albums i listened to all the way through

posted this week and every week (32)

Sep 28, 2025

I leaned heavily on my Music Stack community this week for my album choices.

It seems everyone and their mother was talking about the new Geese album release, Getting Killed. Understandably so! I took more than a few listens myself and knew immediately it was nothing short of remarkable. I sense it will be on many a Top 10 or even a Top 5 releases of 2025 for many of my Substack compatriots in the know.

Sonically, Getting Killed is seemingly all over the place, but it works because the improvisational nature is indicative of something few artists these days manage to hold onto without falling into relative obscurity. There’s so much talk about the pop girlies—their sex appeal, their aesthetics, their trajectories—and not enough about how rock is clawing its way back to the mainstream after a few decades of getting the finger. It was always there, and now, some incredibly talented voices are making themselves heard in a way that cannot be ignored. Geese, Wednesday, Robber Robber and Hiding Places are easily the best examples of this new movement. I have a strong feeling about all four of them as bands in this parasocial age of front ladies (as Steven Hyden so thoughtfully and rightly pointed out in his essay about Geese).

“100 Horses” and “Taxes” are absolutely furious and the best of what this genre has to offer these days. I recommend the entire album, but these tracks especially will remind even the most cynical Gen X’ers and Boomers that Gen Z isn’t to be pushed aside.

Likewise, I noticed two different Substackers Assorted Tapes and Michael Stutz both highlighted the most recent release of Neggy Gemmy, in all its trip-hop, synth pop goodness. As a trip-hop obsessed Gen Z’er wishing I’d been born about a decade earlier, I knew I had to take a listen.

She Comes From Nowhere is perfect, in my humble opinion. When I read that it’s entirely self-produced, I was even more impressed and intrigued. As the album played on, I caught so many different references and influences in the samples. That, plus the entire album aesthetic, hits all the right notes. I look forward to many more listens.

Finally, I took a listen to Olivia Dean’s long-awaited release The Art of Loving. Yes, while Dean went hyper-viral on TikTok with her singles Nice To Each Other and Man I Need, she has something the others don’t. Seemingly unapologetic pop, you can hear the R&B and hip-hop influences. I don’t always like saying “this artist sounds like,” but will admit Sade and Nora Jones both came to mind while listening to this album.

I saw that Olivia Dean is opening for Sabrina Carpenter on her tour. You know, I get it. She went viral and has all the right pop girly stuff. But honestly, I think The Art of Loving is leagues above and beyond Manchild. The intimacy with which Oliva sings and writes is so precious—so honest. I found myself tearing up a few times.

Do yourselves a favor and spin this record this Sunday afternoon while you do some chores or take your everything shower. The basslines in combination with Dean’s soaring voice are enough to make you groove till your shoes fall off.

On a sappy note of gratitude, having this community of listeners, musicians, and tastemakers around me is something I never could have imagined, even a year ago. I spent so many years living in music isolation. I can’t tell you how many shows and concerts I went to alone over the last few years, crying into my drink and inviting concerned stares from nearby strangers.

After a devastating breakup with my once-upon-a-time musical soulmate and high school sweetheart, I wondered if I would ever find anyone that could share this artform with me the way I wanted. I once shared an entire universe—a secret language spoken with a person I loved more than anything.

To lose that felt like losing a limb. But you know what? Life is thankfully full of surprises. The Music Stack community has brought light and color back to my musical life. The responses I’ve gotten about my autumn playlists have been overwhelmingly kind and meaningful.

I made so many of these playlists in complete darkness, fearing no one would ever hear what I had to say or care. It’s unbelievable I’ve stumbled into this space now, just a few years later, where at least a few hundred souls out there are like, “I like what you have to say.”

That’s wild.

Anyway, thanks for all the support :)

Here are the albums I listened to all the way through this past week: