Favourite albums of 2025 - Part One

December 16, 2025 Peter Kimpton

First selection of 25 favourite albums in no particular order …

Welcome to the first part of Song Bar favourite albums of 2025. There will also be a second and third part this week. There is no countdown nor describing these necessarily as “best” albums of the year, but they are chosen by their quality, originality and reader popularity

Melin Melyn: Mill On The Hill

March 10, 2025 Peter Kimpton

New album: Enormously entertaining, witty, catchy, folk-country-psych-rock by the Cardiff-London band, with clear, upbeat comparisons to Gruff Rhys and Super Furry Animals as well as other original twists in this warm, vintage-feel new release

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    DRINK OF THE WEEK
Constant comment tea

  
    SNACK OF THE WEEK
black-eyed peas

New Albums …

Featured

Jan 18, 2026

Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore: Tragic Magic

Jan 18, 2026

New album: Delicate, beautiful, ethereal, meditative new work by the two American experimental composers in their first collaborative LP, with gentle understated vocals, classic synth sounds, and rare harps chosen from from the Paris Musée de la Musique Collection

Jan 18, 2026

Jan 16, 2026

Sleaford Mods: The Demise of Planet X

Jan 16, 2026

New album: The caustic wit of Nottingham’s Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn return with a 13th LP of brilliantly abrasive, dark humoured hip-hop and catchy beats, addressing the rubbish state of the world, as well as local, personal and social irritations through slick nostalgic cultural reference, some expanded sounds, and an eclectic set of guests

Jan 16, 2026

Jan 14, 2026

SAULT: Chapter 1

Jan 14, 2026

New album: As ever, released suddenly without fanfare or any publicity, the prolific experimental soul, jazz, gospel, funk, psychedelia and disco collective of Cleo Sol, Info (aka Dean Josiah Cover) and co return with a stylish, mysterious LP

Jan 14, 2026

The Cribs: Selling A Vibe

Jan 14, 2026

New album: A first LP in five years by the likeable and solid guitar indie-rock Jarman brothers trio from Wakefield, now with their ninth - a catchy, but at times with rueful, bittersweet perspectives on their times in the music business

Jan 14, 2026

Jan 9, 2026

Dry Cleaning: Secret Love

Jan 9, 2026

New album: This third LP by the London experimental post-punk quartet with the distinctive, spoken, droll delivery of Florence Shaw, is packed with striking, vivid, often non seqitur lyrics capturing life’s surreal mundanities and neuroses with a sound coloured and polished by Cate Le Bon as producer

Jan 9, 2026

Dec 31, 2025

Various Artists: ICELOCK CONTINUUM

Dec 31, 2025

New album: An inspiring, evocative, sensual and sonically tactile experimental compilation from the fabulously named underground French label Camembert Électrique, with range of international electronic artists capturing cold winter weather’s many textures - cracking, delicate crunchy ice, snow, electric fog, and frost in many fierce and fragile forms across 98 adventurous tracks

Dec 31, 2025

Dec 18, 2025

Favourite albums of 2025 - Part Three

Dec 18, 2025

Welcome to the third and final part of Song Bar favourite albums of 2025. There is also Part One, and Part Two. There is no countdown nor describing these necessarily as “best” albums of the year, but they are chosen by their quality, originality and reader popularity

Dec 18, 2025

Dec 17, 2025

Favourite albums of 2025 - Part Two

Dec 17, 2025

Welcome to the second part of Song Bar favourite albums of 2025. There is also a first part and a third part this week. There is no countdown nor describing these necessarily as “best” albums of the year, but they are chosen by their quality, originality and reader popularity

Dec 17, 2025

Favourite albums of 2025 - Part 1 updated.jpg

Dec 16, 2025

Favourite albums of 2025 - Part One

Dec 16, 2025

Dec 16, 2025

Juliana Hatfield: Lightning Might Strike

Dec 16, 2025

New album: Personal upheaval, grief, powerlessness, trauma, sudden change inform the title and colour the lyrics of this latest LP by the seasoned Boston indie artist but her songs are packed with brutally honest, candid, concise reflections and warm, catchy, stirring riffs and melodies

Dec 16, 2025

Dec 9, 2025

Dove Ellis: Blizzard

Dec 9, 2025

New album: An extraordinarily mature, passionate, poetic, and outstandingly powerful debut by the Manchester-based Galway-born singer-songwriter, whose soaring delivery has instant echoes of Jeff Buckley and lyrics that go above and beyond

Dec 9, 2025

Dec 5, 2025

Ólöf Arnalds: Spíra

Dec 5, 2025

New album: A gorgeous, delicate, ethereal first release in a decade by the Icelandic singer-songwriter, acoustic instruments and her gentle, high, pure voice, all in her native language, caressing this listening experience like pure waters of some slowly trickling glacial stream

Dec 5, 2025

Melody's Echo Chamber: Unclouded

Dec 5, 2025

New album: A fourth album, here full of delicious uplifting, dreamily chic, psychedelic soul pop by the French musician Melody Prochet, with bright, upbeat, optimistic numbers and a title lifted from a quote by the acclaimed Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, about achieving equilibrium

Dec 5, 2025

Devotion & The Black Divine by anaiis.jpeg

Dec 2, 2025

anaiis: Devotion & The Black Divine

Dec 2, 2025

New album: Following a summer Song of the Day - Deus Deus, a review of the autumn release and third LP by the London-based French-Senegalese singer-songwriter of resonantly beautiful, dynamic, sensual soul, gospel, R&B and experimental and chamber pop, with themes of new motherhood, uncertainty, religion, self-love and acceptance

Dec 2, 2025

new songs …

Featured

Jan 19, 2026

Song of the Day: A$AP Rocky - Punk Rocky

Jan 19, 2026

Song of the Day: The standout catchy hip-pop/soul/pop track from the New York rapper aka Rakim Athelston Mayers’ (also the husband of Rihanna) recently released album, Don’t Be Dumb, featuring also the voice of Cristoforo Donadi, and out on A$AP Rocky Recordings

Jan 19, 2026

Jan 18, 2026

Song of the Day: Buck Meek - Gasoline

Jan 18, 2026

Song of the Day: The Texas-born Big Thief guitarist returns with an beautifully stirring, evocative, poetic love-enthralled indie-folk single of free association made-up words and quantum leap feelings, rolling drums and strums, heralding his upcoming fourth solo album, The Mirror, out on 27 February via 4AD

Jan 18, 2026

Alexis Taylor - Paris In The Spring.jpeg

Jan 17, 2026

Song of the Day: Alexis Taylor - Out Of Phase (featuring Lola Kirke)

Jan 17, 2026

Song of the Day: A crisp, catchy fusion of synth-pop, cosmic country and some NYC-garage odyssey with references to two films by David Lynch from the Hot Chip frontman, heralding his upcoming sixth solo album, Paris In The Spring, out on 13 March via Night Time Stories

Jan 17, 2026

Mitski - Nothing's About To Happen To Me.jpeg

Jan 16, 2026

Song of the Day: Mitski - Where's My Phone?

Jan 16, 2026

Song of the Day: A jaunty, eccentric and oddly spooky, stomping guitar rock number about anxiety by the acclaimed New York singer-songwriter, heralding the upcoming eighth album Nothing’s About to Happen to Me, out on 27 February via Dead Oceans

Jan 16, 2026

Jan 15, 2026

Song of the Day: Kim Gordon - Not Today

Jan 15, 2026

Song of the Day: Title aside, today really is the day for the ever innovative, former Sonic Youth frontwoman to return with a striking, stylish, eclectic, bittersweet dress-themed new single heralding her upcoming third solo album, PLAY ME, out on 13 March via Matador Records

Jan 15, 2026

Jan 14, 2026

Song of the Day: deary - Seabird

Jan 14, 2026

Song of the Day: Beautiful, expansive, reverberant sounds of ethereal shimmering guitars and vocals with shades of Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine, heralding the debut album by the London-based trio, out 3 April via Bella Union

Jan 14, 2026

Jan 13, 2026

Song of the Day: Jill Scott - Pressha

Jan 13, 2026

Song of the Day: Classy, smooth, luscious soul and RnB with touches of brass in this second smart, smoky single heralding the lauded American singer and actress’s first album for a decade, To Whom This May Concern, out 13 February via on Blues Babe Records/Human Re Sources/The Orchard

Jan 13, 2026

Jan 12, 2026

Song of the Day: Father John Misty - The Old Law

Jan 12, 2026

Song of the Day: A rich, warm, stirring, psychedelic Beatles-like sound reverberates with this fabulous, satirical new single by the acclaimed American singer-songwriter, first debuted as part of his live set of late 2024 and known as “God’s Trash”, out now on Sub Pop.

Jan 12, 2026

Jan 11, 2026

Song of the Day: Lala Lala - Even Mountains Erode

Jan 11, 2026

Song of the Day: Reflective, gentle, flowing experimental semi-spoken indie rock by the London-born and Chicago-raised musician Lillie West in a song about about learning to slow down and stop stop and smell the flowers, heralding the upcoming album Heaven 2, out on February 27 via Sub Pop Records

Jan 11, 2026

Jan 9, 2026

Song of the Day: Iron & Wine - In Your Ocean

Jan 9, 2026

Song of the Day: A gloriously warm, beautiful folk-rock sound and one several songs from the American multi-instrumentalist and producer Sam Beam’s upcoming solo project’s eighth album, Hen’s Teeth, in which lovers are so entwined they physically merge, out on Sub Pop Records

Jan 9, 2026

Bonnie Prince Billy - They Keep Trying to Find You.jpg

Jan 8, 2026

Song of the Day: Bonnie "Prince" Billy - They Keep Trying To Find You

Jan 8, 2026

Song of the Day: A beautiful, poetic, darkly profound new number by the acclaimed Louisville singer-songwriter Will Oldman, heralding the new album We Are Together Again, out on 6 March 2026 on Domino Records / No Quarter

Jan 8, 2026

Jan 7, 2026

Song of the Day: EERA - I'll Stop When I'm Done

Jan 7, 2026

Song of the Day: The title track from the Berlin-based Norwegian songwriter and guitarist Anna Lena Bruland’s recent third album, out on Test Card Recordings, is gloriously uplifting, defiant electro-pop with a title inspired by Marilyn Monroe quote — “I won’t stop when I’m tired, I’ll stop when I’m done”

Jan 7, 2026

Word of the week

Featured

Jan 8, 2026

Word of the week: aspectabund

Jan 8, 2026

Word of the week: This rare adjective describes a highly expressive face or countenance, where emotions and reactions are readily shown through the eyes or mouth

Jan 8, 2026

Dec 24, 2025

Word of the week: bellonion (or belloneon)

Dec 24, 2025

Word of the week: It sounds like a bulbous, multi-layered peeling vegetable, but this obscure mechanical musical instrument invented in 1812 in Dresden consisted of 24 trumpets and two kettle drums and, designed to mimic the sound of a marching band, might also make your eyes water

Dec 24, 2025

Dec 4, 2025

Word of the week: crapulence

Dec 4, 2025

Word of the week: A term that may apply regularly during Xmas party season, from the from the Latin crapula, in turn from the Greek kraipálē meaning "drunkenness" or "headache" pertains to sickness symptoms caused by excess in eating or drinking, or general intemperance and overindulgence

Dec 4, 2025

Nov 20, 2025

Word of the week: discalceate

Nov 20, 2025

Word of the week: A rarely used, but often practised verb, especially when arriving home, it means to take off your shoes, but is also a slightly more common adjective meaning barefoot or unshod, particularly for certain religious orders that wear sandals instead of shoes. But in what context does this come up in song?

Nov 20, 2025

Nov 6, 2025

Word of the week: erythrophyll

Nov 6, 2025

Word of the week: A seasonally topical word relating to the the red pigment of tree leaves, fruits and flowers, that appears particularly when changing in autumn, as opposed to the green effect of chlorophyll, from the Greek erythros for red, and phyll for leaves. But what of songs about this?

Nov 6, 2025