember life is precious and can be so beautiful.

#4 Cloth - Pink Silence (Rock Action)
I was a fan of their last album. But they really outdid themselves with this one. These Scottish siblings have created one of my favorite albums this year of breathy dream pop. The opening song always hooks me in. Pink Silence is absolutely the perfect name for this album. Imagine a blissful time of your life that involves silence and gazing into a sunset. A sad time in your life that feels good. Or an absolutely amazing moment in your life that felt a bit sad since you knew it would not last forever. I love dream pop with a beat and that is exactly what this is. Dreamy ethereal music that you can dance around to. I truly love this whole album and never can get enough of it. “Golden” is one of my favorite tracks this year and a song I will be going back to for years and years to come.

#3 Maria Somerville - Luster (4AD)
An absolutely beautiful new album from this Irish master or moody dream pop. I kept falling under the spell of this album every time I listened to it. Her voice at times reminds me of the captivating sadness of Sinead O’Connor. Like the more experimental side of Victorialand era Cocteau Twins or Pygmalion era Slowdive. The perfect mix of shoegaze and ambient. Captivating and heartbreaking and everything I love in an album.

#2 mark william lewis - mark william lewis (A24 Music)
I never imagined that the film studio A24 would bring me one of my favorite albums of the year. But that is exactly what happened. This album slowly worked it’s way up my list after every listen. Something about his voice and the smokey 90s vibe really worked for me. I always wanted more. Reminds me of 90s dudes like Mark Kozelek, Matt Johnson and Lloyd Cole. Somehow retro and futuristic all at the same time. The kind of song you would hear in a 90s Parker Posey movie. Dark and mysterious and full of spooky harmonica and brooding lyrics.

#1 Nourished by Time - The Passionate Ones (XL Recordings)
This album caught me a bit by surprise this year. I liked it when I first heard it but then kind of forgot about it. But like all my favorite albums it wouldn’t give up until I fell in love with it. Nourished By Time is Macus Elliott Brown from the great city of Baltimore. I always love an album that flirts with the boundaries of R&B and alternative music. He’s got an enchanting voice that drew me in. I love a mysterious man exploring the sadder regions of our minds. But this album also has an optimism that I love. I always felt like everything was going to be OK when I listened to this album. Imagine a more ethereal version of an album by TV on the Radio. A version of the Weeknd mixed with Elliott Smith. Some of these songs are so damn catchy that I always get a smile on my face when I hear them. An all around great album that makes me hopeful of the years to come and grateful we will get new artists like this sneaking into our ears and minds.