Happy to share our year-end list. This year, the album selection is shorter than usual, while our singles list expands to the customary top 50. Although there were several strong releases, few emerged as defining statements of the year. Still, as ever, the most compelling moments came from artists embracing transformation—through comebacks, reinventions, and subtle evolutions that kept their image engaging. Happy New Year!!
01. Pulp - More [Rough Trade]
Their first
album in twenty-four years, More proves that Pulp has
succeeded where most bands fail: they’ve returned not to relive past glories,
but to thoughtfully extend their story. Jarvis Cocker and the gang gently pull
at the past, revisiting the wry observation and the swooning orchestration that
defined their peak, yet filter it all through a lens of mature
reflection. The result is a reunion that feels essential, a collection of
songs that are both comfortingly familiar and quietly surprising. It doesn’t
try to be a new Different Class again;
instead, it offers something perhaps more valuable reinventing the band in the
20s.
02. Allie X -
Happiness Is Going to Get You [AWAL]
In less than a
year, Allie X has followed the dark stylish Girl with No Face with
a brand-new studio album that boldly reinvents her once more. Happiness
Is Going to Get You retains her signature, meticulously crafted
synth-pop foundations but brilliantly expands its texture, introducing organic
piano textures that add warm humanity to her crystalline electronic world. This
sophisticated evolution is matched by a striking visual transformation, a
avant-garde homage to the legendary Klaus Nomi. More than just a sequel, this
is a daring next act: a record proving Allie X is in a relentless, in her
artistic journey.
03. The
Horrors - Night Life [Fiction Records]
Night Life is the
sixth release by The Horrors and their debut on Fiction Records, arriving seven
years after their fifth album, V. Once again, the band
operates in the shadowy realm of post-punk, delivering a confident and
compelling statement from a group that fully understands the dark allure of its
chosen terrain. Since Skying (in 2009
undiscovered), every album has successfully charted on our year-end list,
cementing The Horrors as one of the most consistent and long-standing favorite
bands on Burning Flame.
04. Heartworms - Glutton for Punishment
[Speedy Wunderground]
Glutton for Punishment is a debut album by Josephine Orme
who records under the name Heartworms. Prior to this she released one EP and
several singles in the last two years. Her music is rooted in post-punk, but
also blends goth, industrial and coldwave. Orme’s voice is commanding rather
than confessional, turning restraint into power and tension into
atmosphere. Stark, focused and deeply immersive, this is one of the most
compelling dark post-punk statements of the year.
05. Sharon Van
Etten & The Attachment Theory - Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment
Theory [Jagjaguwar]
Sharon Van
Etten’s new collaboration with The Attachment Theory, her long-time backing
band, now fully credited collaborators, marks another thrilling delivery. This
album bridges the brooding introspection of her earlier work and the bold
synthscapes of Remind Me Tomorrow with new-found confidence.
Slow nocturnal synth-driven tunes retain a deep eighties moodiness, yet are
offset by bouncy post-punk elements. The result is a record that feels
intimately raw landing less as a retro homage and more as a vital, contemporary
chapter in the new wave tradition.
EPs of relevance:
Mothermary - Non-Duality
The WAEVE - Eternal
NightCrawl - Cold War Feeling
NightCrawl - Strange
Automelodi - Cavallo
