In the constantly changing and evolving landscape that is music, there is almost always something to look forward to. Even with the insane year that we just came off of and other huge releases at the beginning of 2025, there are still plenty of projects to look forward to. From legends to upcomers, here are my most anticipated albums of the Spring 2025.
First, let me talk about my favorite band of all time, Car Seat Headrest. This band has everything I look for in a band. Their music ranges from intense and chaotic to laid back and accessible. With albums like Twin Fantasy, Teens of Denial, and How to Leave Town, they are certainly indie legends and for sure my favorite band that I’ve listened to yet.
With the recent release of their single “Gethsemane,” the band announced their upcoming album Scholars. After the 2020 disappointment, Making a Door Less Open, the new eleven-minute single makes me very excited. It’s a blend between the electronic sound found on MADLO and the more lyrically focused content found in their prior works.
This is their first album in five years, so while I’m very excited for more material, I’m very intrigued to see how they’re gonna surround this single with equally good tracks. Overall, I am always going to be hyped up for new CSH releases, and to think that I’m seeing them live a mere thirteen days after the album is planned to be released, I am ecstatic to see what Scholars is going to be like.
The next upcoming release I want to talk about is the new Black Country, New Road album. If you have never heard of the band, no, they are not country music. They are a jazz/art rock band from the UK, and they are easily one of the most talented bands in the world as of right now.
Their 2021 and 2022 albums, For the first time and Ants From Up There, are already classics with possibly the best collection of songs seen in the 2020s decade thus far. With songs like “The Place Where He Inserted the Blade” and “Sunglasses,” the band has shown that they are more than capable of making sonically brilliant and thought-provoking songs since the inception of their band’s existence.
However, the lead singer from these previous albums, Isaac Wood, unfortunately left the band due to mental health complications. With the new singer, May Kershaw, at the helm for her first studio album as a singer, there is a lot of intrigue for the band. With the singles “Besties” and “Happy Birthday,” Black Country, New Road has seen mixed reviews. While the talent is clearly still there, the swagger and style that they had prior to Wood’s departure aren’t quite up to par, even with Kershaw’s beautiful vocals.
Their upcoming album Forever Howlong is one that I’m eagerly awaiting, and even if it isn’t as good as their previous works, I’m sure it will still be a good addition to the BC,NR catalogue.
Another band I’ve enjoyed for an extended period of time is the post rock band Swans. Swans’ music is not for everybody. Typically, their songs may range anywhere from five to forty minutes, with slow buildups and deafening crescendos. The lyrics are always weird and their albums almost always go over the two hour mark.
Michael Gira, the lead singer, is now over seventy years old. The band has been making music for over forty years, with a changing lineup every few years. While their stretch from 2011 to 2016 is their best stretch, their last album, 2023’s The Beggar, showed that Swans still have it and are perfectly capable of releasing great music.
While their upcoming album Birthing may not be as great as their legendary albums To Be Kind, The Seer, Soundtracks for the Blind, and The Glowing Man, the single “I Am A Tower” seems to be a return to form for the post rock legends. I am very intrigued to see how this album will turn out due to Gira being seventy and this really may be the last Swans album.
In 2024, Swans had a live album that was leaked and eventually used as a fundraiser for Birthing, amplifying the excitement for the new project. Swans hasn’t missed in nearly thirty years, and I’m confident that their 2025 album will be yet another fantastic album in their discography.
Ever since 2007, Bon Iver has consistently released great albums every few years. For Emma, Forever Ago is an incredible debut album that really illustrates what the Wisconsin folk artist is about: Soft spoken folk music that ranges from heartbreaking to spiritual, all recorded from his home state.
Bon Iver is another artist who hasn’t missed in his discography. Whether it’s his aforementioned debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago, or his sophomore album, Bon Iver, or even his 2016 sonically brilliant 22, A Million, his albums have always been fantastic and something I look forward to.
With the release of the EP, Sable, we saw a continuation of the themes we’ve always seen. While the EP wasn’t incredible by any means, it’s yet another excellent folk outing for Bon Iver. Along with the EP are the singles he released at the end of 2024 and the beginning of this year. These singles consist of S P E Y S I D E, Everything is Peaceful Love, and If Only I Could Wait / Walk Home. These singles are fantastic, and they resume the consistently amazing streak of Bon Iver’s music. His new album, releasing in early April, titled SABLE, fABLE, is another album I am eagerly awaiting.
As I stated before, there’s a wide variety of great music coming out in the Spring of this year. These are only the albums I’m most excited about, even though several more albums are coming from great artists like Deafhaven, Lana Del Ray, Panchiko, Little Simz, and Mos Def. 2025 is shaping up to be yet another great year, and these are obvious reasons why.
