So in my desire to really highlight and centre Australian music, I wanted to create a separate ‘best of’ list just for Aussie albums.
Did you know less than 10% of music streams from Australians are of Australian artists? We have excellent music here in Aus, so hopefully this is another little step to highlighting more of that!
I also realised part way through this list that this was a bad idea because there are so many good albums that could be on here and I should have started this way sooner so that I could include more (note to self for next year – make this a top 20)
Anyway, here goes. In no particular order, my top 5 Australian albums of this year
Mia Wray – hi, it’s nice to meet me
Mia’s gig at The Corner Hotel was one of the absolute highlights of my year, possibly of my life actually. (All the highlights of my live music year are here). And her gorgeous debut album hi it’s nice to meet me has been a favourite of mine since hearing it.
I love how you can hear Mia’s journey through the songs, the way she’s still discovering who she is as a human and as an artist. Tracks such as What if (my favourite on the album) sum this up perfectly as she oscillates between feelings of hope and fear throughout the song. While the songs on the album are quite emotional and at times melancholy, the album overall has the energy of celebration. At the time I described it as club anthems with feelings and I’m going to stick by that.
Mia is also just so utterly likeable, whether it’s her skipping through the halls at the Aria’s or her infectious joy on stage that it makes it impossible not to buy into this album and her as an artist!
Listen to hi, it’s nice to meet me here.
Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers – GLORY
I loved the pop twist Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers took on their recent album, GLORY. It allowed them to really centre the themes of their songs, resulting a confident album with a clear message.
I liked how light and fun it was for the most part and it filled that perfect gap for me in needing something still lyrically relatable but with a little more levity to it. Both TURN AROUND and BALCONY were highlights for me (they’re definitely some of the more pop-focused songs on the release).
Folk Bitch Trio – Now Would be a Good Time
So, 2025 was definitely the year my music taste took a folky turn and that’s in no small part down to Folk Bitch Trio. Now Would be a Good Time was one of those albums that crept up on me, I added a track here and there to a playlist, others snuck into my algorithm and by the time I sat down to listen to the album in full I released I already loved most of it.
I like that it’s sassy, not just sad. It twists what you expect the stories of folk music to be, but retains the melodic influences and pretty harmonisation. There are so many great songs on this album and it’s only truly fully appreciated as a whole (despite my unconventional way of getting there), but opening track God’s a Different Sword, Moth Song and Cathode Ray were particular standouts.
Listen to Now Would Be A Good Time here.
Merpire – MILK POOL
Ok so this is where I really got in my head about this list. Were all my albums too similar? Is there something that “should” be on the list and isn’t?
Was it the pressure of only having two spots left? I don’t know. Anyway, I floated albums in and out of these spots for a few weeks before going back to my gut and my original choices: the albums I’ve truly connected with the most over this past year.
Anyway, I adored the beautiful, real songwriting on Merpire’s sophomore album MILK POOL. I still regularly wake up with a track or two stuck in my brain and I’ll often dip back into the album for a listen. I appreciate the storytelling, which I think is a feature of most albums on this list.
The grungier pop sound was somewhat of a shift from her previous release and I liked the darker, at times moodier sound, contrasting with the aforementioned pop lyrics. Rosanna has been a constant favourite of mine since my first listen (which I actually didn’t realise until I re-read my review when writing this).
Fun fact: I also found out just the other day that Rosanna was co-produced by Elizabeth M. Drummond.
Ninajirachi – I Love My Computer
So, I Love My Computer has been the one that more than anything else, has danced on and off my list. The reality is, I waited too long to fully listen to this album. It’s outside of the genre I’d usually listen to (for whole albums), I convinced myself I couldn’t sit and listen to it in my bedroom on a Saturday morning (that’s when most of the album listening happens) as it wasn’t the “right” kind of music. And then we ended up here.
But past me made this same mistake with Amyl and The Sniffers’ Cartoon Darkness. If there was a article that was “albums that were released last year but I loved this year” that would be top of the list, and ultimately I’ve decided to trust my gut and know that I’ll end up in the same spot with Ninajirachi’s I Love My Computer in 2026 so I’ll preemptively include it here despite ideally wanting a few more months with it in my earbuds.
Anyway, ultimately I did listen to it – on a Saturday morning in my bedroom, then on a random Wednesday night, then at my desk at work. I was struck by its creativity, its lyricism, despite being of a genre not well known for its words. It balances fun with deeper themes of digital life and relationships.
I like that it’s kind of hard to place within the dance spectrum. I’ve heard it described as everything from hyper-pop to trap-inspired electro and you can hear many more influences dotted throughout. There’s definitely an impact from appreciating this release as a whole that doesn’t fully click when you’re hearing individual songs in a playlist. It’s a record Nina has poured her heart and soul into and I know looking back next year I’ll be glad I made the choice to put it on this list.
Listen to I Love My Computer here.