HCTF's best of 2025 (10-6)

• 20-16
• |
• 15-11
• |
• 10-6
• |
• 5-1

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HCTF's annual list of the 20 albums that will be in regular rotation for many years to come. As per usual many genres are represented. Here Comes The Flood covers a lot of ground and it shows in this eclectic, final tally. Caveat: only albums that got a review are in these listings. I listen to a lot more music than I have time to write about.

Today: countdown from number 10 to 6.

Please shop at your local record store. Most of the stores have a pretty good website where you can order your stuff. It might even be cheaper than the big ones on the 'net. The folks who work there know their stuff and can recommend artists you might like.

Buy directly from the artist, attend live shows and stop by the merch table. And be sure to tell your friends about that great new act you discovered. Word-of-mouth can't be beat as the prime source to discover new music. Algorithms always play it safe, which is fucking boring.

Glyn Bailey: "This Man" video

English musician Glyn Bailey has made a stylish B&W video for This Man, a track from his new album Oran's World: "a treat for the ears and a reminder that people can be kind against all odds."

» glynbailey.com

HCTF review of Oran's World

Glyn Bailey: Oran's World

10

Glyn Bailey is an optimist, with a sharp to find beauty in a world that is quite dark right now. His new album Oran's World is filled to the rafters with carefully orchestrated, baroque pop. He plays with light and shade, with the latter coming out on top, even when melancholy comes up with a half-hearted attempt to gain dominance.

If anything, this collection of songs is a plea for being gentle by way of luscious musical arrangements that were all the rage in the late 60s. Jazz and big band licks were part of the mainstream back then, and Bailey puts this old school to good use in tracks like Birdsong, This Man (inspired by the TV series) and Honeypot.

Glyn Bailey: Testament

Glyn Bailey may reside in Spain right now, but his music sound undeniably English. His new album Testament is a carefully crafted piece of orchestral pop, with his lyrics telling stories where joy and despair are equal partners, plus a wicked sense of humour to top it off. Bailey's nuances are mirrored in the music. Saxophone, clarinet, piano, trumpet and organ supersede the classic guitar, baas and drums format.

Testament is all about gentle textures as he looks back on his life so far. He travelled, he loved, he mourned and all those things are captured in lush arrangements that will sit well with fans of Scott Walker, Rufus Wainwright and early Seventies David Bowie. Bailey is a captivating story teller, a poet in the guise of a seasoned rocker. Testament is a summation of his career until now, but it s by no means the final chapter.