Once again and as always, the dance albums released in 2025 served as a reminder of the genre’s vastness.
But while on the surface bass might not have much to do with house which might not have much to do with techno which might not have much in common with trance or the many other varieties of sound that exist under the umbrella, together they form the sonic tapestry of the global scene and function as the raw material that drives this world forward.
And while it remains a singles-driven genre to be sure, in dance music albums function as statement pieces, full-length works demonstrating an artist’s intent and identity — which also provide them with the material to form their live shows. (And serve as buffets for other artists to eat from when it comes to their own sets.)
In 2025, dance albums pushed further out in every aforementioned genre direction and more, further realizing the glorious multitudes contained in the humble “dance” descriptor and giving fans a way to bring their favorite artists into the fold while well outside the confines of the club. We got UKG and fresh takes on techno, nostalgic dubstep, future-facing bass and a lot of music that functioned as template examples of classic sounds, but still somehow sounded fresh.
The albums from many of these year-defining artists are below, along with some of the more under-the-radar releases that resonated, as part of our staff’s picks for the 50 best albums that 2025 had to offer.
NUMBER ONE
FKA twigs, Eusexua
Over the last decade and change, the avant-pop innovator has earned her reputation as one of pop’s most ambitious alchemists — and her third studio album is another triumph at the intersection of pop, dance and experimental music. For Eusexua, Twigs assembled a murderer’s row of collaborators, from pop fixtures like Stargate and Jeff Bhasker to dancefloor luminaries including Nicolas Jaar and Two Shell, to make some of the most muscular music of her career. Fittingly, the Welsh producer Koreless – who worked on every Eusexua track – devised the instrumental for standout “Drums of Death” on a flight to Berlin to play Berghain.
But for as hard as moments like “Drums” hit, Eusexua also weaves in a deeply feminine, nearly divine sense of delicacy, like on the electronica ode to female pleasure “Girl Feels Good,” which reminds us that when “a girl feels good, it makes the world go ’round.” Eusexua holds both the light and the dark, the hard and the soft, the pre-party and the after-hours ends of dance music, exploring this world while also expanding it. — E.R.B.
