{"id":10968,"date":"2025-10-03T20:21:43","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T00:21:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/?p=10968"},"modified":"2025-10-03T20:32:46","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T00:32:46","slug":"music-update-september-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/03\/music-update-september-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Music update, September 2025."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>September turned out to be a monster of a month with new albums and tracks ahead of album releases for the next two months; as it was I had a hard time keeping this list to 33 tracks. As always, you can <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/playlist\/5MCRbLoru8MNtkmNfqw3Hv?si=5ac5be672ab34606\">access the playlist here<\/a> if you can\u2019t see the widget below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Sept 2025\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/playlist\/5MCRbLoru8MNtkmNfqw3Hv?si=52323c1b017741e9&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Geese \u2013 Cobra.<\/strong> One reader-friend who\u2019s very into music mentioned that Geese\u2019s latest, <em>Getting Killed<\/em>, is his album of the year so far; it\u2019s going to end up high on my list, although Cameron Winter\u2019s vocals sometimes come across like he\u2019s not trying, even when the music behind him is experimental and ambitious. Regardless of where the album ends up on my rankings, Geese are one of the most interesting bands around, and the members aren\u2019t even 25 yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>SPRINTS \u2013 Need.<\/strong> The first ten songs on SPRINTS\u2019 second full-length LP <em>All That Is Over<\/em> run 32 minutes in total, and then there\u2019s the six-minute closer \u201cDesire,\u201d is a strange, slow-burning, gothic\/post-punk track that stands in stark contrast to the straight-on punk of the rest of the record \u2013 such as this song, where singer Karla Chubb describes the desperation of being in a one-sided relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Paris Paloma \u2013 Good Boy.<\/strong> The song is fine, but the intro, taken from a video where Emma Thompson dramatically reads the tremendous title of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2025\/jan\/16\/i-knew-one-day-id-have-to-watch-powerful-men-burn-the-world-down-i-just-didnt-expect-them-to-be-such-losers\">this Rebecca Shaw editorial from January<\/a>, is a hell of a way to get me to put your song on a playlist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Public Circuit \u2013 Samson. <\/strong>Is this Heaven 17? Bronski Beat? Early New Order? Rarely does a song take me back to such a specific time period, but this is straight out of 1982, a musical era that will always be central to my existence. And there\u2019s a sample of <em>Monty Python and the Holy Grail<\/em> too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Kid Kapichi \u2013 Stainless Steel.<\/strong> Maybe not as strong as most of their past singles but I do love the driving bass &amp; drum line that provides the foundation for this track, their first since two of the four members left the band in May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Portugal. the Man \u2013 Tanana.<\/strong> Not sure if this is about Frank, but it\u2019s got the sweeping, psycheledic-inspired feel of their 2011 album <em>In the Mountain in the Cloud<\/em>. They also put out another single, \u201cDenali,\u201d that I didn\u2019t like as much as this one. Their next album, <em>Shish<\/em>, comes out November 7<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Maruja \u2013 Saoirse.<\/strong> If you like Geese, you might enjoy the debut album from Maruja, <em>Pain to Power<\/em>, which also reminded me a ton of the (probably) defunct band black midi and even a little of Swans. This track is probably the most accessible, combining free jazz, punk, and even hints of chamber pop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Die Spitz \u2013 Riding with My Girls.<\/strong> <em>Something to Consume<\/em>, the debut album from this Austin-based punk\/metal band, came out in September, and veers between those two genres, with some straight-ahead hard-rock numbers mixed in with more punk tracks like this one and a few that call back the crossover thrash era, like \u201cThrow Yourself to the Sword.\u201d (Speaking of crossover, Agnostic Front put out a new song in September. It was a big month for metal bands from the \u201880s, as you\u2019ll see below.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Creeper \u2013 Prey for the Night. <\/strong>The third single from the band\u2019s upcoming <em>Sanguivore II: Mistress of Death<\/em>, due out on Halloween, is more in line with their previous stuff and less hair-metal than the last single, \u201cBlood Magick.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sunflower Bean \u2013 Crashing Highs.<\/strong> A bonus track from the deluxe edition of <em>Mortal Primetime<\/em>, and a pretty strong indie-pop track \u2013 maybe a little too sunny for the album proper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>shame \u2013 After Party.<\/strong> Shame\u2019s latest album <em>Cutthroat<\/em>, released on September 5<sup>th<\/sup>, is their most expansive and ambitious yet, although I have to admit this very Yard Act-ish track is one of my favorites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>flowerovlove \u2013 I\u2019m your first.<\/strong> This 20-year-old DIY pop artist from London has released at least twenty singles already, so at some point I assume there will be an album. She\u2019s got a great ear for creating catchy pop hooks that would fit in \u2013 and improve \u2013 any pop radio station\u2019s playlists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hatchie \u2013 Lose It Again.<\/strong> This Australian singer-songwriter\u2019s third album, <em>Liquourice<\/em>, comes out on November 7<sup>th<\/sup>; \u201cLose It Again\u201d is yet another catchy-as-hell dream pop number from her, as she seems to have an endless supply of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>St. Lucia \u2013 Lights Off.<\/strong> I know St. Lucia is never going to get back to the heights of his debut album <em>When the Night<\/em>, but this song, off the upcoming <em>Fata Morgana: Dusk<\/em>, is the closest he\u2019s come since 2015\u2019s \u201cDancing on Glass.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Emma-Jean Thackray \u2013 Save Me (Radio Edit). <\/strong>A reworking by Thackray herself of one of the better tracks on her now Mercury Prize-nominated album <em>Weirdo<\/em>, one of the best albums of the year. Other notable nominees include the latest from Wolf Alice, Fontaines D.C., and, for some reason, Pulp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>C<\/strong><strong>\u0153ur de Pirate \u2013 M\u00e9lancolie. <\/strong>B\u00e9atrice Martin is having a moment, as \u201cCorbeau,\u201d from her 2008 eponymous album, was featured on <em>The Summer I Turned Pretty<\/em>\u2019s final season, and Martin just released her seventh album, <em>Cavale<\/em>, last month, featuring this lush electro-pop track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tame Impala \u2013 Dracula.<\/strong> Best use of the name Pablo Escobar in a song yet. This is my favorite of the three singles released in advance of this month\u2019s <em>Deadbeat<\/em>, by far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Prides \u2013 Dynamite.<\/strong> This Scottish indiepop act had one of <a href=\"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/12\/top-100-songs-of-2014\/\">my favorite songs of 2014<\/a> in \u201cThe Seeds You Sow,\u201d then disappeared after 2018 other than a few scattered guest appearances. They\u2019re back this year with several singles, all of which have been pretty promising. They rose up during the peak of \u201clandfill indie,\u201d but I thought they were stronger musically and melodically than most of those groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sudan Archives \u2013 Come and Find You.<\/strong> I haven\u2019t loved the Sudan Archives singles this year as much as I did her last album <em>Natural Brown Prom Queen<\/em>, with this newest one the strongest yet because of the violin solo (as that is Parks\u2019s main instrument).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Emma Swift \u2013 The Resurrection Game.<\/strong> The title track from Swift\u2019s first album of original material is a lovely track of sophisticated folk-tinged pop, an impressive debut for anyone but especially someone whose previous output was an album of Bob Dylan covers and some tracks with her partner Robyn Hitchcock (who is 28 years her senior).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Yttling Jazz \u2013 Illegal Hit.<\/strong> I found this track on an NPR weekly new-music playlist, and only later discovered that this is Bj\u00f6rn Yttling of Peter Bjohn and John, whose song \u201cYoung Folks\u201d was a huge (and kind of annoying) hit about 15 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Lazarus &amp; Rakim \u2013 Not to Be Defined. <\/strong>I love Rakim, and I\u2019m warming to Lazarus, a Detroit-born rapper \u2026 and physician.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bartees Strange \u2013 DCWDTTY.<\/strong> It\u2019s not a cover of the DC post-hardcore song \u201cDC Will Do That To You\u201d by Smart Went Crazy, just alluding to it in the title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sloan \u2013 No Damn Fears. <\/strong>Sloan\u2019s 14<sup>th<\/sup> album, <em>Based on the Best Seller<\/em>, dropped on September 26<sup>th<\/sup>, and the early reviews seem to be quite positive, although I don\u2019t hear anything to match \u201cLosing California\u201d or \u201cEverything You\u2019ve Done Wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Macks \u2013 Dually of Man.<\/strong> I don\u2019t even remember where I found this song, from a longstanding Portland rock band that just put out their first proper album in September, but the intro synth riff is hypnotic, and the song just builds from there, passing through jam-band territory without ever drifting off into that direction entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>SONS \u2013 Do My Thing.<\/strong> This Belgian band has been putting out music since at least 2019 in Europe, although it seems like they\u2019re making a push in the U.S. now with this latest single, which sounds a ton like The Hives (that\u2019s a compliment).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Thrice \u2013 Albatross.<\/strong> Thrice\u2019s latest album <em>Horizons\/West<\/em> dropped today, the 3<sup>rd<\/sup>, so I haven\u2019t had a chance to listen to it yet, but this was my favorite of the lead singles, with a dark, ominous vibe that recalls their 2016 album <em>To Be Everywhere Is to Be Nowhere<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Castle Rat \u2013 Serpent.<\/strong> Castle Rat is full of gimmickry, but this is some excellent Sabbathesque doom metal, reminiscent of The Oath\/Lucifer (since both have female vocalists with similar voices).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Coroner \u2013 Symmetry.<\/strong> It should be illegal for a band to go away for thirty-plus years and come back sounding this good. Not just good \u2013 ferocious. I would have been excited for any new Coroner album, but I cannot wait for <em>Dissonance Theory<\/em> to drop on the 17<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Paradox \u2013 One Way Ticket to Die. <\/strong>This was a big month for \u201880s metal bands; Paradox put out two albums that decade, including one of the best concept albums in metal with 1989\u2019s <em>Heresy<\/em>, then went on hiatus for 11 years. Their ninth album, <em>Mysterium<\/em>, was (possibly) recorded entirely by singer\/guitarist Charly Steinhauer, the only remaining founding member, and it\u2019s full of tight old-school Teutonic thrash, \u00e0 la\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Kreator \u2013 Seven Serpents.<\/strong> The sixteenth (!) album from these German thrash icons, <em>Krushers of the World<\/em>, is due out on January 16<sup>th<\/sup>; their first album, <em>Endless Pain<\/em>, came out forty years ago this month. They proved extremely influential on the development of extreme metal, with their early sound similar to that of Celtic Frost, all of which led to the growth of \u2018death metal,\u2019 but by their third album <em>Terrible Certainty<\/em> they\u2019d transitioned to a variation of thrash that became known as Teutonic thrash. (Old-school metal fans might remember MTV airing \u201cToxic Trace\u201d and \u201cBetrayer\u201d on <em>Headbanger\u2019s Ball<\/em>.) They still sound \u2026 pretty good, actually, better than any band this old has a right to sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Testament \u2013 Shadow People. <\/strong>One American thrash band for you, as these pioneers of Bay Area thrash metal are largely back to basics with this track. Their latest album <em>Para Bellum<\/em> drops on the 10<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Elder \u2013 Liminality.<\/strong> Elder released two songs in September, but they\u2019re a combined 18+ minutes, so isn\u2019t that an EP? This sprawling prog-doom-metal track is a whole journey, full of the stuff that made their last LP <em>Innate Passage<\/em> one of <a href=\"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/2022\/12\/21\/top-22-albums-of-2022\/\">my favorite albums of 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>September turned out to be a monster of a month with new albums and tracks ahead of album releases for the next two months; as it was I had a hard time keeping this list to 33 tracks. As always, you can access the playlist here if you can\u2019t see the widget below. Geese \u2013 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1433,359,1096,609,167,1127,852,787,1114],"class_list":["post-10968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-2025-in-music","tag-alternative","tag-doom-metal","tag-hip-hop","tag-indie","tag-jazz","tag-music","tag-progressive-metal","tag-thrash","entry"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10968"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10968\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10970,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10968\/revisions\/10970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meadowparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}