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Imarhan: Essam
New album: A mesmeric fourth LP in a decade by the band from Tamanrasset, Algeria, whose name means ‘the ones I care about’, their Tuareg music mixing guitar riffs, pop melodies and African rhythms, but this time also evolves slightly away from the desert blues rocky, bluesy influence of contemporaries Tinariwen with electronic elements
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The Cribs: Selling A Vibe
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
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Part Two favourite albums of 2025 collage
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
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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
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Juliana Hatfield
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
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Dove Ellis: Blizzard
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
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Melody's Echo Chamber: Unclouded
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
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The Mountain Goats: Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan
New album: An evocative musical journey of a concept album by the indie-folk band from Claremont, California, fronted by singer-songwriter John Darnielle, based on a dream of his in 2023 about a voyage to a fictional island by the titular captain, charting adventure, wonder and tragedy
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Mavis Staples: Sad and Beautiful World
New album: A timelessly classy release by the veteran soul, blues and gospel singer and social activist from the Staples Singers, in a release of wonderfully moving and poignant cover versions, beautifully interpreting works by artists including Tom Waits, Curtis Mayfield, Leonard Cohen, and Gillian Welch
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Picture Parlour: The Parlour
New album: Following last year’s EP Face in the Picture, a fabulously stylish, smart, swaggering glam-rock-pop debut LP by the Manchester-formed, London-based band fronted by the impressively raspy, gritty, vibratro delivery of Liverpudlian vocalist and guitarist Katherine Parlour and distinctive riffs from North Yorkshire-born guitar Ella Risi
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Paul Kelly: Seventy not out, with his 30th studio album
New album: The acclaimed, prolific Australian singer-songwriter (and perennial Song Bar playlist favourite) returns with his distinctive, Dylan-esque folk-rock-country with a landmark of age and his 30th studio album, with profound ballad, poetic detail and reflections on age, regrets, lust, love and death
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Midlake: A Bridge To Far
New album: The Denton, Texas band make a welcome return with their distinctively warm, rich, psychedelic folk-rock, marked by close vocal harmonies, acoustic and pedal steel, keyboards and flute, this sixth studio album themed around hope, humility and perseverance, all as a human necessity
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The Charlatans: We Are Love
New album: Returning with a first first studio LP since 2017's Different Days, and their 14th overall across 35 years, veterans Tim Burgess, Martin Blunt and co’s latest has that signature sound with Hammond organ, euphoric, engaging melodies, indie syncopations and co-production by Dev Hynes, Fred Macpherson and Stephen Street
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Twen: Fate Euphoric
New album: Vibrant, sparkling, cleverly conceived catchy indie-rock-psychedelia with glittering guitar playing in this third LP by the Nashville duo, timing today’s release for the astrological super moon and themed all around fate, in a release that thematically and philosophically spins through the overwhelming feeling of powerlessness in a techno-cratic world
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The Belair Lip Bombs: Again
New album: A strong, stylish sophomore album following their 2023 debut, Lush Life, by the Australian indie-rock four-piece from Frankston, Melbourne, with rich, dynamic, staccato, strumming and lead guitar riffs and wistful, thoughtful melodic love songs with echoes of Stephen Malkmus, Yawners, Julia Jacklin, and Waxahatchee
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Snocaps
New album: Catchy, fresh, crisp clever, reflective sharp indie with a country twang by Katie Crutchfield aka Waxahatchee, now forming a new group with her twin sister Allison, and supported by MJ Lenderman and Brad Cook
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Witch Fever: FEVEREATEN
New album: Halloween timing comes perfectly for the Manchester quartet in this second LP, following 2022’s Congregation, of scorching, explosive, dark, seething goth-grunge, post-punk, post-rock, metal and hardcore, capturing religious-themed trauma in a personal and allegorical context, fuelled by rage and defiance
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Florence + The Machine: Everybody Scream
New album: Another Halloween-ish well-timed release, in which Florence Welch juggles her thoughts on the addictive joys, but also horrors, of fame, experiencing traumatic emergency surgery, her passion for paganism, folk, witchcraft, and references to 14th-century mystic Julian of Norwich, all in a sixth album full of musical light and shade
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Just Mustard: We Were Just Here
New album: Very expansive, dynamic, experimental noise rock and dreamy shoegaze abounds in this third LP by the Irish band from Dundalk with howling distorted guitars, clattering echoes and ethereal explosiveness helped by the skilled mixing hands and ears of David Wrench
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Meric Long: Kablooey
New album: Pulsating, highly percussive, catchy, thrumming DIY indie rock by one half of the San Francisco Bay Area duo The Dodos, in an album mostly created on his own along with some vocal contributions from Spacemoth’s Maryam Qudus, and saxophonist Forrest Day
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