Whatever you think of Minnesota’s reputation as a progressive state politically, you should be happy to note it deserves that distinction musically, too. Many of the best recordings born here in 2025 were sonically and/or lyrically bold. There was none of the manly bro-country or preprogrammed pop heard too often elsewhere; at least none that garnered much attention. Even veteran acts such as Poliça, Alan Sparhawk and Your Smith tried new things and defied easy categorization. And there was so much young talent worth adding to local playlists in 2025, it amped up anticipation for years to come.
1. She’s Green, ‘Chrysalis’
COVID-era college kids too shy to be just bare-all singer/songwriters — so they buried their vocals behind loud-whirring shoegaze guitar techniques learned from YouTube instructional videos — this Minneapolis quintet somehow crafted the local music scene’s most elegant and mesmerizing release of the year. It’s a short five-song EP, but it sure is sweet, loaded with traces of the Sundays, Cocteau Twins and other bands from well before the members were born. Stream or buy it via Bandcamp
2. Samia, ‘Bloodless’
Go figure: It took moving to Minneapolis for this former Los Angeles and New York indie-rock strummer to find her groove. Her third album paired her with local rockers Hippo Campus’ production camp, adding a playfully atmospheric, lightly frazzled backdrop to weirdo loner anthems like “Lizard” and “Bovine Excision.” Bandcamp
3. Alan Sparhawk, ‘With Trampled by Turtles’
“Don’t take your light out of me,” Sparhawk sings near the end of this quickly made but deeply meaningful record built on two decades of friendship. The former Low singer/guitarist’s fellow Duluth music scene vets instinctively brought the light out of their musical inspirator during a dark time, their distinctive musical styles melding with unsurprising ease. Bandcamp
4. Gully Boys, self-titled
This hard-touring quartet finally took a long enough break to record its overdue full-length debut LP, and the results reaffirm what good DIY punk bands do best: vent their frustrations and fears with thrashing noise but still sound like they’re having a blast. Bandcamp
5. Poliça, ‘Dreams Go’
Faced with one member’s cancer and their collective sense of moving on, the rhythmically punchy yet sensually soulful synth-wave/whir-rock quartet rallied to make what feels like its “Abbey Road.” If not a farewell, it sounds like a fond trip down producer Ryan Olson’s memory drive. Bandcamp
6. Zora, ‘Z D A Y’
An expat from the Chicago hip-hop scene drawn to the Twin Cities’ LGBTQ community, the electronically wired rapper/singer opens this album with “Sorry If U Hate Me!” But they don’t sound the least bit apologetic getting their freak on over the next nine wild, experimental, hi-fi/high-drama tracks. Bandcamp
7. Laamar, ‘In the Light’
After lending a personal view to police violence toward Black men on his 2023 breakout EP, “Flowers,” Geoffrey Lamar Wilson offers a universal view to his content personal life and leans into his band’s warm-glowing Americana groove for his first full-length album. Bandcamp
