ThisIsTheMusic

2025 has been the year the underground finally kicked the walls in. A year where the grassroots scene didn’t just produce great records — it produced cultural moments. Albums that didn’t wait for permission, didn’t water anything down, didn’t look over their shoulder for industry approval.

This was the year of risk-takers, truth-tellers, heartbreak-dealers, anthem-makers and bands who simply refused to stay small.

From Camden basements to Manchester backrooms, Liverpool docksides to Bristol dive bars, these are the records that defined the year at ThisIsTheMusic.

Here are the 20 essential albums of 2025

Pastel – Souls In Motion

Souls In Motion is the album where Pastel stop hinting at potential and fully step into their destiny. It’s a swirling cocktail of shoegaze, baggy swagger and widescreen indie ambition — shimmering guitars, big sky melodies and vocal lines that feel like they’re floating above the earth. What Pastel capture better than anyone is that cinematic sense of escape: music that sounds like running through city lights at midnight, or watching the sunrise with mates after a night that got a bit out of hand. It’s euphoric, emotional and unapologetically grand. The band have sharpened their songwriting, broadened their palette, and built a complete world around these tracks.

Essential track: Isaiah — A soaring, spiritual high point that captures the band’s widescreen ambition in one breathtaking moment..

Hazy Sundays – Chaos In Harmony

Hazy Sundays arrive with a debut that feels both urgent and meticulously crafted. Chaos In Harmony is built on chiming guitars, locked-in grooves and choruses that spill over with youthful adrenaline. But beneath the surface-level sparkle lies a band with layers — lyrics weighing the push-pull between self-doubt and ambition, arrangements that shift from hazy dream pop to punchy indie-rock without ever losing coherence. It’s an album that mirrors the title perfectly: messy emotions wrapped in perfectly balanced songwriting. There’s a lived-in quality to these tracks, the feeling of scribbled notebook pages, late-night conversations and growing pains turned into melody. A remarkably assured first chapter from a band with serious staying power.

Essential track: You Choose — A euphoric, heart-on-sleeve anthem that distils the album’s restless energy and emotional punch.

Bilk – Essex, Drugs and Rock & Roll

Bilk’s debut album is a raw, funny, and sharply observed chronicle of modern British youth — the boredom, the chaos, the late-night misadventures and the emotional gut punches that follow. Their writing has always been about real life, but here it snaps into razor focus. The guitars are scrappy and bright, the rhythms bounce with punk spirit, and the lyrics land like half-jokes told through a smirk that hides something deeper. It’s an album that refuses to romanticise anything but still finds thrill, humour and heartbreak in the cracks. In a landscape full of polished gloss, Bilk stay proudly rough-edged and real — and it works brilliantly.

Essential track: RNR — Raw, cheeky and chaotic — the perfect summary of Bilk’s unfiltered portrait of real British life.

Cian Downing – Grassroots To The Sky

Grassroots To The Sky is a warm, heartfelt debut that blends Northern storytelling with soaring indie-folk ambition. Downing writes with an honesty that feels unfiltered — small details, big emotions, the day-to-day grind and the flashes of hope that cut through it. His voice is a perfect vessel: tender when it needs to be, powerful when the chorus demands it. Musically, the album drifts between acoustic intimacy and widescreen arrangements full of strings, harmonies and subtle rhythmic flourishes. It’s thoughtful, grounded and quietly uplifting — a record that feels like a conversation with a mate who understands exactly what you’re going through. Downing proves himself not just a strong writer, but a complete artist.

Essential track: Untouchable —A tender, uplifting standout that shows Downing’s gift for turning vulnerability into strength.

The Bracknall – Falling Out Of View

The Bracknall deliver an album soaked in melancholy, melody and late-night atmosphere. Falling Out Of View is packed with chiming guitars, echo-drenched hooks and choruses that feel just a bit too big for the rooms they were written in — in the best way possible. There’s an emotional weight running through the record, a sense of reflection and longing that gives every track a cinematic edge. But there’s also an undeniable confidence here: sharper songwriting, richer textures, and performances that push the band beyond their cult beginnings. It feels like a breakthrough moment — moody, heartfelt and quietly anthemic.

Essential track: Get Better – A cathartic surge of melody, emotion and an insanely infectious chorus.

 IC1s – What Took You So Long?

IC1s return like a band with something to prove. What Took You So Long? is brash, loud and bursting with guitar lines that swagger down the street like they own the place. The band have sharpened their sound, stripping things back to raw essentials: big choruses, crunchy riffs and lyrics that pull no punches. There’s a sense of urgency here — a determination to reclaim their space in the scene and show they’ve still got fire in the tank. But alongside the attitude sits some of their strongest melodic work, tapping into reflective themes without losing bite. A comeback that doesn’t just reintroduce the band — it resets the bar.

Essential track: Armada – A swaggering, full-throttle statement that proves the fire in IC1s hasn’t dimmed for a second.

Yon Mon – You Bedda Believe It

Yon Mon’s debut album is full of warmth, wit and working-class soul. His writing blends nostalgia with political awareness, heartbreak with humour, and hope with hard-earned perspective. The instrumentation is vibrant and dynamic: brass flourishes, upbeat rhythms, and melodies that lodge themselves in your head long after the first listen. What stands out most is honesty — the sense that every word has been lived, felt and carried. Yon Mon has crafted a record that’s both deeply personal and rallyingly communal, the kind of album that resonates with listeners far beyond his Bolton roots. It’s real, it’s relatable and it’s packed with charm.

Essential track: Better Days — Hitting with emotional truth, everyday poetry and delivered with heavyweight sincerity.

The Clause – Victim Of Casual Thing

Slick, polished and bursting with groove, Victim Of Casual Thing is The Clause finally stepping into their full potential. Every track feels meticulously arranged but never sterile — tight drums, glossy guitars and vocals dripping with confidence. They blend indie-rock, dance, funk and pop into a sound that feels both accessible and distinctively theirs. The songwriting is sharp, the choruses enormous, and the production clean enough to fill arenas. This is a band delivering on every promise they’ve made over the past few years — stylish, vibrant and overwhelmingly infectious. A proper breakthrough.

Essential track: Time Of Our Lives — A widescreen rush of groove and hooks that showcase why they are set for bigger stages.

Craig Edmonds – View From This Side

Craig Edmonds offers up a reflective, sun-tinted journey through memory, identity and personal history. View From This Side glows with warmth — lush guitars, breezy rhythms and lyrics that read like pages torn from a family scrapbook. There’s depth beneath the easy-going surface: themes of growing up, holding on, letting go and finding meaning in the small, unspoken moments of life. His songwriting feels unforced and unpretentious, leaning into sincerity rather than spectacle. The whole record plays like a soft summer breeze drifting through open windows — comforting, nostalgic and beautifully crafted.

Essential track: August Flowers — A beautifully reflective piece that captures the record’s themes of memory, gratitude and growth.

Warm Coat – Ambition

Warm Coat’s debut is lo-fi dreaminess wrapped around jangly guitar melodies and introspective lyricism. Ambition feels handcrafted — intimate, textural and quietly cinematic. The band move between hazy shoegaze washes and stripped-back indie simplicity, never rushing, always letting the songs breathe. There’s a sense of searching at its core: for purpose, for place, for clarity in the noise. It’s an album full of subtle details — little guitar flourishes, delicate vocals, emotional snapshots delivered without melodrama. Warm Coat don’t shout; they draw you in until their world becomes yours. A beautiful, understated gem.

Essential track: Halls — A hazy, slow-burning moment that pulls you gently into the album’s intimate world.

The Ks – Pretty On The Internet

The Ks bottle their explosive live energy and hurl it straight into the studio. Pretty On The Internet is brash, hook-laden and full of the chaotic chemistry that’s made them one of the UK’s most beloved grassroots acts. But there’s growth here too — emotionally honest songwriting, moments of vulnerability, and choruses that hit harder because they’re rooted in something real. The record captures the highs, lows and sideways moments of modern life: social pressures, digital chaos, late nights and long drives home. It’s loud, it’s heartfelt, and it’s undeniably them.

Essential track: Hometown — Already a modern indie anthem that channels the band’s raw emotion and sees the at full tilt.

Michael Robert Murphy – Chaos In Magick

Murphy delivers a kaleidoscopic blend of psych-folk, indie rock and lo-fi mysticism, crafting a record that feels both deeply personal and drenched in imagination. Chaos In Magick is full of lush textures and vivid imagery — flickering harmonies, dusty guitars, and a voice that carries both vulnerability and quiet power. The songwriting explores healing, self-reflection and the complexities of navigating modern life without losing hope. It’s an album that rewards repeat listens; each spin reveals a new layer, a new emotional flicker, a new bit of soul.

Essential track: Whispers On The Wind — A hypnotic, soulful highlight that shows Murphy at his most poetic and atmospheric

Little Juke – Departures From The States Of Mind

Little Juke swing for the fences with a debut that feels expansive, ambitious and emotionally charged. They blend post-punk grit with soaring indie melodicism, building songs that twist and turn through big dynamics and even bigger feelings. There’s drama in the arrangements — sudden crescendos, shimmering guitar lines, rhythms that pulse with urgency. Lyrically, the band explore identity, self-doubt and the strange corners of the mind with surprising maturity. It’s a bold, full-colour record from a band not afraid to push themselves artistically.

Essential track: Down The Rabbit Hole — A wild, twisting rush of tension and release that captures the band’s creative ambition

The High Nines – The High Nines

A bright, groove-driven debut that pulls from Northern indie heritage while giving it a fresh 2025 spin. The High Nines is full of chiming guitars, soulful rhythms and choruses that stick like glue. There’s a warm, open-armed spirit running through the record — upbeat without being shallow, emotive without veering into melodrama. The band sound fully formed, confident in their sound and unafraid to lean into melody as their strongest weapon. It’s indie with heart, swagger and sunshine.

Essential track: Let The World Decide — A bright, hook-laden track that showcases the band’s knack for uplifting melodies and sharp writing.

SAHAJi – Don’t Touch My Soul

SAHAJi’s debut album is a bold, genre-shifting statement from a band unafraid to push beyond the boundaries of modern indie. Don’t Touch My Soul blends soaring psychedelia, urgent guitar work and atmospheric textures into a sound that feels both otherworldly and emotionally grounded. There’s a spiritual pulse running through the record — songs that wrestle with identity, purpose and the restless, searching corners of the human mind. SAHAJi move effortlessly between explosive crescendos and delicate introspection, giving the album a dynamic, cinematic arc. It’s fearless, imaginative and rich in personality — the kind of debut that marks the arrival of a band with something real to say, and their own sonic universe to explore.

Essential track: Future In The Sky — a euphoric, sky-reaching anthem that captures the band’s spiritual ambition and widescreen sound.

Peter Azzopardi – Our City Changes At Night

Azzopardi’s album is a glowing portrait of late-night city life — from the neon-lit hope to the shadows lurking behind familiar streets. Our City Changes At Night blends crisp guitars, pulsing rhythms and his trademark atmospheric storytelling. The themes revolve around identity, self-discovery and the way places shape us more than we admit. There’s a cinematic quality here: every track feels like a scene, a moment, a snapshot frozen in time. Emotionally rich and musically sleek, it’s his most complete work to date.

Essential track: Running In Circles: Urgent, atmospheric and instantly gripping

Lunar Sounds – Out The Dark

A cathartic blast of alt-indie firepower, Out The Dark tackles self-doubt, resilience and personal growth with fierce honesty. Lunar Sounds channel raw emotion into soaring choruses, serrated guitar lines and rhythmic power that never lets up. The production is tight, the songwriting focused, and the message loud and clear: fighting your way back to yourself is messy, necessary and worth every step. It’s empowering without being preachy, vulnerable without losing its edge — a statement debut.

Essential track: Better Than This — A fierce, defiant anthem that transforms struggle into empowerment.

Yogi G & The Family Tree – Show Me The Truth

Yogi G delivers a vibrant fusion of psych-soul, indie grit and spiritual uplift, resulting in one of the most distinctive albums of the year. Show Me The Truth is full of groove-heavy rhythms, swirling guitars and vocals that carry both authority and vulnerability. There’s a deep sense of purpose in the songwriting — searching for honesty, connection and something bigger than the everyday grind. It’s bold, colourful and rewarding from the first listen to the fiftieth. A genuine standout.

Essential track: The Blind Man And The Monkey — A groove-driven spiritual journey that captures the album’s wisdom, soul and psychedelic depth.

The Royston Club – Songs For The Soul

The Royston Club level up with Songs For The Soul, a heartfelt, hook-first record brimming with emotion, melody and coming-of-age confession. They tackle themes of heartbreak, belonging, regret and self-growth with a disarming honesty that cuts straight through. Musically, the band lean into rich guitars, warm textures and choruses that feel tailor-made for festival crowds. It’s their most mature and affecting work yet — polished, passionate and packed with replay value.

Essential track: The Patch Where Nothing Grows — a beautifully fragile moment that captures the band’s emotional depth and lyrical maturity at its very best.

Little Strange – Bad Days

Bad Days is a fuzzy, psychedelic burst of technicolour indie — all swirling riffs, madcap charm and gritty Northern personality. Little Strange sound fully confident in their eccentricities, throwing themselves into grooves that bend, twist and erupt without warning. There’s a freedom running through the record: no rules, no restraints, just pure creative instinct and a stack of riffs heavy enough to shake ceilings. It’s vibrant, messy in all the right ways, and addictive from the first hit.

Essential track: Bad Days — infectious, gritty and impossible to shake.

In an era where we are told that there are no bands anymore, 2025 proved that the grassroots indie scene has never been stronger.

These albums didn’t just soundtrack the year — they shifted it.

From future festival headliners to fearless newcomers, this was the year the underground pushed hard enough to be impossible to ignore.

And if this is where things stand now?

2026 is about to be huge.

Check out the ThisIsTheMusic New Music Playlist to hear all of these great albums and more emerging artists here,