Fall 2025 music recap!

This autumn was one of my strangest ones yet. For the first time, I entered a season without a single person I’d known for more than two months, in a city that was completely new to me. It was a total clean slate, and the soundtrack music was bound to become formative. Here are the women who defined my first autumn as an adult!

To pick up right where we left off on my summer music recap, Sabrina Carpenter was hands down the biggest artist on my mind. I won’t bore you with the details – I already placed her at number one on my albums of the year list for 2025. “Go Go Juice” and “My Man on Willpower” were the anthems.

Let’s talk about Taylor Swift. For the first time in all the years I’ve been making annual rankings, Swift’s brand-new album didn’t even make my top ten albums of the year, let alone the number one spot that she usually owns. There was nothing particularly striking to me about The Life of a Showgirl as a complete album. That said, I love “Father Figure” and “Ruin the Friendship”. I’m often finding “Opalite” and “Actually Romantic” stuck in my head. And I am not a hater of “Wood”! But that’s about where the fangirling over the singer’s twelfth studio album ends.

The album cover for Cinematic by Lily Kincade

A great album that came out was Cinematic by Lily Kincade, who I had the honor of doing a feature on at the end of the year. It’s an incredibly cohesive body of work with the most beautiful imagery. “Lesson to Learn”, “Try to Run”, “405” and “Piano at Parties” are masterpieces.

Courtesy of my Women in Country Music class (thank you Belmont University), I found a lot of old country-ish songs. One that was always playing was “A Lesson in Leavin’” by Dottie West. So was “Drugstore Rock’n’Roll” by Janis Martin. “The End of the World” by Skeeter Davis obliterated me. “Forget About It” by Alison Krauss, “You Don’t Even Know Who I Am” by Patty Loveless, and “She’s Got You” by Patsy Cline introduced me to three artists I’d been meaning to get into. I ventured into the Joni Mitchell realm with “Both Sides Now”. The most classic country song was “Jolene” by Dolly Parton. And then I got more modern with some songs from the last decade or two: “Jesus, Take the Wheel” by Carrie Underwood, “Girl Crush” by Little Big Town, and “High” by Caitlyn Smith. The former two I’d already known but hadn’t fully appreciated yet.

The single cover for You You You / Audrey Hepburn by Maisie Peters

Maisie Peters stunned me with the first few singles on her upcoming album Florescence. “You You You” and “Say My Name in Your Sleep” are gorgeous heartbreak anthems. “I’m the scene of the crime and the bore of the bar and a memory hoarder” (from the former) – come on.

Olivia Dean entered my consciousness after I reviewed her sophomore album for my university newspaper. “Something Inbetween” and “So Easy (To Fall in Love)” provided lovely dorm background music on cozy evenings.

The album cover for Cherry Valley by Carter Faith

Finally, my usual spewing of random songs. “The Louvre” (2017) by Lorde was on repeat after I saw the singer live on the Ultrasound Tour. “Out in the Garden” by Sofia Isella brought interesting contrast to the newly religious region I moved to. Her pen game is phenomenal. I crashed out many times to “We Hug Now” by Sydney Rose. I thought Tate McRae was iconic for “Tit for Tat”. I stumbled upon “Ain’t We Got Fun” (1958) by Peggy Lee while in a stationery store and considered exploring the jazz realm further. Carter Faith wowed me with her album Cherry Valley, especially with the lyricism in “Misery Loves Company”. I got into Adrianne Lenker’s solo work, particularly her very underground track, “Anything” (2020). I dove back into Katy Perry’s early work, like “I’m Still Breathing” (2008). Finally, I fell in love with “Juna” (2024) by Clairo after some friends were playing Charm on their record player one evening.

I’m almost at midterms for my spring semester, and let me tell you, the fall semester nostalgia is already hitting. In fact, the nostalgia for my freshman dorm is hitting. Oh, how I love life. Best wishes as we enter spring, I especially look forward to the new Maisie Peters album!