The Hidden Awards 2025

This is our first time doing this. No long tradition, no rulebook — just a year of listening, writing, arguing, revisiting, and occasionally changing our minds. The Hidden Awards grew naturally out of what The Hidden Track has always been about: spending time with music, digging past first impressions, and paying attention to what lingers.

Over the past year, certain albums and artists kept pulling us back. CMAT’s Euro Country became a constant reference point, Olivia Dean’s The Art Of Loving revealed new layers with each listen, and bands like The Hives reminded us why conviction still matters. Elsewhere, hip hop, metal, soul, pop, and experimental scenes overlapped and collided, blurring the lines we’re often told to keep neat.

You’ll notice ties in the rankings. That’s intentional. Sometimes the conversation didn’t end in agreement — and sometimes it shouldn’t. Music doesn’t function as a straight line, and this first edition of the Hidden Awards reflects that: subjective, imperfect, and rooted in genuine enthusiasm rather than final verdicts.

These lists aren’t meant to close the year, but to mark it. A snapshot of what mattered to us in our first year — and a starting point for many more conversations to come.

Best Album of the Year

At the top of our list sits Euro Country, an album that propelled CMAT to the top, as one of the most compelling voices in contemporary pop songwriting. She is funny, sharp, vulnerable, and far more ambitious than its playful surface might suggest. Olivia Dean’s The Art Of Loving followed closely, offering a very different kind of emotional weight: warm, intimate, and quietly devastating. The Hives reminded us that pure rock ’n’ roll conviction still counts for a lot. Tyler, The Creator continued his restless evolution, and Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist delivered another masterclass in precision and atmosphere. Five albums, five worlds — and no easy winner.

1. Euro Country, by CMAT
2. The Art Of Loving, by Olivia Dean
3. The Hives Forever Forever The Hives, by  The Hives
4. Don’t Tap The Glass, by Tyler, The creator
5. Alfredo 2, by Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist

Pop Rock Album of the Year

Pop rock was dominated by strong personalities rather than trends this year. CMAT once again leads the way, her wit and melodic instinct carrying Euro Country into a category it bends to its own rules. The Hives’ Forever Forever The Hives is all momentum and swagger, proof that urgency doesn’t expire with age. Olivia Dean brings emotional finesse to the form, while downy’s eighth album and David Keenan’s Modern Mythologies push pop and rock into stranger, more exploratory territory. This was pop rock at its most elastic.

1. Euro Country, by CMAT
2. The Hives Forever Forever The Hives, by  The Hives
3. The Art Of Loving, by Olivia Dean
4. 第八作品集『無題』, by downy
   Modern Mythologies, by David Keenan

Metal Album of the Year

Deafheaven’s Lonely People With Power took the top spot by turning heaviness inward — expansive, emotional, and unafraid of beauty. Deftones’ Private Music followed, sleek and oppressive in equal measure, sounding like a band still refining its own language decades in. Further down, Helloween and Devin Townsend represented two different kinds of excess: one rooted in classic metal grandeur, the other in fearless maximalism. Four albums, four distinct ideas of what metal can still be.

1. Lonely People With Power, by Deafheaven
2. Private Music, by Deftones
3. Giants & Monsters, by Helloween
4. Powernerd, by Devin Townsend

Blues / Jazz / Soul Album of the Year

This category leaned heavily on artists with long histories and deep voices — literally and figuratively. Joe Bonamassa’s BreakThrough topped the list, balancing virtuosity with restraint, while Buddy Guy’s Ain’t Done With The Blues felt like both a statement and a reminder. We’re happy to see Loaded Honey’s debut album Love Made Trees take the third spot. It stood out as a more fragile, intimate counterpoint, alongside the raw power of Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and the seasoned warmth of TajMo.

1. BreakThrough, by Joe Bonamassa
2. Ain’t Done With The Blues, by Buddy Guy
3. Love Made Trees, by Loaded Honey
4. Hard Road, by Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram
5. Room On The Porch, by TajMo

Hip Hop Album of the Year

The top two say a lot on their own. Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist’s Alfredo 2 won out through its sheer control and chemistry, a record that sounds effortless because it isn’t. Tyler, The Creator’s Don’t Tap The Glass followed, restless and unpredictable, refusing to sit still stylistically or emotionally. Public Enemy’s return brought urgency and perspective, while Backxwash and Earl Sweatshirt pushed hip hop further inward, toward abstraction and unease. This was a category defined by intent rather than scale.

1. Alfredo 2, by Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist
2. Don’t Tap The Glass, by Tyler, The creator
3. Black Sky Over The Projects: Apartment 2025, by Public Enemy
4. Only Dust Remains, by Backxwash
   Live Laugh Love, by Earl Sweatshirt

Debut Album of the Year

Loaded Honey’s Love Made Trees taking the top spot speaks volumes about how fully formed it already feels. It is a debut in name only. Picture Parlour’s The Parlour and Heartworms’ Glutton For Punishment offered two very different kinds of intensity, one rooted in classic songcraft, the other in tension and darkness. The New Eves closed the list with a debut that feels communal, raw, and refreshingly unpolished. First steps, but confident ones.

1. Love Made Trees, by Loaded Honey
2. The Parlour, by Picture Parlour
3. Glutton For Punishment, by Heartworms
4. The New Eve Is Rising, by The New Eves

Artist / Band of the Year

CMAT’s year was simply impossible to ignore — not just because of Euro Country, but because of how clearly her voice cuts through everything she touches. Olivia Dean followed with a quieter but equally assured presence. Oasis’ return confirmed that they are still the Rock n Roll stars we remember and can lift stadiums like no-one… With The Hives they prove that Rock n Roll is all but dead! The Hives and NewDad, tying for fourth, represent two ends of the spectrum: one powered by relentless experience, the other by momentum and promise.

1. CMAT
2. Olivia Dean
3. Oasis
4. The Hives
   NewDad

Irish Artist / Band of the Year

CMAT once again leads, her songwriting and personality resonating well beyond Ireland without losing its grounding. David Keenan continues to carve out his own mythologies, while NewDad’s rise feels organic and deserved. Neptune Blood and Junk Drawer round out the list, representing two very different approaches to independence and experimentation within the Irish scene. Together, they are the living proof of how diverse, exciting, and ever changing the Irish Music Scene is.

1. CMAT
2. David Keenan
3. NewDad
4. Neptune Blood
5. Junk Drawer 

International Artist / Band of the Year

At the top, two Swedish bands dominate — The Hives and Viagra Boys — long-time rivals in attitude if not in sound, each representing Sweden’s confrontational rock legacy. A tie for third sees two Japanese artists, downy and kanekoayano, whose very different approaches highlight the breadth and subtle influence of Japan’s alternative scenes. Deluxe complete the list, carrying their funk and theatricality into a space that still feels uniquely their own.

1. The Hives
2. Viagra Boys
3. downy
4. kanekoayano
5. Deluxe