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5 albums that represent the evolving sound of Nashville in 2025

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Nashville has long been more than country music. The Nashville artists on these five albums are untied to genre or legacy, moving forward with completely new sounds.

1. First is Chuquimamani-Condori, who is heralded by all the big music critics.
Pitchfork gave one of the two albums they released this year the highest rating since Fionna Apple’s Fetch the Boltcutters got a perfect 10 in 2020. And named their album Los Thuthanaka the best album of 2025.

Chuquimamani-Condori is overstimulating. But there is peace in that. His album Edits from earlier this year recreates songs like “The Way It Is” by Bruce Hornsby by layering Bolivian folk music, the original piano chords, and red level beats all on top of each other. It feels like scrolling Tiktok. Listening to an album in your air pods and watching a movie while driving.

2. Nickname Jos.
This is what now sounds like. Nashville’s nickname jos’s sound is right in with artists like Mk.gee and Dijon, who have invented new guitar tones through weird tuning and running sound through Tascam cassette deck preamps. He recently backed Sombr in an appearance on Saturday Night Live.

3. Fossil Creek.
Taking inspiration from 90’s metal bands like the Deftones, Fossil Creek is a band that is in a bit of a league of their own in Nashville. They are at the very beginning of a new nu metal scene here. Big crashing guitars, mid-mixed echoey vocals and huge drums produces a fresh heavier sound for Music City.

4. Jarren Blair.
Blair hosts a number of improvisational music nights around Nashville. He embraces spontaneity and his willingness to collaborate with anyone in real time shows in his studio work— he knows when to turn the energy up or down. Expect unexpected beats from his free-flowing process.

5. Snõõper.
Produced by John Congleton, who has been described as a “devious, perverse little gremlin.” Snõõper started as visual artists and tied that artistry to a core of NYC punk, some New Wave and sprinkled their own flavor on it to create a unique package. Snõõper is often called punk, but their album Worldwide is so much more.

 

Justin Barney

Hi, I’m Justin. I was born in Milwaukee, WI. I started as an intern at 88Nine Radio Milwaukee and worked my way up to Music Director. There I started a segment called “From the Music Desk” where I interviewed over 500 artists including Thom York, Lizzo, Steve Martin, and Phoebe Bridgers. At 88nine I also got to speak passionately about the music I love on the radio, which is a true gift and I still get to do every day. There I also made a podcast called “Backspin: The Search for Milwaukee’s First Hip-Hop Song” which I enjoyed doing more than anything else I’ve ever done and was acclaimed in The New York Times. Highlight of my life. I love music, I love people and I love a good yarn. At the end of the day my goal is to tell stories that are as good as the ones my dad tells me. I’ll tell em on the radio, in print, or next to you at the corner bar.

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