The 10 Best Pop and Alt-Pop Albums by Women in 2025

2025 has been an interesting year for pop music. It’s a shadow of its predecessor, from no notable hit being appointed “song of the summer” to country music dominating a previously pop-heavy portion of the Billboard Hot 100 charts. 2024 was the year for fun, explosive bangers, while 2025 offers a more somber, contemplative, and reflective side of pop. Though it saw the absence of many of pop’s leaders (such as Beyoncé, Olivia Rodrigo, and Chappell Roan), it wasn’t without its incredible projects. From debuts to sophomore records that finally broke the mainstream, to beloved returning acts, here’s a subjective ranking of the 10 best pop and alternative pop albums of the year.

10. IT’S NOT THAT DEEP - Demi Lovato

Despite its deceptive title, this record traverses significant emotional territory for Demi Lovato — if you care deeply enough to look for it. This electro-dance-pop aesthetic is a new arena for Lovato, but she finally pulls off a cohesive project that feels true to herself rather than a costume she’s trying on. Tracks like “Fast,” “Say It,” and “Little Bit” have an infectious beat that will make you long to dance under flashing lights in a sweaty club. Every Lovato album must have a resilient self-love song, and “Sorry to Myself” delivers as a fun addition to that category. With the agility shown on IT'S NOT THAT DEEP, Lovato continues to prove she is the most vocally talented of the former Disney Channel actresses turned pop stars.

9. The Art of Loving - Olivia Dean

Olivia Dean splashed onto the pop-girl scene this year with no lack of smash hits. The Art of Loving, Dean’s second album, has topped the U.K. charts since its release and spawned multiple viral hits. It’s no wonder, since her songs have addictive choruses that worm their way into your brain. Though unlike an irritating pop song, you’re happy to sing these hooks over and over again. Highlights like “Nice to Each Other” and “So Easy (To Fall in Love)” feature silky production that makes the album an easy listen. True to its title, this record expresses a softness and femininity through Dean’s velvety vocals, making her unique in the current pop landscape.

8. EURO-COUNTRY - CMAT

Irish singer-songwriter CMAT paints an intricate picture of her home on EURO-COUNTRY — its people, its bleakness, and her feelings among it all. Her wit is delightfully surprising, every song sprinkled with paradigmatic references. “The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station” is most emblematic of her reflections on Irish culture and her frustrating, loathing relationship with herself. Her personality is instantly recognizable and distinctive in her songwriting. “Take a Sexy Picture of Me” and “Running/Planning” are favorites, with precise social commentary laced into infectious pop beats. This record propelled CMAT to a new level of public recognition, a worthy accolade for some of the year’s best writing.

7. The Life of a Showgirl - Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl is the most commercially successful album of 2025, once again asserting her dominance atop the pop food chain. The album’s aesthetic gives the listener a bit of a bait-and-switch, its content revealing a softer, giddy, in-love side of Swift behind the stage lights and glimmering bodysuits. This shines through on tracks like “Wi$hli$t” (which emotes even more on the acoustic version) and “The Fate of Ophelia,” revealing a happily-ever-after she’s long sung about. Other emblematic showgirl highlights like “Father Figure” and “Elizabeth Taylor” are excellent additions to her conversations on fame, influence, and power. While there is a bit to be desired lyrically in this entry to her catalog, she delivers on the promised infectious pop melodies that keep the world pressing play.

6. Addison - Addison Rae

TikToker turned pop star Addison Rae silences any doubters with her debut record Addison. She knows exactly who she is and is ready to present her ambitions and fears to the world. Her persona feels lived-in, it is performance without being performative. She’s breathy, enticing, untouchable, but real. This Addison is most personified on “Money Is Everything” and “Fame Is a Gun.” However, our complex narrator expresses the most on “In the Rain” and “Headphones On,” two of the album’s most emotionally exposing tracks. She builds a complete introduction to herself and her world in just 12 songs. This year, Addison Rae proves she is one to watch.

5. Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party - Hayley Williams

Hayley Williams’ third album didn’t start as an album at all. This collection of songs, buried deep in her website, was first a cathartic exercise made to express her deepest wounds. Now, they’re on full public display. This record ranges from chastising to unsettling, the latter represented in incredible elegies like “True Believer” and “Discovery Channel.” Williams’ mania and hopelessness fuel her creativity in ways only the worst emotions can. This second entry in 2025’s theme of divorce albums surprises as one of the year’s best alternative pop releases and her most artistically accomplished solo project yet.

4. Who’s the Clown? - Audrey Hobert

2025 has introduced an unconventional hero of singer-songwriter pop: 26-year-old Audrey Hobert. Her sprawling diary entry, Who’s the Clown?, is one of the most brilliant modern encapsulations of life, love, and emotional need as a member of Gen Z. Her conversational flow allures you; she’s the drunk girl at a bar spilling her whole life story after you’ve just met. Her honesty in songs like “Thirst Trap” and “Wet Hair,” which strike chords of losing yourself in the need to appease others, is upsettingly poignant. She flexes an observational instinct in tracks like “Chateau” and “Sex and the City” that sets her apart from generic pop writers, dropping you into a moment or placing you behind her eyes. Though the album didn’t see much commercial success, Hobert has become an “if you know, you know” artist, receiving praise from critics and fellow musicians alike.

3. LUX - Rosalía

LUX is an ethereal entry in Rosalía’s discography. Even non-Spanish speakers can understand the magnitude this album reaches and feel its depth through her stirring performance. Its biblical themes inspire unsettling, guilt-ridden, restrictive, fearful, yet ardent reflections on Rosalía’s inner life and her relationship with faith. “Divinize” and “Magnolias” are hymn-like, rooted in piety, and stand out as lyrical highlights. The orchestration on this album is transcendent, with no contemporary comparison. Featuring 14 languages, the album is a masterful portrayal of how religious devotion is woven into the fabric of every culture. Here, Rosalía distinguishes herself as a true artist among ephemeral musicians.

2. Mayhem - Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga is at her best when she’s untamed, and with a title like Mayhem, the album demands it. She delivers something nostalgic yet unexplored with one of her most intoxicating albums yet. Underneath its electric, dark exterior, Mayhem is Gaga’s most romantic record, meeting her where she is now with ideations of love and fame. “Abracadabra” and “Garden of Eden” join the hallowed halls of ingenious Gaga hits, while “Vanish Into You” and “Die With a Smile” reach an emotional crown that shades in the album’s complexity. Mayhem is an excellent addition to Lady Gaga’s discography and displays the same pop instinct that’s been present since The Fame.

1. West End Girl - Lily Allen

Lily Allen returns to songwriting after a seven-year hiatus to deliver the most heartbreaking and emotionally potent album of the year. The record unfolds like a devastating three-act play, sparing no details about the turbulent road her deteriorating marriage has taken. It demands to be listened to in its entirety, every song encapsulating an even more wounding experience than its precursor. It cycles through the complexities of the stages of grief as Allen grapples with her husband’s infidelity in their already open marriage. Her honesty captures a spark no other album this year has come close to. She bares it all. Tracks like “Nonmonogamummy” and “Dallas Major” highlight her inventiveness in production and lyricism — her dry, candid delivery, laced with cheekiness, is one only a Brit could deliver. These numbers pair beautifully with somber performances like “Sleepwalking” and “Just Enough,” which reveal how disturbing the simplest revelations can be. West End Girl reaches an apex of fervor that many can only hope to scratch.