Over the past 35 years, listening to music has served me as both soundtrack and life-saving antidote to life’s many moods. But despite being a straight white woman of the same age, the music of Taylor Swift has never played a role in my life. If she has for you, and after her latest release, The Life of a Showgirl, you’re now looking for better music by female-fronted acts in 2025, I’ve got you covered with this handy guide: A fulfilling musical library doesn’t need to include Taylor Swift.
Whether or not you were ever a fan of the blonde bangs phenomenon, here are 22 albums in 2025 not by Taylor Swift but by female artists that I greatly enjoy (or plan to soon), that I hope you might, too. If possible, please look them up on Bandcamp.com or your preferred ethical streaming service.
Sincerely, a 35-year-old, straight white woman who really (really) loves music but not Taylor Swift 🙂
P.S. Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, and Israel’s crimes endanger Jewish people worldwide. Free Palestine. Source: the United Nations.
Olivia Dean – The Art of Loving
Need a mature, soulful album all about love that doesn’t shy away from vulnerability? You likely will love the UK’s Olivia Dean. “This summer, Dean became the first British woman since Adele to land three simultaneous singles in the U.K.’s Top 10 charts.” And also per NPR, Dean is taking her sophomore album The Art of Loving on the road as the opening act for Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet tour. My favorite tracks: “Nice To Each Other,” and “So Easy (To Fall In Love).”
Renee Rapp – Bite Me
Hungering for spite, sass, and all things petty in a catchy, pop package? Look no further than actress and musician Renee Rapp’s second full-length album, Bite Me. You might know Rapp from her role as Regina George in the Broadway musical Mean Girls (2019–2020), which she reprised for the 2024 musical film adaptation and its soundtrack. She recently was on NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, and was absolutely hilarious – stating that this album was made during a time when “everyone was just so annoying to be around,” and she really just wanted everyone to stay away from her! But the result is fantastic, with “Leave Me Alone” and “At Least I’m Hot” now some of my all-time favorite tracks of the year.
Laufey – A Matter of Time
Were you expecting an actual 1920s-themed album with “showgirl” in the title? If so, you must immediately press play on Laufey (pronounced lay-vay). She is a jazz- and classical-infused pop musician who studied at Berklee College of Music. She’s also Icelandic, and that worldly element comes into her work as well. It’s lush, gorgeous, and everything that a hopeless romantic longs for, with “what a curse it is to be a lover girl.”
Gordi – Like Plasticine
I really really really wish more fans of TS would check out Gordi’s work, as she’s got the airy, acoustic, singer-songwriter and poppy vibes that they love, with many lyrics about longing, but with the songwriting chops and depth that the mega pop star is often missing. “Don’t make me a peripheral lover / I want to be there in the middle,” she sings on “Peripheral Lover,” and “I’ll love you til the day you die / I’ll be your consolation prize,” on “Consolation Prize.” Gordi’s Sophie Payten has worked and toured with S. Carey of Bon Iver, and has been at this work for over a decade, since she was living in college dorms.
Hayley Williams – Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party
18 songs and a full hour of music by the amazing woman and voice behind Paramore? Yes, please. There is a deep heart behind these songs, and a badass person who lives her values every day. Plus, a fun website that will give you a fun throwback to the 90s.
Miya Folick – Erotica Veronica
Angling for music that delves into intimacy? As the album title and imagery make plain, per indie rock musician Miya Folick’s online bio, her third album is about “a woman running headlong into sexual exploration, often teetering on the adolescent edge of hedonism and fear. Unlike the feral freedom of youth, it is anchored by the wisdom and depth gained only through lived experience.” If you like MUNA, give Miya a listen.
Your Smith – The Rub
The project of Los Angeles’ Caroline Smith, The Rub is her third release under that moniker. But she’s a prolific artist who has a much larger discography under other names. She grew up and cut her teeth in Minneapolis – at the same time I was covering local music there in the early 2010s – and so I’ve been a fan of her work for a while now. She often sings about relationships and men, but it’s got soul, sass, and tons of musicality to make it a well-rounded, mature meal every time.
MICHELLE – Kiss/Kill EP
Gosh, I love this band. Not just because they share a name with the OG girl indie pop star Michelle Branch, but because their music is amazing – and it’s all women! They are also prolific – after their third album just out last year, they’ve already released another EP this fall. If you like pop grooves, wordplay, and ladies who can sing, look no further. Love love love.
The Beaches – No Hard Feelings
I loved their 2023 album, Blame My Ex, and now the four-piece band (again, all women!) The Beaches are back with another banger. It’s jangly, moody guitar indie rock, and full of lesbian themes – no boys allowed! Self-described as: “Loud, fearless, and completely in their own lane.”
Mia Wray – hi, it’s nice to meet me
You have to listen to “The Way She Moves” on this album; it’s giving Adele and so much more.
So Below – Afterthought
If you need music that feels dark, you cannot go wrong with So Below, the moniker of New Zealand’s Madeline North. It has a modern noir feeling to it, with a lens of revenge. On the days I need to feel my rage and let my anger out of its cage, this is the first artist I turn to, every time. This is a concept album about death and the afterlife, but it makes me feel extremely alive. Her 2020 album, Left Behind, got me through that year in purgatory, so I highly recommend her latest for the hell that is 2025.
Tune-Yards – Better Dreaming and Tell The Future With Your Body EP
And now for something completely different! If you’re into weird music that has a focus on wonky rhythms and melodies, Tune-Yards is for you. This duo is unabashedly themselves, and they make some of the coolest music as a result. They also released both a full-length album and an EP this year. Per their bio, they are “proudly waving an anti-fascist, liberation, freak flag.” Hell yes.
Cafuné – Bite Reality
I was in love with their 2021 album, and now Cafuné has done it again in 2025 with their second full-length release. It’s indie rock but also full of soul and rhythm in a way that it’s hard to put my finger on. “You can’t take anything with you when the lights go out. Embrace the future, bite reality,” they say on the Instagram post for the album. They also acknowledge “this is an incredibly tense moment to be traveling across the United States… fascism is here, it’s happening, it’s not a hypothetical anymore.”
FELIVAND – my body’s true north
Hello, I am obsessed. This Australian-based musician blends alt-pop, alt R&B, and bedroom pop for a sound that both soothes and excites me. Her sophomore record incorporates elements of jazz, lots of harmonies, and a healthy dose of bass. This is a creative mind at work, and I can’t wait to see what she does next. In the meantime, I’ll have “this very thing” on repeat.
WILDES – All We Do Is Feel
This London-based producer and songwriter knows her style and keeps honing perfection on her second full-length album. Emotional, lush, and electronic, I listen to WILDES when I’m lying down on the floor late at night. Her voice is its own instrument.
The Beths – Straight Line Was A Lie
“I want to ride my bike in the rain … I want to dance til I drop / I want to love til my heart stops,” is about as universal as it gets. On their fourth album, this darling New Zealand indie band confronts the fact that “the only way round is through,” and lead singer and songwriter Elizabeth Stokes says of it: “What life really is is maintenance. And finding meaning in the maintenance.” I’m not sure I’ve ever related to anything more in my 30-something adult life. She also notes that after starting to take an SSRI, she felt “…like she could ‘fix’ everything broken in her life, from her mental and physical health, to fraught family dynamics. At the same time, writing wasn’t coming as easily as it had before.” Yet these musicians still managed to release a fantastic full-length album. Funny how that works.
I’m also quite excited about these upcoming albums:
Amber Mark, Pretty Idea (October 10)
POLICA, Dreams Go (October 17)
Sigrid, There’s Always More That I Could Say (October 24)
Fickle Friends, Fickle Friends (November 7)
Jordana, Jordanaland (November 7)
Farao, Magical Thinking (November 14)