Send this to someone who likes pop music because these are my top five favorite pop albums of 2025.

At Number Five, we are going with an album that, frankly, I don't think got enough love this year, and that's Miley Cyrus' Something Beautiful. Miley is literally singing her heart out on so many of these tracks, giving some of her best vocal performances on record, and crazy instrumental and production choices, too. And people are just unimpressed. You people are insane.

At Number Four, it is Black Country, New Road, Forever Howlong. If you're looking for some really warm, brisk, friendly, upbeat, twee-type indie pop tunes that are all about friends and appreciating each other, listen to this thing.

At Number Three, I really enjoyed the psych, pop, and rock excursions that Panda Bear went on with his recent Sinister Grift record.

At Number Two, we are going with the new Spellling album, [Portrait of My Heart], which sure has a lot of alternative rock vibes on it, but it still very much works in a way that will appeal to fans that have loved her straight art-pop stuff.

And at Number One, we are going with Nourished by Time, The Passionate Ones. As scuzzy and as weird as some of the beats and instrumentals on this thing are, the choruses and the songs themselves are just so freaking good. They shine through all of the opaqueness. But yeah, great record, incredible record. You got to listen to it.