Gold Soundz: Best of February 2025

Highlighting the best music releases from February 2025

Mar 01, 2025

We’re a sixth of the way through one of the most turbulent years in recent memory, but as we inch closer to brighter, longer days ahead, February rewarded us with a lot of great new music to help with our collective healing. Major new releases made things feel overwhelming in a great way and even big events like Kendrick laying waste to Drake at the Super Bowl or the Grammys finally getting some of their awards right also helped our causes. There was also the fantastic documentary on the history of musical guests on SNL which you should check out immediately if you’ve yet to see it as the first seven minutes alone have been on repeat for me ever since I watched it. Still, while old favorites re-emerged in delightful ways, the new music made for some really great moments as well. And if I had more time to listen to this new album from Panda Bear, there’s a high chance it’d be taking this month’s top spot.

Album of the Month:

MARSHALL ALLEN | New Dawn

Sometimes it feels too late to do something new or try something for the first time. Well, let Marshall Allen be your new inspiration. Two days after turning 100 years old, the saxophone legend started to record his debut solo album. Sure, for over half a century he’s been part of (and for the past three decades leading) the Sun Ra Arkestra, but New Dawn marks the first time he’s put out something under his own name and the result is something truly spectacular. While his main group is known for their spiritual jazz odysseys to the cosmos, this album is relatively grounded and incredibly accessible even for those who aren’t really into jazz. The title track alone, which features vocals from none other than Neneh Cherry, sounds like a quintessential piece that could’ve existed for decades but is actually a new composition full of classic New Orleans-style pomp while other tracks take on some more subtle, yet just as sophisticated approaches to the genre.

EP of the Month:

CHELSEA BRIDGE / PAN-AMERICAN | Tender Things

The collaborative EP from Chelsea Bridge and Pan-American is a brief, yet expansive collection of songs that marries the styles of these two sonic collage artists, giving each of them room to breathe into these tracks while also making something that feels incredibly whole. Over the four songs, the ambient tones blur together in a velvet haze to create something both stirring and soothing, fragile with an understated elegance. Ethereal vocals weave their way through ruminating vibrations as wispy harmonics float over slight percussion. There’s a bit of motion as the songs progress, but the slow, drawn out notes allow the music to move on its own pace, never hurrying and wrapping the listener in these meditative moments. Tender Things lives up to its name with these flowing tracks of soft, warmhearted songs that can aid like a balm and serve as an offering of respice while chaos surrounds. It’s a gleaming work of art that seems like it could stretch on forever, but knows when to curtail before becoming elongated and overdone. Sometimes too much of a good thing can sour the mood, but Tender Things knows just how to keep the moment sublime.

Reissue of the Month:

DROP NINETEENS | 1991

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but a shoegaze revival is upon us. The genre which emerged out of the U.K. in the early ‘90s has seen a significant rise in the influence of new bands over the past several years, all of whom have found joy in waves of droning, dreamy guitar riffs that swallow up vocals in a cloud of distorted feedback. Well, one of the genre's original noise makers got back in the game a few years ago with their first new album in over two decades and this month, Drop Nineteens shared their “lost” demo tracks that they sent out to labels which were then scrapped once they signed their contracts. Unearthed for the first time, these tracks reveal a celestial magic full of delayed guitars that spin up a wave of psychedelic bliss. Paisley vibes pour out of each riff and determined drumming keeps it all firmly in place as each billowing track reaches towards the stratosphere. They may not have cracked the big time like some of their peers in terms of notoriety, but this certainly affirms their status as one of the greats and one every fan should have in their collection.

Don’t miss:

Concerts (in review):

FIEVEL IS GLAQUE at Music Hall of Williamsburg // 02.06.25
JACK WHITE at Brooklyn Paramount // 02.12.25
BILLY WOODS / E L U C I D at Night Club 101 // 02.18.25
BARTEES STRANGE at Bowery Ballroom // 02.19.25
FLOATING POINTS at Knockdown Center // 02.21.25
SPRNG VLVT at Purgatory // 02.24.25

The Shape of Music to Come

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