The 50 Best New Zealand Albums of 2025

Daily J deliver the indie rock goods on their second album.

Scatterbrains successfully builds on the promise of their 2020 debut album, Venus Ate Mars, with the lyrics on their latest collection probing deeper, more introspective material.

Talented multi-hyphenate Crystal Chen doesn’t disappoint on her debut album.

You can call me CC contains lovely melodies, intimate lyrics, and eclectic genre flourishes, from bossa nova to funk and soul. A second album from the Chinese-New Zealand artist will be highly anticipated.

NO CIGAR blend serious subject matter — addiction and anxiety — with their typically charming indie-rock grooves on their third album.

Their hit rate is remarkable: “Chantilly”, “Problem”, and “Best Behaviour” may be the standouts, but plenty of other tracks on Under the Surface could have been breakout anthems.

We recently featured Frank on Tap in our Up-And-Coming Aotearoa Artists series for a reason.

Combining thoughtful songwriting with gritty rhythms, the rising rock band’s debut album hints at a bright future.

London-based artist Arjuna Oakes will never not be vulnerable in his music. “I poured my whole heart and soul into this album,” as he said about his debut album, which was years in the making.

It’s a brave first collection, both lyrically and musically, Oakes pushing himself to his limits. While I’m Distracted is just reward for Oakes being so patient in bringing his debut to life.

Another album, another No. 1 chart position for the alt-metal heavyweights.

RE-EVOLUTION showcases Devilskin at their most formidable. They embrace genre turns throughout their first full-length album in five years, each track bolstered by exemplary production that brings out the band’s live prowess.

Mild Orange have spent the past several years quietly becoming one of New Zealand’s biggest global bands.

They found time during regular overseas tours to put together The//Glow, which highlights why the Dunedin-born outfit have built such a strong following in the first place.

Coast Arcade’s debut self-titled album is a wonderful throwback.

Their nostalgic sound evokes the heyday of 2000’s pop-punk and emo, updated for Gen Z. Coast Arcade’s debut is also an excellent coming-of-age record, dealing with burnout, malaise, longing for connection, and much more. They carry all this off with the sort of energy that has made their live shows unmissable up and down the country.

It’s no surprise that Harper Finn is a gifted songwriter; his father is Split Enz and Crowded House legend Tim Finn, after all.

Harper carries the family name well on his debut album, which ponders the struggles that come with living between two worlds, namely his homeland of Aotearoa and the non-stop energy of New York City. It’s a daunting songwriting task, for sure, but Harper deals with it with aplomb on Silo Park.

How Voom made us wait for their new album.

Something Good Is Happening arrived 19 long years after 2006’s Hello, Are You There?, so it’s no surprise that the long-awaited collection sounds sharp and cohesive.

There are indie-meets-power-pop gems spread throughout Something Good Is Happening, particularly “Trouble”, “I Love You Girl”, and “Magic”, the latter of which features a stellar guest turn from friend and collaborator Fazerdaze.

Pickle Darling is no stranger to our lists: the Christchurch musician’s previous album, Laundromat, earned a place on our countdown of the 80 Best New Zealand Albums of the Decade So Far.

After tiring of the song format on Laundromat, the ever-curious Lukas Mayo set out to showcase the intricacies of their recording process on its follow-up, paring everything back to the bare minimum. The result is a solid exercise in experimentation that rewards frequent listens.

Love is beautiful, love is cruel, and love in all its forms is courageously explored on Reb Fountain’s latest album.

The talented singer-songwriter excels at the same things on How Love Bends as she did on previous albums, Reb Fountain (2020) and Iris (2021): bracingly vulnerable lyricism, touching on identity, resilience and, yes, love, and a shapeshifting sound that traverses folk, rock, and pop. Long may her consistency continue.

Grecco Romank are proud weirdos. What else would you expect from a band who, as RNZ notes, have been said to make “dungeon eurorave” and “sewer pop” music?

But to only focus on the Auckland trio’s inherent strangeness would be to do them a disservice, because as Arts Colony, their new album, shows, they’re a skilled musical unit. A lesser group of musicians would have fallen off the tightrope that all weirdo bands must walk: being wickedly playful without sounding too self-indulgent.

Chaos in the CBD spent a decade building their name as purveyors of euphoric deep house, garnering over 100 million streams in the process.

Their long-awaited debut album explores house music and more across 14 tracks, with Louis and Ben Helliker-Hales proving themselves adept at a number of diverse sounds — soul, R&B, ambient, Balearic.

Aided by supreme collaborators such as Nathan Haines and Novelist, some tracks are a call to the dancefloor (and the beach), while others offer respite for chilled-out contemplation.

A Deeper Life will go down as one of the great New Zealand electronic records.

Life Advice is a taut collection of rugged post-punk from Soft Bait.

The Auckland-based band recall the likes of Viagra Boys and IDLES throughout their album, though the ominous atmospherics and rock ‘n’ roll swagger might make a listener think of the much-missed Glasgow band, The Amazing Snakeheads.

But Soft Bait make thrilling tracks like “Long Line” wholly their own, thanks to a commanding vocal performance and a rumbling rhythm section.

More moving neo-soul from the West Auckland artist.

The self-admitted introvert says that The Flowers That Grow From Concrete Pavements kickstarted a “healing journey” for him, and you can hear this in his stirring and sincere vocals.

The quality running through Nadia Reid’s first album since 2020’s Out of My Province is what we’ve come to expect from one of New Zealand’s most consistent singer-songwriters.

Enter Now Brightness received a glowing four-star review from us earlier this year. “It’s another winner in Reid’s impressive discography,” we wrote.

Cory Champion was a finalist for Best Jazz Artist at last year’s Aotearoa Music Awards for his Clear Path Ensemble project — expect him to be a contender in that category again in 2026 thanks to Black Sand.

Champion’s hypnotic compositions reward return listens, particularly the lauded “Cascade d’Ars” and the groovy “Good Time for Good Things”. Black Sand is a sonic voyage you’ll want to take again and again.

MĀ reached new heights on her second studio album.

Flipping effortlessly between te reo Māori and English, she raps and sings about subjects she cares deeply about — climate change and her work as a biodiversity ranger. The result is a measured observational record that deftly balances its weighty subject matter with playful production.

There’s a Tuesday have had a career year to remember.

The Christchurch-born indie pop band were selected for a prestigious Seoul residency, which led to them spending 10 days recording at professional studios and collaborating with local musicians. They also stopped by Australia for a headline show and BIGSOUND showcases.

There’s a Tuesday also found time to drop their second album. According to the Asia New Zealand Foundation, they stood out thanks to their dreamy sound and thoughtful approach to songwriting, and both of these things are on full display in Blush.

They flit between polished indie pop gems and rawer, rockier moments, making for a record that should win them many more overseas fans.

The best album title in this list, yes, and the best of the entire year. But what about the music?

“The Auckland-based four-piece deliver a more cohesive and controlled collection than their promising 2023 self-titled debut album. The Lord Is My German Shepherd proves that Ringlets are the most exciting post-punk band to emerge from the New Zealand music scene in years,” we praised in a four-star review earlier this year.

Ringlets might not be to everyone’s taste, but they’re very adept at what they do.

The lead vocalist of The Naked and the Famous was always going to produce a striking solo debut album.

As our four-star review noted, Slow Crush “isn’t a million miles away from that band’s brand of indietronica.”

“Whether she’s asking someone to ‘Kiss Me Like You’re So in Love’ or singing odes to ‘Boys and Guitars’, it’s a swooning, sweet collection of tracks that brings some intimacy to her widescreen pop,” our review added. Here’s hoping Xayalith has plans to release more solo records.

New Zealand’s answer to Kevin Morby? Maybe. Tom Lark is just as thoughtful a songwriter as the US musician on Moonlight Hotel, which finds him pondering the parallels between his family’s historical displacement following the 1929 earthquake that destroyed the West Coast pioneer town Murchison and his own displacement due to the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes.

Lark — aka Shannon Fowler — churns out catchy psych-folk tracks like it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. A lyricist to treasure.

There’s a reason we kicked off our new Deep Dive series with The Circling Sun’s latest album.

“Arranged for a vast array of woodwind, brass, keyboards, synthesisers, acoustic bass, drums, percussion, and choir vocals, Orbits is the very opposite of a sophomore slump,” as the feature noted. “Through a free-flowing confluence of spiritual jazz, Brazilian bossa nova, and samba soul influences, The Circling Sun build on the 1960s-slanted sensibilities of their 2023 debut, Spirits.”

Jazmine Mary has a knack for sounding better with every album.

That’s some feat considering the quality of Dog (2023) and 2021’s The Licking of a Tangerine, which won the Auckland Live Best Independent Debut award at the 2022 Taite Music Prize.

Their lyrics are as poetic as ever on I Want to Rock and Roll, which was born out of a period of “heartbreak and sadness.”  Mary’s honesty always finds a way of deeply connecting with a listener.

“This was about finding middle ground,” Alien Weaponry told us in an interview about their latest album. “The first album had that catchiness people loved, the second was more technical – so this time, we brought them together.”

Mission accomplished. Te Rā is their most fully realised record to date, representing a significant step forward for the metal trio.

Foley’s second album in two short years is another reminder of their electropop prowess.

Now based in Sydney, the NZ duo returned home to record That’s Life, Baby! on Waiheke Island, with that beautiful location becoming the group’s “extra member.”

The result? “A collection full of shimmering vocals, dynamic guitars and hooks that stick, all delivered with newfound confidence,” we wrote in a positive review.

“Bright, punchy, and full of their signature confessional style, That’s Life, Baby! is a slice-of-life with the attitude to take on whatever comes your way. Foley’s second album should bring them to a wider audience.”

Internationally known as one half of comedy musical icons Flight of the Conchords, embarking on a solo project was always going to be a tricky proposition at first for Bret McKenzie.

“My team in LA were quite confused by this plan,” he told us about his decision to make his debut solo album, Songs Without Jokes, “but everyone knew that I love music and play a lot of music, so it wasn’t a big surprise for me and for people who know me. But for people that know me from just Conchords, it was quite confusing.”

His second solo effort, Freak Out City, is all the evidence any Conchords diehard needs that McKenzie is a fine musician in his own right.

The sense that McKenzie and his collaborators were having plenty of fun in the studio shines through on tracks like “All the Time” and “All I Need”. It’s a more optimistic collection than Songs Without Jokes, too, and its retro sound will satisfy fans of ’70s pop.

Tami Neilson’s voice is a booming delight throughout Neon Cowgirl.

Neilson’s latest collection of joyous country music was fashioned while travelling coast-to-coast in the US for five months with her family in a motorhome. The trip immediately followed a serious health scare for the evergreen musician, which made her slow down and saviour the journey.

Neon Cowgirl is soaked in the sounds and sights of America, from Nashville to Vegas. Whether she’s belting out a barnstorming number or sinking into ballad territory, Neilson always sounds in top form — it makes her 10th album sound as fresh as her first.

Boasting over four million monthly Spotify listeners, it’s safe to say Balu Brigada are one of the biggest success stories in modern New Zealand music.

That’s what made their debut album, Portal, so highly anticipated, and it lived up to the hype.

Viral sensation “So Cold”, which they performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, is the obvious standout, but tracks like “Backseat” and “Sideways” could have been just as massive for the sibling duo of Henry and Pierre Beasley.

The fact the brothers wrote and produced Portal entirely on their own makes their debut even more impressive.

Reuben Scott is the dynamic presence leading Salt Water Criminals, the Dunedin-born, Auckland-based band also featuring members of Office Dog, Daffodils, and Awning.

I Believe in Dog, their second album, is a hell of a rock record, jumping between slowcore, alternative rock, jangle pop, and more with ease.

Salt Water Criminals are one of the most pleasing grassroots success stories in recent New Zealand music, building their reputation through exhilarating live shows.

What I Believe in Dog shows is that they sound just as strong on record. A third record from these impressive musicians should see them refine their music even further.

Womb reached their peak (so far) on One Is Heading Somewhere.

The dream-pop band’s third LP is minimalistic without sounding slight; impressionistic lyrics and glistening guitars make for a mesmerising listen. It’s an album for the yearners and the daydreamers.

Tom Scott is a Rolling Stone AU/NZ favourite, regularly appearing in our lists for his Avantdale Bowling Club and Home Brew projects, so a solo album from the relentless musician was always going to attract our attention.

ANITYA is exactly how one should begin a new sonic chapter: fans of Scott’s other projects will find plenty to like here, but he crucially pushes his sound in fascinating directions. The memorable hooks and lyrics are still present, of course, but ANITYA is a more expansive collection, journeying through smooth R&B, downtempo jazz, neo-soul, and whichever other genres Scott fancied trying.

Ladi6 sounds refreshed on her latest album.

Le Vā is a deeply personal record for the acclaimed artist, dedicated to her late, beloved mother.

“Le Vā is the space between – between life and death, between who I was and who I’m becoming,” the Kiwi hip-hop icon said. “It’s about acknowledging loss, holding love, and finding new ground in that in-between.”

A New Zealand music legend bows out in style.

As its album title suggests, Scribe Is Dead is the rapper’s final record, as he revealed on social media a few months ago.

“I’m not doing media or promo,” he wrote. “Everything I want to say is in the music. The journey I had to take to get to this point is not for the faint-hearted… I hope you enjoy this last contribution and most personal album to NZ hip-hop – a community I have loved being a part of and will always support in some way.”

If we never hear new music from Scribe again, this collection is a powerful way to go out. Scribe Is Dead is done entirely on his terms — a track like “Newshub”, which features a news clip discussing an old warrant for his arrest, could only appear on a final, I-don’t-give-a-fuck record.

Scribe’s individuality and bars will be missed, if this is really the end.