If chronicling the choices for my 20 Memorable Canadian albums from 2025 was a long and drawn-out process, whittling this list down to just four finalists was excruciatingly painful when having to make those tough decisions about who stays and who goes. My list of 20 albums included four incredible Francophone releases, two of them earning inclusions in this shortlist. And from the Anglophone releases, an impressive debut country album and a stunning compilation made the final cut.
So here they are – my Favorite Four Canadian Albums of the Year, with one hard fought and incredibly amazing victor.
Runner Up: Shawnee Kish, “Chapter 1”
Given my own personal love/hate relationship with the country music genre (‘true’ country versus pop-with-an-accent), 2025 was a solid year for my kind of country album releases – the genre needed to be represented here with my final four picks. I must confess that it was incredibly difficult to choose between Indigenous artist Shawnee Kish and previous GDW Album of the Year winner Tami Neilson – but sealing the deal is the sheer potency of the messages that Kish incorporates into her upbeat tunes that encourage deeper, thoughtful insight – and the necessity to get out on the dance floor.
Runner Up: JF Pauzé, “Les amours de seconde main”
NEVER on my 2025 bingo card did I have renown Québecois lyricist and musician JF Pauzé (Les Cowboys Fringants) dropping a bombshell and releasing, with zero fanfare, a surprise debut solo album – but here we are!!! While the late Karl Tremblay was the energetic frontman for the indie folk-rockers, we all know that Jean-François provided the bands’ lyrical ammunition. “It wasn’t part of my life plan to become a solo artist, but hey, you emerge at any age. I’m an emerging singer at 50,” he told Radio-Canada. Another surprise: Pauzé could have easily asked bandmate Marie-Annick Lépine or pal Mara Tremblay to add fiddle, but no – look closely and you’ll find the name Kendel Carson in the liner notes.
Runner Up: Lou-Adriane Cassidy, “Journal d’un Loup-Garou”
A true breakout album (her third studio album) for Québec City folk-pop artist Lou-Adriane Cassidy, who channeled her Le Roy, la Rose et le Lou[p] ‘wolf persona’ into an album primed for paving her way into the global mainstream Franco-pop market. And don’t just take my word for it – shortlisted for the POLARIS PRIZE, before the album earned TWELVE FÉLIX AWARDS at the 2025 ADISQ ceremony last month in Montréal – that’s a lot of dang hardware! Not quite done with this album (and tour), Cassidy would drop a surprise second album just a few months later, itself a completely different animal with stripped down arrangements and multi-genre influences. In just a few years, we find an artist seemingly in full command of her musical destiny (sold out a 2026 summer Mtelus show in less than 12 hours) – and based on what we have seen and heard to date, the future is INCREDIBLY BRIGHT for Lou-Adriane Cassidy. How bright? Think Coeur De Pirate bright, and you’re getting close…
2025 Winner: Various Artists, “Songs from the Gang – A Celebration of Joel Plaskett”
Being privy to a pending album release BEFORE the artist has any knowledge of it is just simply one of those circumstances that NEVER exists – until 2025! Unbeknownst to Dartmouth, NS singer-songwriter Joel Plaskett, who hit a milestone birthday this year, any plans for a low-key BIG 5-0 celebration was not what his manager Sheri Jones (and his good friends) had in mind. This would be a celebration that Joel will never forget.
Over the course of sixteen months leading up to this event, Sheri executed a stealth ‘after-hours’ operation of sneaking many of Joel’s friends and peers into his own studio to record cover versions of Joel’s tunes. Over 100 people were involved, and not a single leak to the press – impressive stuff. And with Joel in British Columbia just one week before his birthday (to presumably have lunch with Sheri), his manager unleashed the surprise with a visit to Ditch Records in Victoria. This precious and moving moment was captured on camera, to be later shared on Joel’s social media pages back in April.
With enough contributions to fill a double-vinyl album, the list of contributors reads like a who’s who of the Canadian music scene (British punk rocker Frank Turner also appears – leading off the album with an incredible interpretation of “You’re Mine”). Sloan, Jenn Grant, Dallas Green, and Matt Andersen, to name a few. And a pair of Joel’s good pals who he generously aided in the development of their respective music careers – Mo Kenney (great cover of “Lonely Love”), and Erin Costelo, who earns the closing track, and offers an outstanding piano ballad version of “Old Friends.”
We bumped into Toronto artist Julian Taylor in VA this past spring and took the opportunity to ask him about his contribution and choosing to cover “Compete with Loneliness,” one of the bonus tracks from Joel’s “Three” album. Julian flashed us his infectious smile and stated he was honored to be invited to be a part of the project; that he drew inspiration from 90s indie rockers The La’s with his breezy-pop interpretation of the tune. One of many tracks from an outstanding album, and THE worthy recipient of the GDW Album of the Year honors for 2025.
The British guy that crossed the ocean and crash landed in central Pennsylvania (to quote Greg Keelor, “And I wonder what am I doing here?”). As the youngest of four siblings, exposure to music from a very early age nurtured my passion and appreciation for many musical genres. Continuing to discover some amazingly diverse and talented musicians based in Canada, I gravitate to live music experiences and remain devoted to spreading the word about such a vibrant music scene.
