10 BEST ALBUMS OF THE MONTH – OCTOBER 2025
– 1 –
Band: THE LEMONHEADS
Who: The notorious singer-songwriter
Evan Dando‘s band for almost four
decades now.
Album: LOVE CHANT
Their 11th one. The first with new music since 2006. In between
the band released a couple of albums with covers of Dando‘s
favorite songs.
Press info: “It’s a record that sounds both fresh and familiar: rooted in the hallmarks
of The Lemonheads’ best work, yet expanded by years of lived experience
and new surroundings.”
Mojo Magazine says: “Love Chant might be described as scrappy, vulnerable and
heartfelt, but it is also loose, exuberant and animated in a manner that seems faithful
to who Dando is today.”
TUTV: Clean Dando has obviously refound his 90s appetite for creating
enthralling pop music and he eagerly wants it to share with us from the
get-go.
Dando has resurrected himself and his band gloriously. Now and then he touches turbulent memories from the past and does some soul-searching again, but you
can feel he’s truly happy, healthy and excited to be here in great artistic shape.
Not one dull moment. Mind you, it’s not a masterpiece, rather
a welcome reaffirmation of The Lemonheads‘ riveting pop
mastery.
KEY SINGLE
ALBUM
Instagram – Facebook – All Albums
– 2 –
Band: SPAMMERHEADS
Who: Techno tandem
from Valencia, Spain.
Press Info: “The latest album by Spammerheads, was born from the difficult
experience of the floods that hit Valencia on October 29, 2024. During this time,
the duo lost part of their studio and actively participated in the cleanup efforts
in their city.
This was an experience filled with a mix of emotions—shock, helplessness, fury, resistance, solidarity, and resilience, among others that shaped what may be their
best work to date. Written as a chronicle, the album explores the personal and
collective states of people affected by tragedies or catastrophes.
TUTV: It sounds like if the Spanish electroclash duo decided to process last
year’s devastating floods drama in their hometown Valencia with new music.
Their intentions resulted in this new notable LP stuffed with eight titanic
techno thrills.
Eight 90s inspired trance tunes. Think Chem Bros, The Orb and The Prodigy.
Yes, EDM has become a timeless musical outlet genre that puts you in a
mind-bending trance, far away from the shambolic reality.
The pair’s Mire Chronicles have a hammering impact on their post-drama demons.
To hell with them. At the end of the traumatic tunnel there’s a Spammerheads light
that illuminates a healing future.
SINGLE
ALBUM
– 3 –
Artist: PREWN
Who: The moniker of Massachusetts-born, LA-based chilling
singer-songwriter Izzy Hagerup. She released her debut album
Through The Window in 2023.
New Album: SYSTEM
Her 2nd one.
Stereogum said:”System begins by oscillating between numbing ease of the modern
world and the fight-or-flight response that each new day in a world of crumbling institutions brings. But by the album’s end, Hagerup finds resolve in humanity.”
Hagerup: “I need to tap into my grief and sadness and stuff because it’s there. And when
you don’t live in it then you’re just numb. You can’t see the beauty and you are running from
the pain. It’s this Groundhog Day feeling. I feel that’s the antithesis to art, love, and connection, and giving a shit about the world.”
TUTV: Most songs are written from “twisted and sociopathic perspectives” during late-night bedroom sessions, says Hagerup. And you can feel what that did to System. Freaky at times, off-centre now and then, psychotic here and there.
The combination of creepy violins, ominous cello shadow play, and last but not least Hagerup‘s wailing voice dominate this record causing bone-chilling sensations. Her
laments evoke moments of uncomfortableness, but her grip is so overwhelming that
you just can’t get away of her sonic exorcism. Like watching a bloodcurdling thriller you can’t escape from without knowing the end of the story.
SINGLE
One of the best
of 2025 to my ears.
Masterly stroke.
ALBUM
– 4 –
Band: IT’S KARMA IT’S COOL
Who: Psych pop rock outfit from Lincoln (UK),
led by singer-songwriter Jim Styring.
Album: ONE MILLION SUBURBAN SUNSETS
Their 4th, insipred by living in this modern world,
and what it means to be alive in the 21st century.
Louder Than War says: “From Lincoln, fourth album from a band who burst
the confines of the genre they are best known for. It’s Karma It’s Cool are now
a proper contemporary rock band in search of an audience who want big anthemic
tunes, stadium-sized angst that somehow lifts you out of a generational mid-life
crisis.”
Jim Styring (singer-songwriter) said to Louder Than War: “I always leave lyrics open to interpretation. It’s more important what the listener believes than what I had in mind when
I wrote them.
These so called ‘experts’ telling us that rock and roll is dead and buried. As long as we, as humans, have emotions, songwriters will continue to write, bands will continue to form, our music will continue to thrive. Basically, if you believe in something , don’t let anyone put you down.”
TUTV: The Brits have enriched their already psychedelic sound with early R.E.M.’s sinewy
jangliness and Michael Stipe‘s poignant vocality. It’s without a shadow of a doubt their most arresting opus so far. Frontman Jim Styring reflections on this turbulent and grim century are sign’s of the times.
It’s the end of the world, as we know it, but IKIC, and many of us, do not feel fine. But as long as impassioned and unequivocal records like this one are made there will always be a hopeful light shining at the end of the dark tunnel. It’s called cool karma.
Highlights: Crashability / 21st Century Meds / Serotonin /
Sidewalk Flowers / Paper Tigers / Swans
KEY SINGLE
ALBUM
– 5 –
Band: OF MONSTERS AND MEN
Who: Icelandic indie folk/rock outfit
formed in Garðabær in 2010.
Album: ALL IS LOVE AND PAIN IN THE MOUSE PARADE
Press info: “The title and beating heart of Icelandic collective Of Monsters
And Men’s fourth album hits a lot closer to home than you’d expect. A tapestry
of stories, moments, and conversations, the album explores how love and pain
intertwine.”
AllMusic says: “Hitting on the highs and lows of life, the Icelandic quintet stick close to
their established sound: touching and tender indie folk anthems that play on earnestness
and innocence.”
TUTV: This is what melancholic, folk-inspired splendour is about. Galvanically
crafted songs that touch heart and soul. Rainbow-colored reveries about daily
life put to bewitching music with a leading role for beatific piano play amidst
enticing orchestrations and idyllically alternating and duet vocals.
Think Scottish romantics Belle & Sebastian. This is the kind of
gratifying records to cherish and embrace when your mind
wants/needs a break from the outside world.
Mesmerizing, just mesmerizing.
SINGLE
ALBUM
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6. Lovin’ You by RICHARD ASHCROFT
TUTV: As an ardent Richard Ashcroft/The Verve fan a new RA full-length feels
like a conveted present a 10-year-old was waiting for. But (there’s always
a but) this one leaves me with mixed emotions.
Mind you, 5 tracks (Lover / Heavy News / I’m A Rebel / Crimson Fire ) out of the 10
are arresting tunes, but the other 5 miss the needed divertissement to make it a full commandable record. Lovin You‘ misses Ashcroft‘s epic touch and magical resonance.
No classics such as The Drugs Don’t Work, This Is How It Feels, Sonnet, Lucky Man or (of course) Bittersweet Symphony here.
Considering his illustrious work from the past, it’s hard to come up with first-class
material time and time again that achieves a similar heart-and-soul stirring glamourness. On the other hand, many singer-songwriters would have Lovin’ You on their résumé. And that says a lot about Ashcroft‘s unmistakable strength as a singer-songwriter.
ALBUM
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7. Liminal by BRIAN ENO and songstress BEATIE WOLFE
Who: The ambient sound wizard and songstress.
TUTV: I always loved and embraced Eno‘s sonic ambient paintings, his chimerical and fanciful synth symphonies with its calming impact and starry-eyed radiance. Liminal is another opus I have added to my headphone music playlist for physical relaxation.
Again songstress Beautie Wolfe‘s angelic voice is so complementary with Eno‘s euphonic wanderings. Third collaboration in 5 months. Third invitation to ease your mind and ears in their phantasmagorial universe. A record to cherish in the coming months.
ALBUM
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8. All Systems Are Lying by SOULWAX
Who: the Belgian brothers David and Stephen Dewaele‘s band for 30 years now,
is only one of the siblings’ diverse projects. They DJed the world around as 2manydjs,
had their own Radio Soulwax, and produced/remixed countless other artists.
TUTV: Soulwax excel here with a kaleidoscopic sonic amalgam that connects Kraftwerk‘s otherworldly euphoniousness and The Orb‘s ambient dynamics and at times Cabaret Voltaire‘s experimental capriciousness
The record’s arresting strength, to my ears, is it’s underlying poppiness. Half of
the album is stuffed with pop tunes, enwrapped in the bros’ electronic universe.
It’s not pure techno, not pure dance, not really EBM, rather a versatile, chameleon-like
kind of synth-layered album that sparkles and effervesces non-stop and they aren’t afraid
of tackling the powers that be, the systems that are after your soul.
The siblings got it right: “It’s a rock record without guitars”.
STREAM
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9. I’m Nice Now by UPCHUCK
Album artwork
Who: High-voltage punks
from Atlanta, Georgia.
TUTV: When young punks play old skool punk you get bands like Upchuck. Their sharp-teethed tenacity, perseverance and hardihood bring 80s angry dogs Dead Kennedys and Black Flag to mind. The message is more important than the racket they all produce. As millions of Americans do, Upchuck also feel trapped by the tyrannical regime in the White House.
Their cathartic music helps them to ventilate all the shit they’re confronted with every single day. Ty Segall‘s production is spot on. I’m sure he took them to a filthy basement somewhere and created an out-of-tune sound that resonates exactly like these Atlanta bohos want to express themselves. Raw, rough, and real. The Upchuck revolution starts here.
Who: Nashville‘s kamikaze pop punk combo
TUTV: Suppose the mailman has delivered you
the LP this morning, and you ride a car to go to work.
PLAY IT during breakfast, but check your
pulse before you get in your car.
DON’T PLAY IT in the car, ’cause you’ll surpass the speed limit within
30 seconds, which is not a good thing when the lights are turning red.
PLAY IT during your lunch break, and challenge your
co-workers to a roller skate race through the office.
STOP PLAYING IT when your boss catches you, doing a
series of somersaults, forth and back, over your desk.
Yes, track #9 is a Beatles cover.
PLAY IT when you’re in the bathroom, it can
be useful for your activity in there.
DON’T PLAY IT on the way home, you have
already wrecked your car in the morning.
PLAY IT on repeat when you get home and pretend you’re
a kamikaze pilot or, that’s big fun too, a pit bull on acid.
ALBUM
