GFM’s Favorite Music of 2025

We asked our team of staff writers and contributing correspondents to share the new music in 2025 that resonated especially with them. Below are some of their answers.

Craig Nash: Senior Editor

Snipe Hunter by Tyler Childers

Tyler Childers’ 2025 album Snipe Hunter has stirred controversy among some of his longtime conservative fans—though I can’t, for the life of me, tell you why. He already showed his cards with the epic country-bluegrass defense of Black Lives Matter on 2020’s Long Violent History. 

He followed that with the gay coal-miner storyline in the video for 2023’s beautiful ballad “In Your Love.” Apparently, some folks didn’t get the memo.

Snipe Hunter is full of foot-stomping rhythm and mind-bending lyrics. Childers introduces memorable characters and mines themes of social upheaval in rural communities. He even explores Eastern spirituality.

My favorite song on the album is the closer, “Dirty Ought Trill,” and after around a thousand listens, I can almost sing along to the fast, fun melody.

Returning to Myself by Brandi Carlile

Brandi Carlile’s 2018 album By the Way, I Forgive You and her 2021 memoir Broken Horses put a spotlight on her history with Christianity. Although she retains a skeptical ambivalence toward institutional religion—for understandable reasons described in her book—she still refers to herself as a “Jesus Freak” and keeps a copy of Brennan Manning’s The Ragamuffin Gospel on her bedside table.

Knowing this background helps listeners give shape to much of her music, allowing the trained ear to hear hints of Christianity throughout her catalogue. This is evident in this year’s Returning to Myself, her first solo album since 2021.

The track “Church and State” is a rocker that belongs alongside the Old Testament prophets and the writer of Ecclesiastes, declaring the fleeting status and ultimate demise of those who wield the power of religion for their own gain. The anthem “Human” will have you raising your fists and celebrating the creation of mortal souls from dust and clay.

In a world where members of the Gospel Music Association read their Bibles, Returning to Myself would be just the latest in a string of Dove Awards for the Jesus Freak from Seattle.

Cally Chisholm: Creative Coordinator

LUX by Rosalía

Put on your headphones, close your eyes, and bask in the orchestral-pop magic of Rosalía’s LUX like sunlight through stained glass in a magnificent cathedral. In her fourth album, Rosalía explores spirituality and femininity in this ambitious and bold project with the London Symphony Orchestra, Björk, Carminho, Estrella Morente, Silvia Pérez Cruz, Yahritza y Su Esencia, and Yves Tumor.

The acclaimed Spanish singer has created an artistic international hit—accumulating 13 languages across the 15 tracks (Catalan, English, Latin, Sicilian, Ukrainian, Arabic, German, and more). But don’t fret: You don’t need to speak these languages to appreciate the beauty of the compelling production and operatic vocal performances. Still, you should read through the poetic lyrics to complete the experience.

The soaring crescendo of “Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti,” leading to the energetic “Berghain,” is truly a high point. The final track, “Magnolias,” completes the album with a poignant and emotional benediction—a glimpse into Rosalía’s imagined funeral and ascension into Heaven.

Dios desciende Y yo asciendo
God descends and I ascеnd
Nos encontramos En el medio
We meet in the middle

Yo que vengo de las estrellas
I come from the stars
Hoy me convierto en polvo
Today I turn into dust
Pa’ volver con ellas
To return to them

LUX is the best-reviewed album of 2025, with a 97 rating on Metacritic.

Clipse, Let God Sort Em Out
Hip-hop duo and real-life brothers Terrence “Pusha T” and Gene “Malice” Thornton team up again for the first time since 2009 for their sharp and critically acclaimed new album, Let God Sort Em Out, featuring Pharrell Williams, Kendrick Lamar, John Legend, Tyler, the Creator, Nas, and more.

Loss is a major theme of this album. “The Birds Don’t Sing” is a gripping and grief-stricken album opener referencing the brothers’ loss of their mother in the first verse. Their father tragically followed only a few months later, as explained in verse two:

“The way you missed Mama, I guess I should’ve known / Chivalry ain’t dead, you ain’t let her go alone / Found you in the kitchen, scriptures in the den / Half-written texts that you never got to send / Combin’ through your dresser drawer, where do I begin? / Postin’ noted Bible quotes, were you preparin’ then?”

In “All Things Considered,” Pusha T reveals his wife suffered a miscarriage after a painfully long battle with expensive IVF treatments. The duo has experienced so much tragedy since their last album together, and that maturity and perspective are evident throughout. 

A common refrain in their latest project is summed up in the final track, “By the Grace of God.” Here, Clipse offers a final reflection on the divine intervention that protected them from the lifestyles of their past selves.

“Went from mason jars to crepe tartare’s, Escape the odds by the Grace of God”

Let God Sort Em Out received five Grammy nominations. Notably, Clipse is one of three Hip/Hop-Rap artists nominated for Album of the Year (Kendrick Lamar and Tyler, the Creator are also nominated). It has been 22 years since a Rap album won this category, and in the award’s 68-year history, only two have gone home with the title: Lauryn Hill (1999) and Outkast (2004).
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Stephanie Brueggeman: Data & Sales Manager

Southern Spectacle by Adam Mac

From the first track, it’s clear that Mac isn’t just making music—he’s making space. His sound blends the warmth of Southern storytelling with the energy of modern pop-country, creating a record that feels both familiar and revolutionary.

What stands out most is the album’s unapologetic authenticity. Mac brings his full self to every lyric and melody, offering a vision of the South that embraces diversity, joy, and liberation. Southern Spectacle feels like a celebration of courage—the courage to live truthfully.

Vocally, Mac is stunning. His voice carries both power and tenderness, especially on standout tracks that explore identity, resilience, and love. The production is polished without losing the grit and charm of its Southern roots.

Southern Spectacle isn’t just an album—it’s a statement. It invites listeners to imagine a more inclusive South, one where everyone’s story has a place. Adam Mac has created something deeply meaningful, irresistibly fun, and profoundly hopeful.

“I’m still a little bit country
I’m a lot to handle
But don’t let these rhinestones fool ya
I’m as country as a backwoods banjo”

Rebecca M. David Hensley: Contributing Correspondent

Who Would Jesus Bomb by Jordan Smart

I’ve recently discovered a large body of new music focused on resisting fascism, often citing Trump or ICE specifically, but unafraid to critique democrats or call out the injustices in Palestine. Reaching the top of my personal listening charts is Jordan Smart’s Who Would Jesus Bomb?

Touching on everything from how society treats unhoused people, immigrants, and the LGBTQ+ community, the refrain calls listeners over and again to the genocide in Gaza. But the searing message of the song is its critique of U.S. Christianity turned “America First” and White Christian Nationalism, asking:

Who would Jesus bomb?

Tell me, who would Jesus bomb?

Would it be kids in Palestine, or how ’bout Vietnam?

Would Jesus bomb the Atheists, the Muslims or the Jews?

I want you to ask yourself, “What would Jesus do?”

It calls us to confront the powers and principalities parading under a cloak of religiosity branded with a cheap WWJD emblem slapped onto a MAGA flag.

But it does more than that. Who Would Jesus Bomb beckons every single Christian—-conservative, progressive, or anywhere in between—to examine our personal values and beliefs about our faith, our country, and our relationships with others.