PRP's Picks: Best New Releases of 2025!

As 2025 comes to a close, we here at Portland Radio Project are reflecting on some of the our favorite releases from the year!

Here are some of our album (and music-related!) picks down below. Happy New Year!

Patrick, host of The Mixtape (Thursdays from 7-9 PM)

The Optdemics – The Atom Complex: The Optdemics are a great new Portland band. The Atom Complex is their debut record. The vibe of the record is a beautiful blend of garage psych and folkie rock. The lyrics are stories that captivate the listening ear. This is another great record from Andy Giegerich and Braxeling Records. Their whole catalog is well worth checking out.

Boleros Psicodelicos II – Adrian Quesada: This is yet another great record from Adrian Quesada. Any band or record he is part of is a must for the collection. From Black Pumas to his solo projects, the musicianship, the funky grooves and production is always incredible. This record, which is the follow-up from his first Boleros Psicodelicos record, has a beautiful latin feel coupled with 60’s psych vibe that keeps the listener coming back for listen after listen.

Sad and Beautiful World – Mavis Staples: Mavis continues to make one incredible record after another. This new record is a call to keep fighting, taking care of each other and to be strong in these turbulent times. The album is filled with collaborations with the likes of Buddy Guy, Jeff Tweedy, Bonnie Raitt and many others. Mavis brings together a collection of songs that makes us want to embrace family, to believe in the power of each other and to believe in the power of possibility. We are all better off with Mavis in our lives!

Planting By The Signs – S.G. Goodman: This new record from S.G. Goodman is so good. The more you listen to it, the better it gets. Goodman weaves thought provoking stories of love, loss, grief and redemption with a textured musical landscape that is captivating. Her Portland show this year was tremendous and showed the power of her music and lyrics. This is an album that draws you in and makes it hard to put other records on!

DJ Jonny, Host of PDX Pop Now! Radio – Mondays, 7-8 PM & Jonny’s Playlist – Mondays, 9-10 PM

(New day and time starting 2026!)

Where to start with 2025 with so many releases this year. The group below are the ones that have been sticking in my head more often than not. Enjoy.

L.A. WITCH – DOGGOD: Gritty, reverb-soaked garage rock touching on dark textures. It’s raw and ritualistic, balancing menace and melody in a way that makes the record both haunting and addictive.

Deep Sea Diver – Billboard Heart: Gorgeous album that blends indie rock hooks with thoughtful songwriting. You can feel a sense of self-reflection, delivering songs that feel deeply personal. To say it another way, this is a real banger.

Stereolab – Instant Holograms On Metal Film: This album feels both nostalgic and quietly adventurous, timeless rather than dated. But to me, their sound never gets old but 15 years of waiting? Please Stereolab, don’t have another long stretch.

Panda Bear – Sinister Grift: Dreamy melodies with a mix of chill psychedelia while sharing some introspective moods. 5 years in the making, this is the record to listen to when wanting layered textures and escape from the world.

Horsegirl – Phonetics On and On: People who know me feel this album is too soft for my tastes but there is something about minimalist indie rock that tickles my fancy. Will it for you?

The Beths – Straight Line Was a Lie: Power rock pop? Maybe. This is an album that has bright melodies and killer hooks with lyrics that you’ll be singing after the songs end.

Cynthia

PRP Writer and Volunteer

In late August Paramore’s lead singer Haley Williams released stellar “Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party.” It’s an astonishing collection of great tracks sure to enjoy a long shelf life and catapult her career trajectory.

Once upon a time, in 2003 at the tender age of 14, Williams signed a contract with Atlantic Records. It required six albums with her band Paramore. The contract also required two solo albums. Today she’s the only original member remaining.

Twenty years later – having lived up to her end of the deal – Williams is like the proverbial butterfly emerging from its cocoon. We feel this both through her vocals (that range!), and the entire album’s fresh, freewheeling feel.

The new release – 20 tracks! – is chock-full of ace, self-assured songwriting. Co-written with friend and fellow musician Daniel James, topics range from depression and loss, to love, denouncing religion (“True Believer”), and her time with Paramore (“Glum”).

Arrangements fall into rock (“Mirtazapine” “Hard”), alt-rock (“True Believer” “Parachute”) pop-rock (“Ice in My OJ”) and indie-pop (“Whim”) genres, and no two songs sound alike. Williams released “Ego Death” on her own label, “Post Atlantic.”

Catchy, clever “Love Me Different” seems destined for radio airwaves. Buoyant “Disappearing Man” with its bright chords and layered vocals recalls The Beatles’ “Rubber Soul”… it’s that sonically rich. The candid, appealing title track is both sad and funny. Her melancholy but soothing “Negative Self Talk” arrives at a surprise conclusion.

“Parachute” is sure to be a fan-favorite at concerts, and I can’t wait to hear it live.Turn it up!

CD’s are sold out or on back order everywhere, but you can find it on her website. The album is up for a Grammy in the Best Alternative Music category.

Veronica, host of Subculture (Wednesdays from 7-8 PM)

“House of Dead Memories” – Sugar: Peak Sugar: big melodies, emotional gravity, and absolutely no wasted motion. Yes, the Hüsker Dü DNA is there—but this is a more focused, song-forward evolution, not a callback. Where Hüsker Dü burned fast, Sugar aimed. This track captures early-90s alternative at its smartest and most emotionally fluent. Loud enough to matter, sharp enough to last. Subculture-approved for a reason.

“Forever & Ever” – The Vapors: Classic Vapors: tight hooks, sharp angles, and that unmistakable early-80s new wave pulse.
This isn’t a nostalgia lap—it’s a band that understands exactly who they are. Time has added perspective, not softness. Smart, lean, and slightly impatient in the best post-punk tradition. Proof that new wave was never a trend—it was a framework. Subculture-approved, without hesitation.

KJM, host of Another State of Mind (Fridays from 8-9 PM)

Dry Socket / Violencia – Split: Portland hardcore punk group Dry Socket returns with an awesome split EP with Tijuana hardcore band Violencia. Both bands bring distinct approaches to the hardcore sound but share an anger against the world around us in its most precise and unwavering form. This EP delivers razor-sharp energy in its short runtime. Favorite Tracks: Last Chance; Sindrome Del Impostor.

Misery Whip – The Right to Live In Peace: The Portland band delivers a heavy missive on working class solidarity. The album grabs your attention with metallic instrumentation and vocals focused on unity of the working class against injustice, the need for optimism as a deliberate choice, and calling out the exploitation of rural communities here in Oregon and elsewhere. Favorite Tracks: Death Of A Small Town; Democracy Prevails.

Ninajirachi – I Love My Computer: The Australian artist’s new album is an introspective story which utilizes the electronic music of the 2010s. The album feels like a coming-of-age story through the lens of computer access in the social media era. Favorite tracks: iPad Touch; Infohazard.

Jenna, Host of Theme for a Tuesday (Tuesdays from 6-7 PM)

Djo – The Crux: “There’s a relaxed lean to The Crux and a confidence that emanates from Keery in a newly open way. His vocal performances are especially lovely: gorgeous, McCartney-like harmonies warm on ‘Golden Line,’ a shout-chorus swaggers in ‘Gap Tooth Smile.’ Keery is firmly in his element more than ever, even on the dance-pop outlier ‘Basic Being Basic,’ or the chugging, Police-style guitar n’ bass of ‘Delete Ya.'” – Paste

Beach Bunny – Tunnel Vision: “Actual time travel may not be possible, but one surefire way of escaping down a temporal wormhole is through music. Obviously, it’s most potent when you hear a song from your youth that you haven’t listened to for years, and which immediately transports you to a time when said song was an important part of your life—but it can happen with new music, as well. Chicago-based Beach Bunny’s third full-length, Tunnel Vision, is a case in point.” – Flood Magazine

Stereolab – Instant Holograms On Metal Film: “Capturing the inspiring spark in bygone visions of what the future could be is one of Stereolab’s greatest strengths, and the brilliant ways they do this on Instant Holograms on Metal Film don’t just live up to their legacy — they push it forward.” – AllMusic

Hayley Williams – Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party: “Here, she doesn’t limit herself to one cohesive palette. Instead, she and producer Daniel James frame Williams’ multi-octave range in a variety of pop subgenres—indie pop, pop rock, dream pop—giving it ample space to roam and ramble.” – Pitchfork

Babygirl – Stay Here Where It’s Warm: “Toronto-based duo Babygirl says its music is inspired by acts from all corners of the pop pantheon, from Katy Perry to The Beach Boys to Swedish hitmaker Max Martin. But the sound of their debut album is far less manufactured and glossy than what you might expect from this description. It’s pretty, but subtler and gentler than ‘California Gurls’ (or even ‘California Girls’, for that matter). While the influences of these pop acts are certainly felt, Stay Here Where It’s Warm has a dreamy, fuzzy sound more reminiscent of fellow Canadian act Alvvays.” – Spill Magazine

Starover Blue – Little Glimmer:“Their fourth studio album feels both intimate and immense, with moments of hushed vulnerability often blooming into cathartic tonal expanses. Led by longtime collaborators Kendall Sallay and Dirk Milotz, the band crafts an immersive balance between impactful guitars and delicate vocal harmonies, drifting seamlessly between fragility and force.” – Obscure Sound

Ellis, Host of The Warehouse Continuum (Thursdays at 9 PM)

FKA Twigs – Eusexua: Charli XCX went to the club on Brat and found herself. FKA Twigs went to the club on Eusexua and left her physical form entirely. Eusexua started the year off with a bang that no other pop record this year could match, an explosion of noise and emotion that used the sound of techno as a gateway to explore the contradictory experiences of community and isolation in the club. The world of Eusexua starts and ends at the threshold of the dancefloor, but Twigs doesn’t find that limiting. Instead, the bounds of the club become a launchpad to soar. That dynamic is established by the hook of the second track, when Twigs tells us “when a girl feels good, it makes the world go round.” Emotion — immediate, urgent emotion — is the driving force of Twigs’ world. Even though dance is a physical act, and this is undoubtedly a dance record, there is a point where body and mind fuse, where the hypnosis of music and movement morphs dancers into new creatures entirely, creatures whose emotions are released through twirls and steps and whose movement seems to pass through more than just three dimensions. That is the point at which Eusexua lives. At its best, techno rewires your ears and synchronizes its frequencies with yours, dissolving the boundaries between body and mind and bringing you directly to that place. Unlike some pop stars who take a club turn, Twigs clearly understands techno’s sultry, hypnotic draw, and she wields it like a natural. Her producer-collaborators Koreless and Sasha step up to her challenge as well, delivering a collection of instrumentals that are at times grungy and industrial (as on “Drums of Death”), at times hypnotic and heady (“Girl Feels Good”), and at times expansive and entrancing (as on the transcendent title track). All together, Eusexua is an instant classic of dance pop. Twigs and her collaborators have created a monument to the promise of club music, a manifesto of personal and collective transcendence. Even more impressively, Eusexua is an accessible and engaging pop record without sacrificing its underground bona fides.

Jens Lenkman – Songs for Other People’s Weddings: As you can probably tell from the tracklists of my show (The Warehouse Continuum, Thursdays at 9, tune in why don’t ya), I am not a lyrics guy. I listen to music sound, for texture, for structure, and every now and then I might catch a word or two along the way. That’s why I was so surprised to find myself not just following along but deeply charmed by Jens Lenkman’s new record, an album-length narrative pulled from his real-life experiences as a wedding singer. Everything about Songs From Other People’s Weddings is a delight. Lenkman’s cheeky, off-kilter songs are subtly weird in a way that keeps the listener guessing yet somehow fit perfectly together, a lyrical jigsaw puzzle of imperfect love and human connection. Every time I listen I can’t help but grin.

Jorg Kuning – Elvers Pass: On Elvers Pass, Jorg Kuning answers the question on everyone’s lips: what if techno were made by toads? Kuning wrangles his modular synthesizers into wobbly, morphing textures that dance over skipping house and electro beats like ferrofluid and encourage the listener to do the same. It’s been a good year for techno that lives in the grey area between mechanical and organic (see also: releases by Facta and K-Lone, DjRUM, OK EG, Priori), but Elvers Pass is the gloopiest and the most playful of the lot. Recommended to anyone who likes pond scum, moss, Beatrix Potter, and dancing with their eyebrows raised in surprise.

Nathan, Host of Cinema Re-Score (Saturdays at 11 AM)

Sinners, dir. Ryan Coogler: Sinners soundtrack combine blues, jazz and Irish folk to create an amazing mix. With fantastic and thought provoking songs like “I Lied To You”, “Magic What We Do”, and a cover of “Rock Road to Dublin”. Sinners is a films stepped in culture as is the soundtrack.

Chainsawman: The Movie: Chainsawman: The Movie sees the return of musician Kenshi Yonezu (who made “Kick Back” the opening for the previous season) starting the movie off with a song called “IRIS OUT” which is a frantic, chaotic and jazzy tune that perfectly captures the movies high energy.

Brian, Production & PDX Pop Now! Manager

25 Album Picks of 2025

Alien Boy – You Wanna Fade [PDX]

The Beths – Straight Was A Lie

Buddy Wynkoop – Better Than Botox [PDX]

Circa Waves – Death & Love

Dear Boy – Celebrator

Deep Sea Diver – Billboard Heart [SEA]

Femme Cell – Does Anybody Want This Unbreakable Bond? [PDX]

Garbage – Let All That We Imagine Be The Light

Lackadaisy – Get Me Out Of My Head [PDX]

Lady Pills – Renowned in the Roaring Twenties

Mamalarky – Hex Key

Meggie Lennon – Desire Days

Missionary Girls – Bleeding Out [PDX]

Rocket – R Is For Rocket

Roscoe Tripp – Tiny Antelopes [DC]

Ruby Sparks – Iris

Samia – Bloodless

Sloan – Based On The Best Seller

Snocaps – Snocaps

Splitsville – Mobtown [Baltimore]

Superchunk – Songs in the Key of Yikes

Sydney Sprague – Peak Experience

Tom Smith – There Is Nothing In The Dark That Isn’t There In The Light

TOPS – Bury The Key

White Reaper – Only Slightly Empty

Penelope, Host of Past Future Present (Saturdays from 7-8 PM)

Addison Rae, Addison: I love a good debut album, and this one did not disappoint. Addison is so much fun, ideal for dancing, and offers a lot of nostalgia. A perfect pop album! My personal favorite song is the opening track: New York.