End-of-year lists are a mug’s game. There’s always something you’ve missed, something you haven’t listened to enough, something that’ll age badly. But they’re also useful — a snapshot of what resonated, a starting point for people who want to explore.

These aren’t necessarily the “best” Australian albums of 2025 in any objective sense. They’re the ones I kept coming back to, the ones that sparked conversations, and the ones I think will still sound vital in five years.

1. Kinder — “Debt Collector”

Kinder’s third album is their most ambitious and their best. The Melbourne duo expanded their synth-pop palette with orchestral arrangements, spoken word passages, and some of the most emotionally raw songwriting of the year. “Debt Collector” is about obligation — emotional, financial, cultural — and it hits harder than anything this polished has a right to.

2. Barkaa — “Blak Matriarchy”

Barkaa’s debut full-length arrived with enormous expectations and exceeded them. Produced largely by herself with contributions from a handful of collaborators, it’s a furious, tender, political, and deeply personal record that positions Barkaa as one of Australia’s most important voices. The title track will be played at rallies and in clubs with equal force.

3. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever — “Endless Rooms”

RBCF continue to refine their formula without becoming stale, which is harder than it looks. “Endless Rooms” has the jangling guitars and overlapping vocals we’ve come to expect, but the songwriting is sharper and the production more adventurous. “Blue Ruin” is the best single they’ve released.

4. Sycco — “Head Heavy”

The Brisbane artist’s debut album translates her bedroom-pop beginnings into a fully realised sonic world. It’s dreamy and precise at the same time, with production that rewards headphone listening and melodies that stick for days. She’s twenty-two. This is terrifying and exciting.

5. Amyl and the Sniffers — “Cartoon Darkness”

What happens when Australia’s best punk band decides to get political? You get “Cartoon Darkness,” a record that channels rage about climate policy, housing affordability, and national identity into songs that would still work as pub anthems. Amy Taylor remains the most compelling frontperson in Australian music.

6. Tkay Maidza — “Sweet Justice”

Tkay’s evolution from festival-friendly pop to boundary-pushing art-pop is complete. “Sweet Justice” draws from dancehall, industrial, R&B, and whatever she feels like on any given track. It shouldn’t work as a cohesive album, but somehow it does. She’s operating at a level most Australian artists don’t reach.

7. Julia Jacklin — “Pre Pleasure”

Jacklin’s third album strips things back to voice, guitar, and devastating honesty. Where her previous records explored relationships and identity through layered production, “Pre Pleasure” puts the songwriting completely front and centre. It’s her most exposed record and possibly her best.

8. Hiatus Kaiyote — “Telepathy”

The Melbourne jazz-funk-soul collective’s fourth album is their most accessible without sacrificing the complexity that makes them unique. “Telepathy” grooves harder than anything they’ve released, and Nai Palm’s vocals are staggering throughout. The band that Melbourne can’t stop bragging about just gave us another reason.

9. Spacey Jane — “Here Comes Everybody”

Spacey Jane’s second album had to prove they’re more than a Hottest 100 phenomenon, and it does. The songwriting has matured significantly, moving beyond the anthemic indie rock of their debut into more textured, emotionally nuanced territory. They’re growing up in public, and it sounds good.

10. E L K — “Tiny Ruins”

The least well-known artist on this list, and the one I most want people to hear. E L K (formerly known as Elk Road) has reinvented himself as a producer-singer making delicate, glitchy folk-electronic music from a studio in regional Victoria. “Tiny Ruins” is a quiet masterpiece that rewards patience and repeat listens.

Honourable Mentions

Vance Joy’s “In Our Own Sweet Time” showed unexpected depth. Thelma Plum’s EP “Better in Blak (Reimagined)” was gorgeous. The Chats released another album that was exactly what you’d expect and exactly what you wanted. Camp Cope’s return single suggests their next album will be essential.

It was a strong year for Australian music. It usually is. The challenge, as always, is making sure the world hears it.