Soul-baring ballads, alt-rock fury and neon-lit techno: five-star albums you may have missed this year

Valentina Magaletti drummed for her life, Sarz got hips swinging and Daniel Avery got slinky and serpentine: our writers pick their favourite unsung LPs from 2025 The 50 best albums of 2025 More on the best culture of 2025

The 10 best jazz albums of 2025

Jakob Bro’s Bill Frisell collaboration finally saw the light, Cécile McLorin Salvant drew on her teenage pop memories and Anthony Braxton looked back to 1985 The 50 best albums of 2025 More on the best culture of 2025

‘We bonded over losing very good friends in our mid-20s’: the candid, shoegazey dream-pop of Snuggle

Heartbreak and humour combine in the Danish duo’s appealing blend of balladry, shoegaze and miminalist pop

What happened next: the Oasis comeback

When the band played their homecoming shows, the city council attempted to discourage ticketless fans from an area that became known as ‘Gallagher Hill’. But, realistically, nothing could keep them away ...

The best old music we discovered this year

Strange folk, lost pop, disco oddities and, um, Dido – here are the forgotten tracks that became this year’s most replayed revelations The 50 best albums of 2025 More on the best culture of 2025

The Sound of a 'Charlie Brown' Christmas

Growing up, my holidays were profoundly shaped by the soundtrack to a classic animated special.