2025 has been a great year for music. So many huge stars have released albums or are set to release them. Specifically, this summer was huge for pop girls (and boys) of all sub-genres. With releases from artists like Addison Rae, Alex Warren, Conan Gray, and more, the summer was full of new music from our favorites. Maybe it is the revitalization of recession pop, or a distraction from whatever is going on in the real world, but me and the other pop princesses are here for it.
Shockingly, I have so many opinions. Including my favorite albums from summer 2025. My top 3 go as follows:
#3: man’s Best friend- Sabrina carpenter
This was and still is my late summer fav. There is something about a woman letting a man act like he’s in charge of the situation. Carpenter perfectly captures the line between satire and just pure filth. The production of the album is all synth pop and disco while still keeping in step with 2025 Jack Antonoff. The whole album experience is almost vaudevillian in nature with how Carpenter creates this dominant/submissive world between her and men.
My favorite song off the album is “My Man on Willpower”. The song relays the tales of being dropped by a man who actually has started to pick up the pieces of his life. I love this song because I so deeply relate to the concept of yearning for an emotionally stable man (impossible).
#2: A matter of time- laufey
Respectfully, this album changed by brain chemistry. I’ve been an OG fan of Laufey. I cried the day “Bewitched” came out and wrote “Life Is Prettier Than It Might Seem” from her song “Letter to my 13 Year Old Self” on my high school graduation cap. Very clearly, I was eagerly awaiting this album. And it delivered.
The production is somehow more beautiful than anything she’s ever done. Laufey and her production team are collecting classical and jazz sub-genres like Pokemon. From the country feel on “Clean Air” to the French-inspired sound on “Carousel”, it all works.
My favorite song on the album is “Too Little, Too Late”. While I don’t believe that there is a single skip on this album, this song narrowly slid into my number one spot. From the gut wrenching lyrics like “A tug-of-ear of leave and stay” to the outro including melodies off her last album. This song perfectly captures the feeling of being just a little too late to get that person back.
And finally, #1: Virgin- lorde
Much like Laufey, I worship Lorde. Since my 19th birthday, I have had Melodrama on repeat. This album was what I looked forward to most all of June. And my god, it delivered. This album is absolutely amazing. I know this is a common saying, but I really do wish I could listen to it for the first time again. A short and sweet 34 minutes that somehow capture all of the feelings surrounding the jump from girlhood to womanhood. I sat and thought about how I am currently making that jump
The production on this is unlike anything else that Lorde has released in the past. You can tell she was experimenting with what she wanted her sound to be, and all of that experimenting worked.
My favorite song was hard to pick on this. I don’t think that this album has a skip either. But my favorite song on Virgin is “Shapeshifter”. A few days after the album came out, two different friends called to check on me, specifically for that song. I think it is a largely perfect song. I love the rock-y production that somehow makes it feel live with the buzz of an amp and I love her ethereal vocals at the end. My favorite lyrics in it are the bridge, “I’ll kick you out, I’ll pull you in, say that you were just a friend, and when it’s all over again, say that I’m not affected”. She gets how it is to be in a low commitment, casual, situationship (it’s never casual).