Hi, everyone. Anthony Fantano here, the Internet's busiest music nerd, and your album dad. It is time for another great albums video, and segment, basically going over a bunch of releases that have dropped over the last month that I have really enjoyed. We are at the end of February.

Typically, in any given year, music industry-wise, album releases and really high-quality, memorable releases are sparse when you're talking first quarter. But the start of 2025 has actually been quite generous when it's come to a very good and enjoyable records.

So without any further ado, let's get into it. Here are the records that I really enjoyed in January and February 2025.

Starting with JPEGMAFIA. Not a full-length new album release that I'm shouting out here, more a Director's Cut version of his recently released I Lay Down My Life For You album.

Hearing these extra cuts, hearing this different version of the tracklist, hearing this different iteration of the album definitely gives me a perspective on just how quality the final version was that got released last year. But yes, still a killer project, still a killer LP, and just cool and exciting to hear it in this different strain, I suppose. A lot of cool deep cuts, though maybe not as much focus on the experimental rock and wrap fusion bits, which I think condensing that down on the finalized version was really the move. But yeah, again, very enjoyable, but pretty much solidified for me the moves he made on that project, which ultimately made it a really special standout in his catalog.

Also, a shout out to Cameron Winter. This one is also a bit of a different one that I'm pointing to, given that it's not really a 2025 album. This one came out late 2024, and I just caught up with it this year. But Cameron Winter is somebody who I hope you are familiar with already through his fronting of the awesome New York rock band Geese, their recent record, 3D country is absolutely fantastic when you're talking old-school rock and roll vibes with a bit of a wild protopunk edge to them.

Cameron, however, is slowing things down a little bit on this solo release, where he's going a bit more into singer/songwriter mode, referencing elements of soul and gospel music here and there on these tracks. And you've got a lot of great, froggy, strangely beautiful ballads throughout the entirety of this album. It's really powerful and moving moments, especially toward the end. It is a very idiosyncratic, strange little listen, but if you connect with this record and what it's saying emotionally, I promise that it will absolutely hit hard. I will say that the songwriting and the vocals aren't going to be for everybody, but if you're able to get past to that and you're not necessarily going into this record looking for another Geese release, you're going to get a lot out of this album. Definitely one of the more out there and unique and impressive singer-songwriter records I've heard in a minute.

Moving on from there, we have FKA twigs, new album, EUSEXUA. A bit of a smattering of different dance music styles and sounds on this one, filtered through an art pop lens. Twigs brings her typically subtle sensual flair to a bunch of tracks that have a bit of a Y2K pop appeal with, again, a lot of dance grooves, a lot of atmosphere, a lot of meditations on love to either wanting freedom from it or freedom to engage in it without any hangups or judgments, that thing. Very, very enjoyable record for sure. I think one of twigs's best so far, and I can absolutely see why people are loving it and also scratching their heads a bit at moments like the North West feature. That track sounds a little Gwen Stefani-coded, but still a bit of a bop, in my opinion.

Moving on from there, we have Bad Bunny. DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS is his newest record over here. And got to say, this has to be his most forward-thinking, ambitious, and personal record so far. A lot of commentary on this record around nostalgia and desire and romance and heartbreak, much of which ends up being symbolic for his feelings around Puerto Rico. We have some great vocal performances across this record, some solid features too, and Bad Bunny really digging into some great roots music from the island, incorporating that into the instrumental palettes on this record in in a fantastic and tasteful way. But yeah, really enjoyable album all around from Bad Bunny, and one that I would argue is honestly his best so far, and most definitely a big, big, big massive improvement off of his last LP as well. Again, good songs, great production, thoughtful commentary, very solid, consistent tracklist for the most part, too. But yeah, really a high watermark in his catalog so far that going forward is going to be a little tough to beat, that's for sure.

Okay, next.

Mac Miller, posthumous record that dropped earlier this year, Balloonerism. Multiple times it has been said that the material on this project is pretty much like unreleased or shelved stuff that was recorded and planned to be put out around the Faces mixtape era, which is obviously a very beloved era for Mac Miller creatively. I know some of the material on this project has been floating around on the internet for a while, especially on platforms like SoundCloud. I will admit I wasn't super familiar with it going into this project, but honestly, pretty mindblowing record, frankly, especially considering how much more experimental and free wheeling and personal a lot of the tracks were in comparison to some of the more mainstream and label stuff Mac Miller was coming out with around this time.

And while the project may feel a little thrown together, really just like an assembly of tracks, considering the conditions under which it's being released here, it's still got a lot of great songs on it. A lot of booming, textured, fantastic production that has an old-school hip hop flair to it, but a lot of new-school, left-field, the oddity, qualities to it. The vibes are moody and psychedelic and contemplative and introspective. And yeah, again, overall, really great record that even though I am usually pretty skeptical when it comes to posthumous albums, I'm really glad that this material got to see the light of day in the way that it is on this record now.

Next, shout out to Ethel Cain for this Perverts "EP". I say EP with quotes because we are talking about a 90-minute project over here, and one that stylistically is a pretty big departure from what I think a lot of Ethel Cain fans love the project for. This is not like the spacey singer-songwriter, indie alternative pop blend that you guys may have enjoyed on previous records. No, Perverts over here is like a straight-up drone noise, experimental sound collage type experience, which honestly is well-produced, heavy, ominous, overpowering, well-crafted, and is creatively up there with nearly anything else in this art form that's going on right now at this moment.

And what's interesting about the quality of the music on this record is that this is just a side quest, again, as a noise, experimental dark ambient type experience. The sounds on this thing are great and genuinely horrifying. Plus, I think a lot of familiar themes that have been addressed on previous projects also turn up here, but they manifest in different ways that are unique but also consistent with what we've heard leading up until this point. But yeah, really cool record, really cool Ethel Cain project that I know not all the fans are into because it's not their cup of tea, and they did not see something like this coming, but I'm quite impressed with it, honestly.

All right, next.

An up and coming band whose new LP over here also dropped late last year, but I've really been enjoying it recently. This is the album Attempted Martyr from Prostitute. These guys are a Midwestern, post-hardcore noise rock outfit, whose new record here is packed with just heavy crushing riffs, wild manic vocal performances, a lot of shouted and spoken word. I would say some big Swans influence on this record as well. A lot of samples throughout the LP being pulled from various shades of Middle Eastern music, which really adds to the character and texture, as well as many of the lyrical themes throughout the record as well, many of which explore anger and zealotry and ideological extremity.

But yeah, very interesting and exciting album overall from an up and coming band that most definitely deserves the buzz that they have been getting as of late in the underground scene.

Also, a shout out to Horsegirl for their Phonetics On and On project, the band's second full-length LP, latest for Matador, and I'm really liking the raw, skeletal, like humble twee, indie songwriting with a bit of a post flair that the band is bringing on this project. I think the flow is very creative and consistent. It does a lot with a little. Liking the very dry, doubled-up vocals, the sparse drums, the raw, raw, raw guitars and bass. It's a very stark, high contrast album and sound that is delivering a lot of gentle performances and lovely, crushy, lovey-dovey songs. And yes, I'm just enamored with how adorable the tunes on this record are, and I will leave it there.

Finally, this is not a full-length record or a project I have given a full review of, but I do want to do a shout-out here as this is a shorter release. An EP from the band Maruja, who we have celebrated and pointed to on this channel multiple times up until this point. As of late, the band has dropped a couple of really great EPs, which see them blending together elements of post-punk and noise rock and jazz rock and post-rock, too. It's really a wild and creative blend of sounds the band has pulled together on these records. They're going to some really exciting places and drumming up a lot of well-deserved buzz. Seemingly, there is a proper full-length album on the way.

But in the meantime, what the band has served up here is this shorter release of just improvised instrumental jams that really just show the band chemistry, the band dynamics in full force. The heavy, jazzy, post-rock passages that play throughout this record are intense and thrilling. The band really knows how to build some tone-setting passages and really build up into something where they are all firing on all cylinders, especially with those horns. But yeah, the handful of lengthy instrumental jams on this EP are a roller coaster ride for sure, and just have my mouth watering even more for what they are eventually going to drop down the road, most likely bringing lyrics back into the fold and all that when they do it.

And yeah, that is going to be it for the great album segment. Hopefully, you got some good recommendations out of this.

Anthony Fantano. Great albums. Forever.