Staff List: The 10 Best U.K. & Ireland Albums of 2025 (So Far)

2025 has already been a blinding blur of activity for British and Irish music. Some years, the release of big-ticket albums is mostly a slow trickle to start – but not this one. Over the past few months alone, we have seen everything from blockbuster releases by returning legends to emerging acts finding their voices and landing breakout moments.

Central Cee opened the floodgates at the top of the year with the release of Can’t Rush Greatness in January, breaking streaming records and cracking the top 10 of the Billboard 200 in the process. A month later, Sam Fender netted a record-breaking opening week on the Official U.K. Albums Chart with People Watching, shifting 107,100 units in its first seven days, according to the Official Charts Company.

There have been dozens more stories of artists trusting the process and reaping the rewards, too. An ascendant class of newer names (Divorce, Jacob Alon) have seized the brass ring good and proper, resulting in returns that were less commercially explosive, but just as artistically rewarding as some of our leading stars.

Having just passed the year’s halfway point, there are still plenty of major records on the horizon, including collections from Lola Young, Joy Crookes and more. Yet 2025 has already given us plenty of delights to cherish and return to while we await another deluge of releases.

These are the 10 best U.K. & Ireland albums of 2025 (so far), presented alphabetically by artist.