It’s almost dizzying how many artists kicked off the year with new music and rolling out new eras in January. It was filled with long-awaited albums, back-to-back album announcements and new tours to look forward to. After experiencing how good music was last year, I wondered if 2025 could shape up to match music’s cultural phenomena in 2024. Though you could say it’s still too early to tell, there hasn’t been a shortage of new music to sift through. Every week, there’s something new to expect or an album you have yet to finish. Only one full month into 2025, the music already released sets a precedent for the cultural statements artists are seeking to make. It’s clear that music and the arts will become something we cling onto to return to ourselves this year, a source of stability as well as enjoyment.

Starting off the year was Bad Bunny. “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” is a return rivaling “Un Verano Sin Ti.” Bad Bunny’s newest release is an album about Latinidad, salsa and never forgetting Puerto Rico. The album goes beyond capturing music in a specific moment, yearning for the lost memories and time that precede it. “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” is an archive, photos captured musically for a time that seems so far from where we are in our lives. In “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS,” the past is yearned for in terms of the community that raised us, inducing nostalgia. Reminiscing on the moments you wish you could return to, Bad Bunny singing “debí tirar más fotos de cuando te tuve / debí darte más beso’ y abrazo’ las vecé’ que pude.”

Culture and language are a point of pride rather than curt pictures for vacation postcards that turn homeland into something for tourists rather than lived experiences. For everything “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” is, it’s what makes the album one of best to be released so far this year.

My favorite songs off “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” are “Baile Inolvidable,” “Perfumito Nuevo” and “DtMF.”

Other important albums (that you should listen to) released in January:

Ethel Cain returned with “Perverts.” This is Cain’s second album and builds off the creative direction she previewed with the single “Punish.” Balancing alongside introspective lyrics are long soundscapes of gothic ambience.

“Ballonerism” is a posthumous album by Mac Miller. In the music the late Miller never got to release, we hear the work he was still working on, hoping to develop in some final work. It’s a project that reaches into the mind of Miller, giving insight into alter egos and his perspectives on life and everything beyond it.

“You Are the Morning” is Jasmine.4.t’s debut album. Produced by boygenius, Jasmine.4.t called the album “a recognition of the potential that trans people and queer people have to change the world and bring about a brighter future.” You can see her play the album on tour this Spring with Lucy Dacus and Katie Gavin.

“Eusexa” by FKA Twigs returns to the darker aesthetic of “Magdalene,” with some fun melodic elements of “Caprisongs.” The album’s imagery is one of creative ingenuity from FKA Twigs, putting the techno-inspired beats to intricate choreography.

“Hurry Up Tomorrow” by The Weeknd is the final part of his trilogy started with “After Hours.” The album is The Weeknd possibly readying to retire his name. Accompanying the album: a movie released by the same name.

The Grammys:

This was considerably one of the best Grammys in a long time. Music in 2024 was accurately reflected in the nominees and the stacked general field reflected how good of a year 2024 was for music. Beyonce winning Best Country Album was the point where the show started to feel different. The Recording Academy’s CEO/President Harvey Mason Jr. publicly acknowledging the Academy’s failures on live television affirmed a new era could be budding for the Grammys. The wins were agreeable without too much of a stir – though Billie Eilish’s zero wins did cause some discourse.

Imbued in the performances were creativity and individuality. Each performer had an opportunity to fully showcase their artistic expression. The performances that left an indelible mark on the night: Sabrina Carpenter, Doechii and Chappell Roan.

Making Grammy history: Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar and Doechii.

Here are some albums I’m looking forward to and ones you many want to be on the lookout for:

Lady Gaga, “Mayhem” out March 7. You should expect a return to the eras that defined Gaga’s career in “Mayhem.” Recently, Gaga released a new music video from the album during an ad break for the Grammys.

Japanese Breakfast, “For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)” out March 21. Japanese Breakfast returns on their fourth album and the lyrics of their lead single “Orlando in Love” details the literary origins of the album’s name.

Lucy Dacus, “Forever Is A Feeling” out March 28. This is Dacus’s first album since a Grammy-winning run with boygenius on their debut album, “The Record,” and her first solo album with a major label. She’s already released three lead singles “Ankles,” “Limerence” and “Best Guess.” “Ankles” and “Best Guess” have their own music video, with the latter featuring notable queer artists.

Perfume Genius, “Glory” out March 28. Coming out the same day as Dacus’s album, March 28 will be a double feature for indie-music lovers. This is the artist’s first album since 2020’s “Set My Heart on Fire Immediately.” “Glory” is a long-awaited album expected to expand upon the artistic expression already set in Perfume Genius’s discography, which can be sampled on the album’s lead single, “It’s A Mirror.”

Julien Baker and TORRES “Send a Prayer My Way,” April 18. Dacus isn’t the only boygenius member releasing a follow-up to “The Record” this year. The collaboration between Baker and TORRES has been in the making for five years, finally coming to us in a couple of months. The first single from the album, “Sugar in the Tank” was released on Dec. 13, followed up with a performance on Jimmy Fallon. “Sylvia” is the newest single to be released, falling on the same day as the album announcement.

If you have any music suggestions you’d like to see highlighted in this column, don’t hesitate to email me.

Suzanne Bagia can be reached at [email protected].