Not for
Madeline

THE MOST FERAL ALBUMS OF 2025

NO SKIPS, NO SHUFFLE

by Steve Marais
Berlin, 31 December 2025

2025’s most feral albums for petty cunts on the verge of a nervous breakthrough.
Xo hate and spite, Steve

I am absolutely well aware that literally no one needs another playlist, or another year-end list, and that virtually no one cares what I think… Yet here I am, like a behind-the-scenes track on a deluxe album where I talk over the songs.

Earlier this year I stumbled across an article suggesting that music reviews have become all sugar, no spice: existing merely to stroke already inflated egos. I’m paraphrasing enormously from memory of course, but the point (roughly) was that critics had gone soft, and that they basically just praise everything.

And it’s true. Pitchfork generally is a fountain of high praise, not deep disses, for better or for worse. Where are the catty reviews? Perhaps it’s the ageing millennial in me cheering for a proper takedown. It seems the world nowadays is far less interested in such salacious grandeur. We live in an age where literally everyone deserves a pat on the back. Merely showing up warrants praise (well done, Linda).

I must admit that I’m not a professional music critic, nor do I have any such aspirations. Mostly because that would require me to constantly remix my own tastes. I do that quite enough without it being my job, thank you very much. I’m not all that interested in being a professional anything right now, to be honest. But I am a proud homosexual. One with good taste, dare I say. My mother always complains that I’m far too critical. That makes me as good a judge as any, in my books.

I might be the only homosexual on the planet though who does not think that Rosalía’s Lux is the mind-melting masterpiece everyone else is screaming about. I mean, it’s a fine album, beautiful in places. There’s just not a banger in sight. And that’s my problem with Addison Rae, too. Controversial opinion, I know. Stone me.

Both of those do feature on my final year-end playlist though, because I believe they’ve made their mark in a year of endless monumental releases: music swinging between decades-old influences one moment and propelling us deep into the future the next. Transcendent, one might call it. But whilst I find 2025 an iconic year musically, it’s hard to single out THE iconic, needle-shifting album of the year. There has absolutely not been a BRAT-style nuclear moment this year, not even close. Also no summer anthem to speak of.

Spotify tells me my “listening age” is 17, which I treat as a cute joke. My taste is actually rather discerning, a few candy-coated guilty pleasures notwithstanding (hello, PinkPantheress). I do however actively seek out new music all the time. It’s a way for me to feel relevant and grounded in the fast-moving world of change we’re all experiencing right now. Spotify’s algorithm is also rather ageist, which is hilarious. It called my husband 74 just because he likes classical music. Ouch.

Looking back on the songs and albums I saved in 2025 (there’s been a great deal of back and forth: adding, deleting, listening, listening again, adding again, deleting again…), I can sense a definite craving for darker, unpolished, exciting sounds as compared to a decade, or even two decades ago. Go listen to music from 2005, I dare you. Gwen Stefani sounds well out of place by now. Gorillaz slightly less so.

Might that have to do with the cataclysmic rise of AI and a rebellion against ‘Perfection’ (coincidentally also one of the best reads of the year)? Today’s music is surprisingly grungy, often loud, challenging and experimental, not entirely unlike the mid-to-late-90s. And I’m not complaining. Anyone who says that “new” music is not worth its salt, I’ll fight you till my dying breath.

A while back, a friend of mine pointed out how the internet (and streaming by proxy) has eliminated the joys of genuine discovery. Long gone are the days of crushing disappointment after spending your hard-earned (pocket) money on an album you genuinely wanted to like, but which ultimately turned out to be trash. Nowadays we simply skip and move on. Who even takes the time to listen to a full album anymore? Oh the luxury! It’s certainly something I only started doing again since the pandemic, when we had time to slow down, and actually listen. I do believe, even if naively, that the long-form art of album making is returning, and long may it continue. No skips, no shuffle.

There are plenty of albums that have made my list that I won’t mention here for the sake of brevity. You can check them out for yourself and tell me what you think.

Instead of declaring one album THE BEST (which I see as impossible and frankly a bit silly), I invite you to simply listen along with me. It’s all so subjective. I’m proud of creating this platform (Heavy Feral) where I can express my unfiltered thoughts and I’m grateful for each of you feral souls who take the time to read this. Listening to music is such a personal, vulnerable thing: occasionally shared, always a reflection of our tastes, thoughts and desires.

We sometimes forget how unifying music can be, the importance of finding our place (our crowd, our vibe, our people) in this fucked-up world. We all share these desires and experiences, this longing to be touched and to touch in return. We just want to fit in, and stand out, as much as anyone. Music helps us do that.

That’s probably the main reason I’m doing all of this. I want to share joy. And celebrate the privilege we share in being different. And because (I’ve been saying this often lately), what even is happiness, if it can’t be shared?

Here’s what’s been in my ears this year:

Sudan Archives – THE BPM

→ Of all the albums on this list, this is the only one that feels like it was sent back from the future at 160bpm. It might take decades for the rest of us to catch up.

Smerz – Big city life
→ The wetter of the two legs. It takes you from a glamorous night out to seedy afters in a cunty Copenhagen back alley.

FKA twigs – Eusexua
→ Strange alien robot lady with pointy chin sings about orgasms and cruising. Gay gay gay.

Oklou – choke enough
→ Twigs without the bass, make it Paris, and then choke it. Enough. The album sounds like a nostalgic, melancholic reminiscence of the past presented as a surreal futuristic dreamscape. Very good.

Marie Davidson – City of Clowns
→ It beeps and bleeps like it’s 2002. Welcome back, Miss Kitten! A big, fat, throbbing, pulsating “fuck you” to the system. Bravo.

Lucrecia Dalt – A Danger to Ourselves
→ Leonard Cohen but make it weird and Colombian. It cracks and whistles in tongues. Highly recommended.

Destroyer – Dan’s Boogie
→ Amanda Lear’s long awaited spoken-word comeback album. You won’t be able to unhear it 🙂

Ela Minus – DÍA
→ Tough love, Bogotá edition! I’D LOVE TO SAVE YOU BUT YOU’VE GOT TO SAVE YOURSELF FIRST. It starts soft, ends hard, and blends experimental electronica with heavy club beats. Banger.

Divorce – Drive to Goldenhammer
→ Your parents would love this band. You might too. Listen to it on your wedding day. We did, and it worked.

Shanti Celeste – Romance
→ Dancy 90’s throwback, only a few bangers away from a sausage fest. Got a light?

Baths – Gut
→ Hot baths, no bubbles. Totally overlooked in the mainstream. Beautifully queer and slightly on edge from start to finish.

Hayden Pedigo – I’ll Be Waving As You Drive Away
→ No one strokes (a guitar) quite like this guy. Not kidding. Google him. He even once ran for city council and is oddly gifted with a measuring tape.

Víkingur Ólafsson – Opus 109
→ This guy remixes Beethoven, Bach, and Schubert like he’s dropping beats in Ibiza. Saw him play at the Berlin Philharmonic and was blown away. Doesn’t hurt that he’s cute as hell, either. [Cheers in Icelandic]

Erika de Casier – Lifetime
→ The atmospheric answer to The Velvet Rope delivered by the queen of the Scandi underground. Listen to it on a windy day, and it might just unlock a higher plane of consciousness. It feels somehow incomplete, but that’s part of the charm.

Flora Hibberd – Swirl
→ Don’t ask me where I found this one; it’s virtually on no one else’s radar. But I played it like 400 times this year. Stunning melodies, great vocals. Is easy listening really such a sin?

Lady Gaga – MAYHEM
→ Gaga, back from the dead, oor-na-na. Shave your eyebrows. Our Resident Monster says the album keeps getting better, ageing like fine wine. Probably (maybe) her best yet. Or is it?

John Glacier – Like A Ribbon
→ This had me bopping my head from start to finish. It’s chill AF, blending edgy, experimental rhymes with a minimalist, self-aware Gen-Z vibe. Sharp lyrics, killer vocals.

Pulp – More
→ If you’re into older, this one’s for you. It plays like cheap sex: first the suck, then the fuck, then the smoke. Sung firsthand in a voice that’s clearly been around the block a few times, with and without Tina. (TINAAAAAAAAAA)… Iconic.

Real Lies – We Will Annihilate Our Enemies
→ The year’s ultimate grower. Like scoring an unexpected bump in a random East London nightclub. Damn, Daniel!

Oneohtrix Point Never – Tranquilizer
→ A wonderfully warped sound collage. Put on your best headphones and… yeeeeeees! Surreal, isn’t it? It completely transports you to a weird, spacey alternate dimension. Hands where we can see them.

Rose Gray – Louder, Please
→ Wet and wild 2010s nostalgia house-pop with a dash of trash. Makes you want to grind on strangers. More, please. Louder, please.

Benjamin Booker – LOWER
→ Grimy, glorious and slightly terrifying horror rock for nocturnal darkroom introverts. Favourite track: SLOW DANCE IN A GAY BAR 🙂

Sabrina Carpenter – Man’s Best Friend
→ Bone(r) album of the year alert, but watch out, kids: she bites. Pop’s potty mouth is back. The lyrics are brilliant, the soundscape is gorgeous, and Ms. Carpenter can howl! Down, girl.

Model/Actriz – Pirouette
→ Model? Actress? Both? Who cares? This album sucks (hard), and increases your gayness exponentially each time you listen. That’s the review. “IM SUCH A FUCKING BIIIIIIIIIIITTTTCCCCHHHH, GIRL…”. Repeat.

Lily Allen – West End Girl
→ THINGS certainly got STRANGER for Madeline in 2025. Easily one of the standouts of the year, hell, the decade! This one will go down in history.

Besides Addison Rae, Rosalía, and PinkPantheress mentioned earlier, Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band, Hayley Williams, CMAT, Wet Leg, and Panda Bear also made my year-end list, among others. listen here