Joy Williams - Concerning the Future of Souls: 99 Stories of Azrael

It's metaphysical, and sideways even when it seems direct; the directness comes in at least three forms, namely direct appearances from Azrael (usually in conversation with the Devil, and these are the funnest), direct examples or discussions of the passage and prospects of souls after this life (and in this period of history), and those that are both.

(Ninety-Nine Stories of God)

Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein - The Mushroom Tapes

A woman killed some family members with poisonous mushrooms in a meal she cooked, somewhere in regional Victoria - to great public fascination. That's pretty much literally all I knew about the matter, having avoided nearly all the detail and discussion at the time. So for me this was a readable more-or-less introduction to the events and the surrounding public discussion, in three safe-feeling sets of hands, and probably about as much insight - at about the level of 'certainty' - as I wanted and would've trusted.

Julien Baker & Torres - Send a Prayer My Way

It's nice, nothing more. Not really meaning to damn by faint praise - there are some good songs here and the whole album's charismatic to listen to. But when I hold this up against the quality and power of Little Oblivions or the upper echelon of the indieish country-rock genre that this collab falls into, it's not at that level. I still like it though.

2025: "Don't be a stranger"

1. Don't Let The Bastards Get You Down - Margo Price
Hard Headed Woman (Lorna Vista, 2025)

2. Hungover in a Deer Stand - Dylan Marlowe
Mid-Twenties Crisis (Sony, 2024)

3. Wristwatch - MJ Lenderman
Manning Fireworks (Anti-, 2024)

4. Am I Okay? - Megan Moroney
Am I Okay? (Sony, 2024)

5. Ankles - Lucy Dacus
Forever is a Feeling (Geffen, 2025)

6. Afterlife - Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory
Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory (Jagjaguwar, 2025)

7. No One Knows Us - Brandi Carlile
Returning to Myself (Interscope, 2025)

8. Golden - HUNTR/X
KPop Demon Hunters OST (Republic, 2025)

9. Glum - Hayley Williams
Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party (Post Atlantic, 2025)

10. Euro-Country - CMAT
Euro-Country (CMATBABY, 2025)

I didn't listen to music very intently in 2025, so it's no surprise that existing favourites and familiar sounds are most of this, led by Sharon Van Etten and Brandi Carlile - garlanded by the late-arriving breath of fresh air that is CMAT. In general - country vibes, pop gloss, pretty melodies, drama and feels.

(spotify)

KPop Demon Hunters

The soundtrack was already thoroughly embedded and now I've finally actually watched the thing, I have the rest of the pieces to see why it's been such a phenomenon. We could do far worse in terms of product to take over the world's attention.

CMAT - Euro-Country

What a trio this album starts off with - the title track with its curling melodies, whoops and ululations, the almost (or maybe actually) OTT Celtic-country crooner "When A Good Man Cries", and the Kraut-rock-ish - and also "Common People"-ish - "The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station" whose motorwayish sound is appropriate given the lyrics. The whole thing's a joy - music as art in several senses, individual expression far from the least of those, and in a way that bridges.

Hayley Williams - Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party

I don't know why so many acts remind me of Metric, specifically Metric circa Fantasies and Synthetica - how much is anything truly distinctive about them and how much them just coming along at the right time for me. But they come to mind again across the excellent Ego Death ... - as do Garbage, and plenty of other more contemporary pop acts. This album's a smorgasbord of styles, with a pretty consistent energy and attitude - although across 20 tracks the first half's a lot stronger than the second. It's high gloss and so it sounds like the hooks and tunes should be more immediate than they are, but many of the songs here are growers - even the big anthems - while being filled with fun details.