Great Albums Ahead: 2025

With the rollout of album announcements (and some early contenders in January) — FUV's hosts tackled the tough task of picking just one album (of many promising candidates) that they're excited to see out in the world this winter and early spring. Not an easy choice by far, but the DJs delivered their must-find faves.

Franz Ferdinand, The Human Fear (January 10)

Franz Ferdinand has always been synonymous with fun, and, judging from their effortlessly infectious single “Audacious,” there's plenty of it on The Human Fear, despite its title. This is the first album of new music from the Scottish rockers in almost seven years and Alex Kapranos and company have brewed up an abundance of big hooks to get toes tapping and heads bobbing. - Eric Holland

Ringo Starr, Look Up (January 10)

I've really been looking forward to the brand new album from Ringo, introduced live in concert on January 14-15, at Nashville's famed Ryman Auditorium. Working with legendary producer, writer and musician T Bone Burnett, Look Up embraces Ringo's longtime passion for country music. This is not a covers album but rather a collection of new original songs that feature guests including Alison Krauss, Billy Strings and Lucius. - Dennis Elsas

Youth Lagoon, Rarely Do I Dream (February 21)

When Trevor Powers announced the end to his beloved indie pop project in 2016, I thought I'd seen and heard the last of Youth Lagoon. Seven years later, 2023's Heaven Is a Junkyard saw a revival and revitalization of the project, and a return of the hauntingly catchy melodies that had first drawn me in. Anything new from Youth Lagoon feels like a gift, and fans find themselves again on the receiving end in 2025, with the childhood-nostalgia-packed record, Rarely Do I Dream. The latest single “Speed Freak” has me racing toward the release date. - Emma Philippas

Miya Folick, Erotica Veronica (February 28)

Having heard a few advance tracks from Miya Folick's third album, Erotica Veronica, I've become a fast fan. It's easy to like these pop and rock songs with their catchy melodies and Folick's clear, sweet and at times plaintive voice, floating along. - Corny O'Connell

Bob Mould, Here We Go Crazy (March 7)

For Bob Mould fans, the past four and a half years have been rather quiet, but that's about to change. Mould will be roaring back with Here We Go Crazy, his fourteenth studio album. Expect tight and infectious power pop melodies delivered on a torrent of raging guitars impacting with bludgeoning force. Add Mould's direct, intense, yet heartfelt ruminations on life, love, and the world we live in, and Here We Go Crazy will surely become another touchstone in Mould's distinguished career. - Darren DeVivo

Divorce, Drive to Goldenhammer (March 7)

Back when the Nottingham band released their first single, 2021's sardonic "Services," it was clear that something good was afoot as Tiger Cohen-Towel and Felix Mackenzie-Barrow's sinewy harmonies flirted with a fuzz-blasted bassline and a blistering squall of guitar. Over the past four years, the quartet — which includes guitarist Adam Peter-Smith and drummer Kasper Sandstrøm (also of Do Nothing) — has released smartly crafted, emotionally complex songs and EPs that dare to be different, seamlessly swapping between volcanic grunge, tender folk rockers, blithe murder ballads, and swaggering synth-pop. The first three singles released from their forthcoming Catherine Marks-produced debut album, Drive to Goldenhammer — "All My Freaks," "Antarctica" and "Pill" — are an impressive triad of what this sublime, shape-shifting quartet can and will do. — Kara Manning

My Morning Jacket, Is (March 21)

What I love about this band is that not only do they rock, they also offer a sense of positivity and connection that is really encouraging and needed. I already love the first single, "Time Waited," which offers a slight shift of perspective: time doesn't have to work against us, it can actually work with us. I love that. - Alisa Ali

Perfume Genius, Glory (March 28)

The music of Mike Hadreas aka Perfume Genius has often been filled with synths (and more recently, dance beats) centered around complicated and deeply personal songs. With "It's a Mirror," the first song released from the new album, Hadreas simplifies his sound a bit, while still adding layers to it. - Russ Borris

The Waterboys, Life, Death, and Dennis Hopper (April 4)

Having addressed the iconic outlaw actor and filmmaker before in song, Mike Scott and company now dedicate an entire album to Dennis Hopper, who intersected with music through the years in many meaningful ways. - Paul Cavalconte

Mike Scott and his ever changing crew of Waterboys musicians have signed to Sun Records and will have their first release with the label this year. Mike writes on Instagram that the album is "the story of [Dennis Hopper's] life in songs — and the story of his and our times." Scott has tapped big names like Bruce Springsteen and Fiona Apple to guest on the project. I like how Mike Scott writes a song like a short story and this album looks like it will be a fun journey down memory lane. - Janet Bardini

My Son The Doctor, Glamours (April 4)

I’ve been eagerly awaiting a My Son The Doctor album since premiering the Brooklyn indie-punk band’s debut EP on my blog back in 2020. Whether singing about what he is (a sashimi-loving sad boy) or who he’s not (Barry Bonds), MSTD frontman Brian Hemmert delivers creative lyrics with the perfect combo of sincerity and silliness, often between sets of jumping jacks, as his bandmates and longtime best friends — bassist Matt Nitzberg, guitarist Joel Kalow, and drummer John Mason — rock out around him. I’ve spent countless joyful nights in sweaty crowds dancing to the sounds of these sweet boys (all sons; none medical professionals), and I can’t wait to hear what they have up their (probably mesh) sleeves with this new record. - Sam Sumpter

The Cure, TBA

Last year Cure fans waited with bated breath for Songs of a Lost World, the Cure's fourteenth studio album. For those who have been along for the ride with this band for decades, there was also apprehension as to whether the album would delight or disappoint. Happily the verdict was the former and fans around the world got to hear it live. So the news that there were enough extra songs to fill another album, that they're already good to go, means another new Cure album in 2025. On a personal level, I was on a family trip when the Cure played New York on their recent epic world tour, so much of my excitement is at the prospect of a fresh opportunity to see my favorite band live. Fingers crossed on that. So far Robert Smith has only forecast a new record. - Delphine Blue