Complex Distractions Presents Favorite Albums of 2025 : Electronic Edition

We’re back.

This time I’m talking all my favorite electronic albums of 2025. There were some amazing electronic records released this year…some you’ve heard, and probably some that will be new to your ears. So scroll on down and see what we’ve got.


10. Camp of Wolves : Bear Creek

I’ve been a fan of David Salisbury and his musical project Camp of Wolves for a few years now. New to his world? Then I suggest jump into Green Timbers and Granite Creek, then hit up his latest Bear Creek. All are very personal to him and elicit a sort of haunted nostalgia. Like revisiting your hometown, and running into ghosts of the past that remind you why left in the first place. Yet, you still long for that immediate feeling of melancholy.

Bear Creek is a wonderful, ghostly experience throughout. An electronic album of organic beauty that seems to mix Badalamenti’s dramatic delivery with the warm nostalgia of comfy synth artists like Covered Bridges. From the dreamy “Amongst Firs” to the bittersweet “Summer’s End” to the hazy, almost trip-hop feel of “Cross The Townline”, Salisbury and Camp of Wolves paint a visceral vision of a rural childhood that never leaves, for better or worse.” – J Hubner

9. Dressel Amorosi : House of Dolls

The electronic/prog duo Dressel Amorosi made one hell of a proggy/Giallo masterpiece in House of Dolls. Their signature bass and synth sound is on full display here, eliciting everything from Goblin, Fabio Frizzi, and even touches of Pink Floyd.

Title track “House of Dolls” brings to mind John Harrison’s great Day of the Dead score with a touch of Pye Corner Audio for good measure. Or the amazing “Octagon Tower” that is both sinister and melancholy at the same time.” – J Hubner

8. Antoni Maiovvi : Deathgames

Antoni Maiovvi returns to the world of imagined soundtracks with the taut, tension-filled Deathgames. Being one of the OG musicians/composers of the genre, Maiovvi brings the electronic dread like no other.

Maiovvi goes out of his way to drop us into the apocalyptic, burnt out New York of films like The Warriors, Death Wish, and Taxi Driver. “In Moonlight” wavers in sinister synth tones, bringing us into the New York of Scorsese, Ferrara, and Kern. “Colours of Night” combines the claustrophobic sound of exploitation cinema with a hypnotic groove of the early days of post-punk and new wave.” –J Hubner

7. Metavari : House Tetra Sessions, Vol. 1

Nate Utesch’ project Metavari has been an ever-evolving thing. He never repeats what came before, while still keeping to his singular vision of sound and connectivity. House Tetra Sessions, Vol. 1 is a reimagining of songs from Metavari’s past, recorded with a trio. Lush, futuristic synth sounds for the next millennium.

The album opens with the lush synth bath of “(Green Doors)”, a majestic swirl of electronics that brings Oneohtrix Point Never to mind. I find Utesch and Lopatin travel on similar sonic roads, with both obscuring the pop elements just enough so as to make the sound journey adventurous as well as joyous.” – J Hubner

6. Meridian Arc : Continuum

Andrew Crawshaw brought his Meridian Arc project back to life in 2025 with the fully-immersive Continuum. He brings the classic 70s Berlin School vibes back to stunning effect with his 7-song end-of-year masterpiece.

When you hit play on Continuum you’re swallowed up by buzzing electronic sound. “Time Ever Collapsing” pulls you into its atmosphere in mysterious swaths of noise that feels like the beginning of some sci fi epic. Swirling melody collides into sonic peace. It captures the one-two punch of Tangerine Dream’s back-to-back masterpieces Phaedra and Rubycon. Mellotron strings lead us into the mysterious “A Process In Decline”. A feeling of vast space surrounds you as the song bubbles under the surface in a flurry of circuital urgency.” –J Hubner

5. Nine Inch Nails : Tron : Ares Soundtrack

After several years of just Reznor/Ross film scores Trent Reznor has resurrected Nine Inch Nails for another score. The last NIN music was the three EPs released in the late 2010s, as well as bringing a reimagined NIN back for the Watchmen soundtrack(they were The Nine Inch Nails).

We now have Nine Inch Nails officially scoring a film, and that film is the third Tron film, Tron: Ares, and it’s a welcome return for Trent Reznor’s musical legacy.

What do you get on the Tron: Ares soundtrack? You get a handful of new NIN songs with Reznor giving some solid vocal turns, as well as some of the best electronic instrumental pieces since their work on The Social Network. Engaging, catchy, and dramatic pieces that sit well with the new vocal tracks. “Init” sounds like Trentemøller’s work for Halt and Catch Fire, while “Forked Reality” has a Vangelis quality to it.” – J Hubner

4. Le Matos : Turbo Kid Original Game Soundtrack

Le Matos came into view for me with their excellent Turbo Kid Soundtrack back in 2015. I quickly followed that up with their excellent Join Us LP. Everything they do is fantastic, but Turbo Kid will always hold a special place with me. So when they released an 8-bit version of their Turbo Kid score for the retro scroller video game version of the movie I was floored.

Not into post-apocalyptic 80s movies? Or NES side-scrolling videogames? No problem, because Le Matos’ Turbo Kid Original Game Soundtrack will pull you in regardless. It’s another amazing album from Le Matos, and the wasteland.” – J Hubner

3. Mark Pritchard/Thom Yorke : Tall Tales

Tall Tales is a smorgasbord of sonic delights and eclectic electronic wastelands. Where the Thom Yorke vibes end, I guess the Mark Pritchard ones begin. I wasn’t familiar with Mark Pritchard’s work, but I can hear another musical point of view on this album. It’s like dystopian electronic music for the end of the world.

With time and repeated listens Mark Pritchard and Thom Yorke’s Tall Tales will be regarded as high art, and one of the best albums of 2025. And with some time in-between its release and some introspective listening I think this will be seen as a shining spot in Thom Yorke and Mark Pritchard’s overall discography.” – J Hubner

2. Rival Consoles : Landscape from Memory

Ryan Lee West makes electronic music you can feel. It’s tactile in its sound, as if running your hands through sun-lit sand on some desolate beach. There’s movement in his work; visceral and present. Yet there’s an intellectual, philosophical weight to it as well. Primal, emotional, and heady. Landscape from Memory is yet another dizzying record in a long, long line of them that sees Rival Consoles continue to be one of the most prolific electronic musicians of our time.

“In Reverse” opens the LP in a wistful, contemplative mood. Bringing to mind Moderat in it’s wavering melody, “In Reverse” is a welcome return to the world of Rival Consoles. “Catherine” is up next, revealing an upbeat and playful feel. “Catherine” -named after West’s partner – was the catalyst for Landscape from Memory, ending a year-long musical drought. It opened the floodgates for the rest of the album to come together.” –J Hubner

And number one…..

Oneohtrix Point Never : Tranquilizer

I think Daniel Lopatin is one of the most important electronic producers and musical forces we have right now. I think he sees and hears things on some other level that at times can alienate us as listeners, making him sort of a musical man out of time. His work is heady, dense, and antithetical to what a lot of people want out of electronic music. His early work was psychedelic drones and synth patches that brought to mind cosmic realms and thick weed clouds. With R Plus Seven the week clouds thinned and what remained was a singular voice; one that seemed to be obsessed with time and memory and the ghosts of the past coming back to haunt us.

Each record since has been his interpretation of a musical past; whether Garden Of Delete’s electro version of 90s grunge, or Magic Oneohtrix Point Never’s cosmic radio dial reliving Lopatin’s youth with a Boston radio station, OPN is a time machine to forgotten media, technology, and memories.

Tranquilizer is OPN’s best album in a decade, bringing the hazy world of early OPN while giving us crackling electronic glitches of the future. It’s haunting, engaging, and never misses.


And here’s few more for your ears:

Hawksmoor : An Aesthetic – Experiments in Tape

Entrancer : Rit

The Cube of Unknowing : Bog Summoner

Kuma : It Depends Which Wolf You Feed

Jonathan Sharp : Neon Night Ride

Salvatore Mercatante : Strega III : Dianus of Doorways

Alone 1980 : Portal


Up next is all the rest. Next week will be my favorite albums of the year, culled from these lists. Hang in there, 2026 is just around the corner.


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