The Top Album Releases of 2025

Another year is coming to an end, bring a close to the first half of the 2020s decade that, for some reason, has felt like it’s been on turbo (perhaps because of the worldwide pandemic that kicked it off”). But for those tapped into the music scene, time is also measured by the massive number of releases our talented local acts drop throughout the year. And from singles to EPs and full-length albums, that number is practically countless.

Some of our favorite releases arrived early enough in the year to catch a 2025 Best of Denver award, and those were quickly followed by even more albums we’ve been playing on repeat. With so many amazing full-length albums this year, it was hard to choose the top ten we’ve been consistently spinning since they released.

After more listens, we narrowed it down to the albums listed below, which are all available to stream. But we also need to mention Notes from the Underground Vol. 2: Denver, which was released on November 14 via Denver’s Label 51 Recordings and can only be found on vinyl or CD. A collaboration with Twist & Shout Records, the record highlights the city’s psych-rock scene across twelve tracks. And then there are the EPs and singles we love, too, from ego n friends’ latest EP, If It Never Ends, to Monica The Great’s viral single, “Delusional,” and Malcolm Whyz3’s hip-hop ode to Colorado, “THE BOX.”

Now put on your best headphones and tap into our favorite 2025 full-length albums from Denver artists, listed alphabetically:

TOURIST
Anthony Ruptak
Anthony Ruptak has witnessed suffering firsthand as a city paramedic. His escape? Enveloping himself in the mountains and wilderness with loved ones. The results are keenly felt in his music, which crosses a range of genres to culminate in Ruptak’s own unique, indie singer-songwriter sound. TOURIST, his latest full-length album, which was released on vinyl this summer and is now available to stream, is wickedly powerful and reflective across its ten tracks. Ruptak’s vocals are so emotive and raw, it almost feels as though you’re listening to an intimate performance that’s both life-affirming and validating. If you’re a fan of such bands as Neutral Milk Hotel, then odds are Ruptak will be your new favorite singer-songwriter.

SO THIS IS LIVING
Barbara
Barbara dropped its sophomore album, SO THIS IS LIVING, in April, and we’ve been playing it almost nonstop ever since. The album had an unlikely inspiration in DoodleBob (the sentient portrait doodle from SpongeBob SquarePants): “SO THIS IS LIVING was a phrase that came from us exploring what it felt like to be him in that moment,” bassist Bridget Hartman told us ahead of the release. The result is a swelling tome that breathes philosophical musings into the listener, and it translates perfectly in the live setting. The indie-psych trio, which includes vocalist-guitarist Camilla Vaitaitis and drummer Anna Panella, soars across the nine tracks; highlights include “Tart Cherry,” “Dark Water Disco” and the title track.

Pushing on Portals
calm.
Pushing on Portals is the latest release from calm., although the hip-hop duo is so consistent in dropping new tracks, there may be at least two new ones by the time this list is published. Comprising rapper Chris “Time” Steele and producer Chavo “AwareNess” Trejo, calm. has been around for more than two decades now, and on Pushing the Portals, the duo explores grief, nostalgia and quantum physics in the timeline-blurring, conceptual release. The musicians discuss the city’s early hip-hop scene on “Dirty Lab Days,” and delve into the philosophical on “Braiding the Timelines.” Pushing on Portals isn’t just one of the year’s greatest hip-hop albums, but one of the best overall.

Don’t Care. Didn’t Ask
Cheap Perfume
You can’t get more punk than Cheap Perfume, which rages against the machine on its latest offering, Don’t Care. Didn’t Ask. The band — which has seen more than one million streams each for its popular songs “It’s Okay (to Punch Nazis)” and “Fauxminism” — dropped the album, its first since 2019, in October, and it’s perfect for blaring whenever you want to scream at our president. So essentially, all the time. From such tracks as “Probably It’s Capitalism” and “Woke Mind Virus” to “Blood On Your Hands” and “Down to Riot,” each of the eleven songs offers protests against rampant fascism and propaganda, woven into fast-paced riffs that will have you banging your head.

The Color of the Dark
Covenhoven
Joel Van Horne is a lyrical master as Covenhoven. The folk singer-songwriter released The Color of the Dark in April, and the album is perfect for snowy days inside or drives through the mountains in the summer. A native Coloradan, Van Horne chose the name Covenhoven after his family’s cabin in Wyoming, and a sense of home is felt throughout the ten tracks on The Color of the Dark. We called it a masterpiece album of lyrical excellence after it dropped, and those words still ring true at the end of the year. Highlight songs include “Joshua Tree 83,” “The Rhyme Is Not the Meaning” and “Brighter Days.”

IF NOT ME, THEN WHO?
DNA Picasso
Denver rapper DNA Picasso hasn’t released a full-length solo effort since 2023’s The Colour Blü, which won a Best of Denver award for Best Album that year. Needless to say, we were stoked when he dropped IF NOT ME, THEN WHO? in October, and the album exudes the confidence and signature cadence that the scene-maker’s known for. From the reflective (“FEEL THE CHANGE”) to the celebratory (“BEYBLADE”), each of the tracks reintroduces DNA as one of the most motivated rappers in the city, and includes collaborations with award-winning poet Dominique Christina (“RUMORS”) and Trace Chapman (“HIGHLAND DRIVE”).

ROSEWORLD
DOGTAGS
ROSEWORLD is the debut album from DOGTAGS, a Denver group that put on one of our favorite concerts of the year at the Bluebird Theater in early December. And this album is exactly what we need right now, highlighting queerness and humanity through bossa nova rhythms and soul-imbued anthems. Anchored in the duo of Regi Worles (vocals) and Michael Morales (vocals/guitar wiz), DOGTAGS has only seen nonstop growth, now comprising nine members — and even more contributed to ROSEWORLD. From beginning to end, this album hits all the right notes, and we can’t wait to see what DOGTAGS has in store for us in 2026.

Foreigner
E.M.E.
We called Foreigner the album of the summer, but we’ve been spinning it throughout the fall and into winter, too. The eighteen-track Afrofusion album marks the debut full-length for E.M.E., who reflects on his experience as an immigrant since his family moved to the U.S. from Nigeria when he was seven years old. He honors his mother, who kicks off the album with a spoken-word track, “Mother’s Prayer,” while other songs, such as “Lay Down,” reference his roots by using his native language, that of the Igbo tribe. “Foreigner means more than being an outsider,” E.M.E. told us. “It’s about perseverance and overcoming obstacles. It’s about embracing all of who you are and bringing together the person you were always meant to be, regardless of where you are right now.”

Three of Swords
May Be Fern
Three of Swords is the sophomore offering from May Be Fern, one of Denver’s hardest-working crews, which comprises Kate Fern (vocals/bass), Madi Spillman (guitar), Hannah May (vocals/keys) and Ian Spillman (drums). Inspired by the Three of Swords Tarot card, the album confronts betrayal and deception across fifteen pristine tracks that blend rock, funk and prog. “The swords visualize how we work and operate,” Fern told us ahead of the release. “We’re strong and cutting and ready to move past any obstacle.” Highlights include “Blood Beach,” “Color Me Stoked,” “Old Ways Die” and “You Want Me to Feel Bad.”

The Many Moon Hex
Sun Jr.
Boulder psych group Sun Jr. shared The Many Moon Hex on Halloween, but this album is good for more than the spooky season. Fresh with chilled-out, rolling jams, the ten-track offering is brimming with harmonies and riffs that set high vibes for a drive around the mountains or toking at home. Kicking off with “All Around You,” a song that blends Western pickings with indie grooves, and “Hot Red Summer,” a classic-rock imbued anthem, The Many Moon Hex reminds us of a blend of the Allman Brothers and Goose.

Psychic Scar
Tiny Tomboy
Tiny Tomboy, a Denver trio that includes Eliza Neiman-Golden (vocals/guitar), Sam Seymour (drums) and Ethan Gould (bass), won a 2025 Best of Denver award for Psychic Scar, its second full-length album that dropped in February via independent Denver label Mean World Records. Several songs have gotten radio play — although that would be well-deserved for each of the tracks, which all carry the unique signature of the band’s vulnerable lyricism and indie-rock sound. Highlights include “Dead Dog,” “Disposable Vape” and “Sandy,” but this is an album you’ll listen to from beginning to end and then over again.