The Current - The Best Albums of 2025

Episode Date: December 19, 2025

Musicians Shad and Talia Schlanger join Matt Galloway for their picks of the best Albums of 2025.

Okay, so there's this new play about the Rogers family and their battle for control over the gigantic telecom empire, and I cannot stop thinking about it. I'm Alameen Abdul-Mahmoud. I host a pop culture show called Commotion. This week, we're talking about Rogers v. Rogers, and on the show, we'll get into what this corporate story actually tells us about our national mythology and why Canadian theater audiences are craving more and more homegrown stories. Find and follow Commotion on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and this is the current podcast. Already gave you the time and the place, so don't be shy. Just come beat the men I need. Tell me you've got something to get hot.

If you need time, just take your time. Honey, I get it, I get it, I get it. Where you got me on in my head. Think I'm better You in my bed And now I'm in London And I'm all alone I'm in a hotel room

I'm all of my own Now I'm a West End goal Now I'm a West and go Now I'm a West and go Now I'm the West and go The West and girl A big tune, a bunch of the biggest of the year, Olivia Allen, Bad Bunny.

There has been a lot of great music released in 2025. And as the year comes to a close, we have brought together two big music fans to share their favorite albums of the year. of our favorite people. Shad is a rapper, Emmy, and Peabody, winning host of the documentary series Hip Hop Evolution. He released a great new album this year as well. It's called Start and New. We're also joined by Talia Schlanger, musician, writer. You've heard her, of course, in the chair on many CBC programs like Q as it happens and more. Good morning to you both. Hello, hello. Hello, happy to be here. Glad to have you here. There's a lot of music that came out this year.

How do you possibly, we have access to more music now than ever before, it seems like. How do you possibly boil down what your favorites are? So for me, it comes down to, okay, first decision criteria, memorable. What's kind of stuck with me? Striking, something surprising, something striking, something ultimately memorable that made me kind of cling to that. And that album ends up becoming a part of my year. That's my criteria. Whatever for you, Tyler.

Solid. It's impossible to listen to everything. but I found the things that gripped me the most this year were albums that I felt could not be made by anybody else, singular albums. Like when you hear a voice and you hear like this is the only person who could have made this. And I think if I armchair psychologist myself on it, it's kind of like we hear so much about the algorithm and it feeding us things that are like the other things that we like. But when you hear a piece of music, that sounds like nothing else. That's that's what really grabs me. You're going to start with an example of that.

Perfect example of that. Okay. Yes, Rosalia put out this album this year called Lux. And it is truly the antidote to the Radio Gaga thing, right? She's like, I'm going to sing in 13 languages. I'm going to bring you the London Symphony Orchestra. I'm going to research a bunch of female saints and sing about them. And she sort of takes you on this spiritual quest over the course of the album.

The instrumentation is so surprising and lush and big and moon. moving and classical and avant-garde. But the thing that I find most impressive about the album is the most important instrument remains her voice and the way that she uses it, the C's part and allow her voice to just be so present, so tiny, so huge, and so moving. And I wanted to play you the first song from this album because it's really such a perfect welcome to Lux and to the themes that unfold. And I don't know how many people speak Spanish that are listening, but one of the central

ideas of this song, she sings, how nice it would be to come from this earth, go to heaven, and come back to earth. Yeah. Sexo Violencia and yantas Deportes of Sanger monas and gargantas Like I don't even know how to describe that record No What is it? What is it? I know people are all like

What is it? Is it classical? Is it Amon Garber? What is it? It's just, it is. That's what it is. It is. It's Lux. It's Rosalea. Yeah. Fantastic. Beautiful. Top that. Wow. What's next for me? I think Kate Trinada. Yeah. This album I mean, this guy, I listen to his music and I'm like, I'm, you know, I'm dancing, I'm grooving, but I'm also shaking my head at, like, just how good he is and his incredible range.

Who is it? For people who don't know, who is this guy? Ketranada, young producer from Montreal, Haitian, Canadian. He's really shaped, I'd say, the last 10, 15 years of music, the way that he brought soul back into electronic music, but in his own very modern way. And his range is just incredible. He's young, but he's obviously so studied in, in electronic. music. I can't even speak to exactly all the different pockets he's tapping into on this album,

but it's unreal. He also produces hip-hop. I mean, he can just do it all. I think he's a generational talent, and this album is just case and point. We're going to play a tune called Home. What do you love about this tune? I really could have picked any song off this album, and I deliberated for entirely too long, but I picked this one. I mean, it's just one of many great tracks on this album. It features Alex from Bad Bad, Not Good, actually, on drums, so a nice little Canadian collaboration as well. I'm blanking on his last name, sorry, but yeah, bad, bad, not good, Ketranada

a little collab on this one. That's fantastic. We're just talking about how great that is, and he can just do anything. You can do anything. I love that, you know, I'm a hip-hop guy, so I love that breakbeat-driven kind of dance music, but he can also go kind of more intense into electronic sounds, you can really do it all. And this album really showcases his range. So I loved it. K. Trinada. I think of music in terms of the place when I hear it and where I am. And I was trying to think of what I would, these aren't like

the best things that I've heard, but they're things that have really stuck out for me this year. I was in on the south shore of Nova Scotia. One goes to Halifax, too, as one does, put together IKEA furniture for a child in their apartment. you go crazy after a while. And so you need to leave. And I got in a car and I drove down to Lawrence Town and then drove around through the South Shore. And a friend texted me as I was down there and said, you should listen to this new record by this woman, S. G. Goodman, who is from Kentucky. I don't know anything about her. She's from Kentucky. The album is called Planting by the Signs. And I hear this and it just takes me back to that place, which I love.

And it's a wonderful record, but it also just is a wonderful record that I heard at a specific moment. This is a song by S.G. Goodman. It's called Snapping Turtle. When you're a farm kid in a small town, you drive before the legal age. And I won't forget that day. When I drove up on some low-down kids, they were all huddled around. Poor snapping turtle. It's S. G. Goodman. You said you can hear a lot of Kentucky in her voice. Yeah, you can't. It's a gut punch, too. Man.

I'm fascinated with, like, age. I have no idea how old she is, but she has that kind of, like, old soul kind of, like, and you can imagine her making music, hopefully, for, like, dozens and dozens of years. Absolutely. What do you got? Okay. Something a little zippier for you. All right. Saya Gray, Japanese Canadian artist, who had this rich musical upbringing. Her dad was trumpet player for like Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald. Mom started this school of music, classical pianist. And when you're listening to somebody's music, right, like you're hearing everything that they've heard over the course of their lives. And that becomes the filter that

they tell their stories through. And you can hear this whole like kaleidoscope, this entire range of music in the music that Sia makes. It's it's collage, it's pastiche, but it doesn't sound hectic. It's all so deeply musical. And she, like, she's doing incredibly complex things as you're going to hear on the song that I wanted to pick. But she doesn't break a sweat. She's so easy, so cool about it. And she had this quote that I love because of the way she grew up, she said, with jazz and classical, it's objective. Are you the best player or not?

Right. That's like, that's the attitude that she comes at music with. And it's so cool. And then she also just says these really, like, mean and funny things in her songs. Okay. What's this song we're going to hear? Okay, this one's called Shell of a Man. Univide the guess.

I want to call you out, call you out, call me rude, and I'll show you. If you don't like me now, you're going to hate me later, speak now, on forever, hold you peace. this is like the opposite of the algorithm right like there's so much music you listen to music radio and it sounds the same i'm not being harsh on it but a lot of stuff sounds the same that doesn't sound like anything it doesn't sound like anything and it sounds like everything uh also if if i may i don't want to embarrass him while he's here but i'm going to do it anyway while we're on a canadian an amazing canadian record another one of my favorite records of the year is shadd's record started new and what you said shadd about katrinato where the music is like you can

bop to it, you can groove to it, you're having the best time listening, but then also you're just marveling at, like, how can it, how can an artist do this and say this? And I really wanted to bring your song Islands to the table. Why that song, I love this record, but why this song in particular? Okay, this song, like, same thing. I'm gonna be smiling, he's getting all embarrassing. I could have, I could have picked any song. I love the sound of this one, but then I was reading about it.

I was like, why do I love this song so much? And I read something that you said about it, that, that this came from something a friend said to you about islands of sanity. that's right would you just say what islands of sanity yeah so it's it's a book i didn't read the book but i was introduced to the concept and the concept i just thought was really beautiful it was exactly what i was trying to speak to with this album which is this idea of communities small communities however unknown or unsung but these little communities of of care and compassion and creativity and that these little communities they sort of predict the future in a way a better

future. They are what might be models for what could be on the other side of all of this drama and chaos and tension we're experiencing right now. And I was like, that's, that's beautiful. I want to write a song that kind of speaks to that concept, but more importantly, gives that feeling. Don't we need that right now? Absolutely. That's it. I mean, that's the light that people are looking for. Thank you very much.

That's Shad. Oh, come on. You can't do all things. Don't dream big until you handle small things. A wise tree understands it's falling. Plant seeds in the rubble. For belief, for relief in the struggle. Peace is knowing you're a piece of the puzzle, not the whole thing. You don't control things.

Don't point fingers if the fingers got gold rings. It's out of your hands. Focus on what you're holding. Those that do. Do you suffer from television optionitis? Are you paralyzed by too much choice? You're not alone. One in three people spend up to 30 minutes.

choosing what to watch. Try one of CBC's shows, like Dragon's Den, small achievable goals, and Murdoch mysteries. Side effects may include loss of boredom. Find all your favorite shows

on CBC TV or stream anytime on CBC Gym. It's music by a sky shot. Who happens to be here? Shout out Dat Sun from Windsor, produce that track. I just love it. Yeah, thank you very much.

The song that I was going to play now, I feel too old to like this band in some ways. I'm pretty old. And it's for the kids. But I love, I heard this, and I thought, I'm not really sure that it's for me. And that I, you know, walking the dog. And this is the music that I listen to if I need to be pushed in a direction, if I'm feeling a little down, if I'm feeling a little tired. I'm a very safe driver. But it's also a song I think that could get me in trouble with the local construct.

If I'm driving on a country road. This band, everybody seems to be talking to this band, Geese from New York, four kids, they're in their 20s, and they just get in a room and make a hell of a lot of noise. And this is a song called 100 Horses. So you said one day you will die scared, but not to worry for all people must die scared or else just die nervous.

A 24-year-old is still getting in the room making noise. Yeah. That's good. That's optimistic too. I love hearing when an artist or a band emerges and the way that they're celebrated by a particular generation is in this way of, that's our guy or that's our band or that's our sound. They found it. And that's how I've heard a lot of people talk about Cameron Winter, the lead singer of geese.

that band in general is this is it this is us this is our voice this is our songs it's exciting yeah it is no no there you go what do you got i think next up is the weather station sounds great humanhood beautiful album the song i'm going to play is neon signs what i love about this album what i love about the weather station is the music is about big things but it always feels so personal and so intimate. And that breeds a kind of trust that is, to me, the most important thing in terms of a relationship

between an artist and audience. Trust. This trust that there's no shortcut to. It just comes from intentionality, making beautiful, rich music, and having real personal stakes in it right out there at the forefront. Never enough in a one without trust.

This is a light on the line and flash of lost me. This is weather station. Taliyish Langer. Yes. What do you have next for us? Okay. So, I don't know if you guys have felt a little tense this past year at all. Yeah, fine.

Relax. Relax. This tension, this feeling of something bubbling up under the surface and needing to find its way out to me is encapsulated in this album called Tether by Anastasia. It is her debut album, Nigerian American, based in L.A. She has these arrangements and vocal performances that are sort of sparse give you space to feel who you are within them. But her voice. is just full of this I don't even know what to say you know there's there you only get to hear someone's voice first for the first time once and so I'm jealous of anybody listening right now who is about to hear Anastasia's voice I don't know her at all okay I'm so excited for you let's just play it this is a song called villain take it take it back Yeah, that's one only Mentality Yeah, that's actually crazy good.

Isn't it? That's actually crazy good. There's some voices, Nita Simone is one that comes to mind, where sometimes I'll listen to it, and I am literally grateful to be alive. to hear it. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's shockingly good.

You almost don't want to say anything else, right? You kind of just let it hang on its own. Totally. I just listen to the rest of the record. Like, it's just, yeah. Fantastic. As I said, I'm fascinated with age and what happens as people get older and continue to make music. And you think about voices that you heard.

Someone like Mavis Staples is, like she's the mountaintop in some ways for me, Still making music. She's, what, 86 years old, I think. The tiniest mountaintop ever, by the way. And just like a force of nature, right? Continues to make music, continues to be the voice that we kind of need right now. And she has this record of covers out.

And there's a song on it by a band that used to be around way back when called Sparkle Horse. And it speaks to, yeah, the moment that we're in. This is Mavis Staples. Sometimes I get so sad. She's, we're saying, we were saying, we're listening to that. She's history, right? She's the line to history, the living kind of line back to history. Yeah, you can hear it in her voice and may she sing for many more years to come because we need that line.

I found it hard to imagine a world without her, so I love the fact that she's still making music. You know, just to think, listening to that, she's saying beside Martin Luther King, you know, on stage. One of my favorite things in music is when someone can say like that chorus, lyrics like that, it's a sad, beautiful world. It's so simple, it's so obviously true, but when you have that much history and weight behind it, it can bring you to tears. That might be the song I've listened to the most this year.

Incredible. You get the last pick. Last pick is Chance the rapper for me. Incredible album called Starline. So Chance is this rapper from Chicago that came out I want to say 10, 15 years ago

with just so much charm. He has this childlike quality to his voice, this incredible energy, but underneath that is this razor-sharp intelligence and insight and creativity. And it's on full display on this album.

Lyrically is my favorite thing I've heard this year, but it still has this kind of effervescent charm to it. But he's razor sharp. This song's called Just a Drop. We need just enough water to babe in, just enough water to cook with. They got enough water to play in. They got enough water to swim in.

They got enough water to drown in. They got enough water for fountains. They got enough water for salmon. Chance the rapper, just a drop. Yeah. I mean, the whole album is pretty spectacular, but that song, what he does talking about in the first verse, water, second verse land, I mean, obviously that's what the whole earth is made out of.

So there's a lot to talk about there. But also just so rich in metaphor as well. And he's just, he's a poet. He actually came up in this youth poetry program in Chicago that produced Sabah, no name, and so many of the great Chicago artists of the last 10, 15 years. Yeah, it was just nice to hear him come back this year with something that was excellent and celebrated. He's made some memorable music through the years, and I just love to see him continue to do that. The two of you hear, I mean, I'm just somebody who listens to music, but you make music.

How does that shape what you listen to, what you like? I mean, are you looking for somebody who's going to push you? Are you looking for somebody that's a point of inspiration? Somebody who you think, wow, I could never do that, but that is kind of a star on the horizon. How does that shape what do you like? I'm very curious how Talia listens, but I listen as a fan. Yeah. I don't listen as an artist.

I listen as a fan. I listen for all sorts of different things across genres, across time. Yeah. What about you? I also listen as a fan. You're asking that question reminded me. I opened up for Lori Cullen, like a couple months ago, the amazing Lori Cullen. And I just sat side stage and watched her whole set.

And the feeling I had afterwards, after watching her, because she's such an amazing poet and musician, I was like, I want to write better. I want to write more. And that's how I know. Like, I wasn't thinking about the music that I make while I was watching her. I was so immersed in what she was doing. But then afterwards, I was like, oh, my God, this person makes me want to dig deeper and be better at my craft. And that is the fandom that means the most to me. The other thing, just finally, I mean, we had this conversation with Sadie Smith on the program about transnational.

transcendent moments in art, that when you hear something or you read something or you see something, something that takes you out of your body. Do you know what I mean? Music is kind of like that, the best of it, right? Yeah, we need it. We need it to do that. We really need it to do that. There's something that happens to your body. It's a, it's the reception of vibrations. It's like an openness to vibration that you cannot express or explain or understand. Is it same for you? It still happens to you? Absolutely. I go to a lot of live shows. And because I just realized that certain point. I never regret it when I do. So I go to a lot of live shows. And the thing that happens to me to both of your points is I'm hearing somebody else play or sing, but at the same

time, I end up hearing my own voice inside of myself more clearly. Or maybe for the only time in that week, I'm actually hearing my own thoughts, my own heart. And that gets activated when I'm watching music live. And so that's its many functions in my life. Lucky us to have you here to help us sift through some of the great things of the year. Thank you very much. Thanks for having us. Absolutely pleasure. Happy holidays. Happy Christmas and all the best for the new year. You too. Lots more music. Shad is an award-winning rapper. His new album is called Start Anew. Tallyash Langer is a musician and frequent contributor to and host on CBC Radio. You've been listening to the current podcast. My name is Matt

Galloway. Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you soon. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca.ca