All Songs Considered (NPR)

Episode: The Most Anticipated Fall '25 Albums

Date: September 2, 2025
Host: Robin Hilton
Guests: Hazel Sills, Sheldon Pierce

Overview

In this episode, host Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music’s Hazel Sills and Sheldon Pierce to get ahead of the curve on the fall 2025 album releases. With their trademark wit, warmth, and deep music knowledge, the trio discuss the buzziest projects, play tracks from standout new records, and provide insightful critical takes on what this season's music has to offer—spanning everything from pop giants to experimental ambient and fresh indie voices. Along the way, they highlight personal favorites, memorable genre trends, and special music moments, ensuring listeners know what’s unmissable this autumn.

Key Discussion Points & Highlights

1. Major Fall 2025 Album Releases

Taylor Swift – The Life of a Showgirl

• [00:27 – 01:38]
  • Robin shares the surprise that Taylor Swift is releasing a new album: “Did you all know there’s a new Taylor Swift album coming out?” (00:27)
  • The album, The Life of a Showgirl, is shrouded in secrecy: “Can’t really play it or talk about it because we just don’t have that kind of pull.” (00:47)
  • No singles or details at the time of taping; rumored release date October 3rd.
  • Laughter about “Swift fatigue” and pokes fun at the media buzz: “The Onion actually had the best take… Taylor Swift hints new album could be about her.” (01:21)
  • Tone & Take: Playful skepticism about the overhype and Swift’s continued dominance.

2. Indie Standouts and New Artists

Snooper – Worldwide

• [01:58 – 04:37]
  • Hazel introduces Snooper’s album as a “sugar rush” of fun, comparing their sound to ’80s new wave and bratty punk:
    • “I hear so much 80s new wave…Pylon, Devo. But I also hear kind of like a bratty cheerleader kind of style of punk.” (03:28)
  • Robin agrees—they nail the balance of nostalgic and futuristic: “I almost get whiplash zigzagging back and forth when I listen.” (03:51)
  • Sheldon: “There’s something about it that reminds me of the sensation of eating Pop Rocks.” (04:08)
  • “12 songs on the album and they clock in at 28 minutes total. Yeah, it’s a sugar rush.” (04:30–04:37)
  • Release Date: October 3rd

Sudan Archives – The BPM

• [05:33 – 09:23]
  • Sheldon spotlights Sudan Archives’ shift into clubby, house-influenced music: “I think of her as a sort of restless artist…this record feels like the furthest from her wheelhouse as anything that she’s done.” (06:54)
  • Hazel notes the genre trend: “We’ve had so many artists this year…looking to the club…In a way that has really freed them.” (08:37)
  • Robin: “Is this a good starting point?” Sheldon: “Yes, it is, like, very clearly a move to the dance floor for her, but I think it maintains a lot of the most interesting stuff about her music compositionally.” (07:41–07:46)
  • Release Date: October 17th

3. Electronic & Ambient Explorations

Claire Rousay – Little Death

• [09:23 – 13:55]
  • Robin introduces a Claire Rousay track, praising the intentionality and texture of her ambient music: “Her work just feels so intentional, so distinctive, even if it’s kind of drifting in the ether. Like, I am so in her universe.” (12:07)
  • Sheldon: “I often think about her music as an artist at the center of a room…compiling everything that’s going on around her.” (12:35)
  • Hazel: “She’s really putting like a magnifying glass to [daily sound fragments] and asking the listener to listen closely…there’s something a little unsettling or weird or mysterious to her work.” (13:04)
  • Release Date: October 31st

Emily Sprague – Cloud Time

• [33:31 – 36:58]
  • Highlighted for her atmospheric, synth-driven solo work (apart from Florist). Robin: “Just so much color and character and…I keep coming back to the word humanity.” (35:12)
  • Sheldon: “It really kind of does feel like hovering over a city, taking in its splendor…there’s this sense that you’re like, astral projecting in a way.” (35:33)
  • Hazel details how the music was improvised on tour in Japan, contributing a “sweeping and enveloping” quality. (35:49)
  • Release Date: October

4. Shoegaze, Dream Pop & Indie Folk

Crushed – No Scope

• [15:56 – 20:39]
  • Hazel plays No Scope’s “One Shot,” describing a blend of trip-hop, shoegaze, and late ’90s/early ’00s pop: “They’re really kind of walking this border…There is something very pristine to this music.” (18:01)
  • Robin recounts discovering the band's video game references: “No scope apparently is a reference to shooter video games.” (20:10–20:23)
  • Sheldon: “It’s a term that is used when you have a sniper rifle and you fire…without having to look through the scope because you’re just that good. You no scope them.” (20:23)
  • Release Date: September 26th

Cate Le Bon – Michelangelo Dying

• [20:56 – 24:43]
  • Sheldon calls it “very dramatic,” praises the lush, psychedelic sound: “There’s something almost like shimmer and amorphous about her guitar tone…All of it is, like, disembodied.” (22:16–23:00)
  • Hazel: “Her music has just gotten so much richer and more complicated as she’s grown as an artist and a producer.” (23:00)
  • The hosts agree the story behind the album is less important than the experience—“You listen…you’re like, wow, Cate can really produce a record.” (23:31)
  • Release Date: September 26th

S. Carey – Watercress (EP)

• [24:43 – 29:52]
  • Robin suggests S. Carey, longtime Bon Iver drummer, is now surpassing his main band: “For me personally…I feel like he’s kind of eclipsed Bon Iver.” (25:15–25:31)
  • Sheldon and Hazel reflect on the Bon Iver universe and the virtues of S. Carey’s “grounding” approach to songwriting.
  • Robin: “Sometimes I just want a straight up singer songwriter with an acoustic guitar making beautiful sounds, lighting me up with their words.” (29:20)
  • Release Date: October 3rd

5. Folk and Singer-Songwriter Gems

Skullcrusher – And You’d Song Is Like a Circle

• [36:59 – 40:29]
  • Sheldon: “The songs sound sort of like an old manor house that’s haunted by a young ghost…she’s lost and yearning, but not malevolent.” (39:03)
  • Hazel: “This song crushes me like…There is a depth and a darkness to this song and to her music. Like, I think of Helen Ballantyne as being…in the same lineage as, like, Grouper or Julia Holter.” (39:49)
  • Release Date: October 17th

Silvana Estrada – Vendrán Suaves Lluvias (Spanish: There Will Come Soft Rains)

• [40:29 – 43:36]
  • Robin: “We’ve talked about the perfect Sunday morning album…music to calm the nerves…I think this album is both.” (42:13)
  • Hazel: “She really sang with this full throated vocals and there was so much rage and sadness on that album. And even though she was like using her quatro…her sound [on this new album] is much smoother and lighter and like I hear a new side of her.” (42:28)
  • Sheldon: “This record to me feels just a little bit more radiant than Marchita.” (43:00)
  • Robin: “She said she just wanted to seek out and find a softness and a sweetness in the world again. I think she found it.” (43:13)
  • Release Date: October 17th

Bonus Mentions & Shout-Outs

• [31:05 – 33:12]
  The team highlights significant anticipated albums, including:
  • Jeff Tweedy’s triple album Twilight Override (Sep 26)
  • Patrick Watson (Sep 26)
  • Florence and the Machine (Oct 31)
  • Matty Diaz – Fatal Optimus (Oct 10)
  • Octo Octa – Sigils for Survival (Oct 24)
  • Halo – Musicality (Sep 19)
  • Bar Italia – Some Like It Hot (Oct 17)
  • JSOM – Belong (Oct 10)
  • Amber Mark – Pretty Idea (Oct 10)
  • Just Mustard – We Were Just Here (Oct 24)
  • Micaiah McRaven – Series of EPs (Oct 31)
  • 50th Anniversary Editions: Patti Smith’s Horses (Oct 10), Tom Waits’ Nighthawks at the Diner (Oct 24)

Notable Quotes

• Robin Hilton on Taylor Swift’s new album:
  “Can’t really play it or talk about it because we just don’t have that kind of pull.” (00:47)

• Sheldon Pierce on Sudan Archives’ genre shift:
  “This record feels like the furthest from her wheelhouse as anything that she’s done.” (06:54)

• Hazel Sills on Crushed:
  “I feel like a band like this might run the risk of just being like a vibes curator…but they do what they do so well.” (18:01)

• Sheldon Pierce on Skullcrusher:
  “The songs, to me, sound sort of like an old manor house that’s haunted by a young ghost…and she’s also got great taste.” (39:03)

• Robin Hilton on Silvana Estrada:
  “She said she just wanted to…find a softness and a sweetness in the world again. I think she found it.” (43:13)

Conclusion

This preview was packed with genre explorations, playful banter, and a passion for music discovery. The hosts showcased both marquee names and deep cuts, connecting the dots between evolving sounds and personal emotional resonance. From club transformations and ambient masterpieces to haunting folk and pop surprises, Fall 2025 is set to offer fresh colors across the musical spectrum.

For a comprehensive release calendar, visit NPR Music's All Songs Considered site.