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Hyperspecific: The Best Electronic Music of 2025
2025 was an odd one. The electronic music scene, at least a considerable part of it, reaffirmed its position as one of the most politically vocal cultural spheres. Amid the genocide in Gaza, political discourse about boycotts, Israeli artists and institutions partnering with the rogue state largely overshadowed conversations about new music. Global macropolitics were mirrored in the culture war that splintered the scene. On a positive note, many artists did use their platform to voice their criticism, while some naysayers and piss-takers under the “politics and music don’t mix” banner ultimately realised they are on the wrong side of history.
I missed the proverbial hype reserved by the press for at least one phenomenon per year. In truth, there was no year-defining genre, one that would make the headlines. Latin American club styles, sample-heavy club edits and hard techno, staples of the post-Covid era, started losing momentum and other styles finally stepped to the fore, though none to the centre. The one sound that kind of had a moment was trip hop/downtempo, be it in pop or the underground, from Addison Rae and FKA Twigs to James K. While DJ circles catered for heads, proggy trance and house seemed most omnipresent; a jump down the Bandcamp rabbit hole reveals hundreds of soundalikes. Lots of producers are harking back to the psychedelic strains of mid-to-late-90s house and trance, yet most lack any flavour. As is also true for the majority of new UKG, it is a very copy-and-paste niche. While I enjoy such “revivals” myself, coming across stuff that transcends hackneyed fodder is no easy task.
In bass music, I noticed a new appreciation for deeper, more atmospheric, explicitly dub-indebted expressions. Perhaps this was a reaction to last year’s overproduction of fist-pumping “Hipster bass”, which faltered into an overused template. Other artists started pivoting towards a more techy and minimal aesthetic. Tech house, a genre that was long off-limits for the bass crowd, now boasts some of the most novel tracks around, with producers working their way around noughties moulds with contemporary studio tools. As you will see in my top 20 list below, the results are impressive.
By all means, it was a good year for techno, though I only picked up the more visible stuff. Apart from albums included in my list, favourites include Surgeon’s psychedelic trip Shell~Wave, Regal86’s hardgroove masterclass Overdrive and the epic 37-tracker Lost In Dreams by the cult Giegling-affiliated producer Irini (Traumprinz). While producers like Carrier, Sa Pa, Paul St. Hilaire and Mark Ernestus kept alive the spirit of dub techno with their solid releases.
It was also the year of lengthy compilations. While long tracklists could be exasperating, they also rewarded patience. With shorter and darker days ahead, V/A compilations you should check out include:
Wisdom Teeth’s Pattern Gardening (minimal tech house)
Soundway Records’s Road Fever (instrumental riddims from St. Lucia, Dominica and Guadeloupe)
Tectonic’s Tectonic Sound (earth-shattering club weaponry)
Subglow’s Sub-Alchemy (an eclectic assortment of club music)
Planet Mu’s 30th anniversary compilation (footwork, IDM and experimental)
TraTraTrax’s No Pare, Sigue Sigue 4 (cutting-edge club mutations)
Tresor’s ANNEX and Ostgut Ton’s Klubnacht 01 (quality techno and electro)
Timedance’s 10th anniversary treat (first-rate soundsystem music)
At least we did experience one epoch-making, mass cultural moment – Yousuke Yukimatsu’s Boiler Room performance, which flooded the internet. His ‘per aspera ad astra’ backstory, high energy selection and explosive stage presence made him an overnight DJ superstar of Solomun proportions. Despite helping create a new sensation, Boiler Room – along with Sónar and other institutions – was regularly under fire due to its ties with the KKR conglomerate and their affiliation with Israel. Considering recent news of substantial layoffs at Boiler Room the boycott proved that even seemingly untouchable brands can suffer from such grassroots actions. Props to the activists for pulling thousands of people on their bandwagon and making a difference. The power of persuasion!
A DJ who had his own ability to persuade people to join him on his bumpy rides was JD Twitch, whose premature death devastated the scene. On a brighter note, it was moving to read all the party anecdotes cementing him as an all time legend. That such a niche selector would leave such a profound impact on so many electronic music lovers is not to be taken for granted. Indeed it was artists with a uniquely sensibility, artists who unapologetically forced us to submit to their artistic vision, that most defined the year. Blawan’s SickElixir is one such example – and also the strongest contender for electronic album of the year. Though Aya’s Hexed! (tQ’s overall album of the year), OPN’s Tranquilizer, Djrum’s Under Tangled Silence and Los Thuthanaka’s self-titled masterpiece also represent monuments to this inner drive. They have landed and will probably land on even more year-end lists, so I did not include them on mine. There are, hopefully, other EPs and albums that you have yet to discover.
From the all out weird to the ultra polished, from the club-ready to armchair gems, here is the Hyperspecific best of 2025 list, featuring 20 releases presented in no particular order.
#music
source
2025 was an odd one. The electronic music scene, at least a considerable part of it, reaffirmed its position as one of the most politically vocal cultural spheres. Amid the genocide in Gaza, political discourse about boycotts, Israeli artists and institutions partnering with the rogue state largely overshadowed conversations about new music. Global macropolitics were mirrored in the culture war that splintered the scene. On a positive note, many artists did use their platform to voice their criticism, while some naysayers and piss-takers under the “politics and music don’t mix” banner ultimately realised they are on the wrong side of history.
I missed the proverbial hype reserved by the press for at least one phenomenon per year. In truth, there was no year-defining genre, one that would make the headlines. Latin American club styles, sample-heavy club edits and hard techno, staples of the post-Covid era, started losing momentum and other styles finally stepped to the fore, though none to the centre. The one sound that kind of had a moment was trip hop/downtempo, be it in pop or the underground, from Addison Rae and FKA Twigs to James K. While DJ circles catered for heads, proggy trance and house seemed most omnipresent; a jump down the Bandcamp rabbit hole reveals hundreds of soundalikes. Lots of producers are harking back to the psychedelic strains of mid-to-late-90s house and trance, yet most lack any flavour. As is also true for the majority of new UKG, it is a very copy-and-paste niche. While I enjoy such “revivals” myself, coming across stuff that transcends hackneyed fodder is no easy task.
In bass music, I noticed a new appreciation for deeper, more atmospheric, explicitly dub-indebted expressions. Perhaps this was a reaction to last year’s overproduction of fist-pumping “Hipster bass”, which faltered into an overused template. Other artists started pivoting towards a more techy and minimal aesthetic. Tech house, a genre that was long off-limits for the bass crowd, now boasts some of the most novel tracks around, with producers working their way around noughties moulds with contemporary studio tools. As you will see in my top 20 list below, the results are impressive.
By all means, it was a good year for techno, though I only picked up the more visible stuff. Apart from albums included in my list, favourites include Surgeon’s psychedelic trip Shell~Wave, Regal86’s hardgroove masterclass Overdrive and the epic 37-tracker Lost In Dreams by the cult Giegling-affiliated producer Irini (Traumprinz). While producers like Carrier, Sa Pa, Paul St. Hilaire and Mark Ernestus kept alive the spirit of dub techno with their solid releases.
It was also the year of lengthy compilations. While long tracklists could be exasperating, they also rewarded patience. With shorter and darker days ahead, V/A compilations you should check out include:
Wisdom Teeth’s Pattern Gardening (minimal tech house)
Soundway Records’s Road Fever (instrumental riddims from St. Lucia, Dominica and Guadeloupe)
Tectonic’s Tectonic Sound (earth-shattering club weaponry)
Subglow’s Sub-Alchemy (an eclectic assortment of club music)
Planet Mu’s 30th anniversary compilation (footwork, IDM and experimental)
TraTraTrax’s No Pare, Sigue Sigue 4 (cutting-edge club mutations)
Tresor’s ANNEX and Ostgut Ton’s Klubnacht 01 (quality techno and electro)
Timedance’s 10th anniversary treat (first-rate soundsystem music)
At least we did experience one epoch-making, mass cultural moment – Yousuke Yukimatsu’s Boiler Room performance, which flooded the internet. His ‘per aspera ad astra’ backstory, high energy selection and explosive stage presence made him an overnight DJ superstar of Solomun proportions. Despite helping create a new sensation, Boiler Room – along with Sónar and other institutions – was regularly under fire due to its ties with the KKR conglomerate and their affiliation with Israel. Considering recent news of substantial layoffs at Boiler Room the boycott proved that even seemingly untouchable brands can suffer from such grassroots actions. Props to the activists for pulling thousands of people on their bandwagon and making a difference. The power of persuasion!
A DJ who had his own ability to persuade people to join him on his bumpy rides was JD Twitch, whose premature death devastated the scene. On a brighter note, it was moving to read all the party anecdotes cementing him as an all time legend. That such a niche selector would leave such a profound impact on so many electronic music lovers is not to be taken for granted. Indeed it was artists with a uniquely sensibility, artists who unapologetically forced us to submit to their artistic vision, that most defined the year. Blawan’s SickElixir is one such example – and also the strongest contender for electronic album of the year. Though Aya’s Hexed! (tQ’s overall album of the year), OPN’s Tranquilizer, Djrum’s Under Tangled Silence and Los Thuthanaka’s self-titled masterpiece also represent monuments to this inner drive. They have landed and will probably land on even more year-end lists, so I did not include them on mine. There are, hopefully, other EPs and albums that you have yet to discover.
From the all out weird to the ultra polished, from the club-ready to armchair gems, here is the Hyperspecific best of 2025 list, featuring 20 releases presented in no particular order.
#music
source
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