elc team
By Myriam Paraskevopoulou
Rosalía, Flo, Olivia Dean, The Last Dinner Party, Pan Pan, Mob, The Steams, and The Dionysians were on repeat throughout the last quarter of the year.
Right before all the official “Best International” and “Best Local” album lists start flooding your feeds, I thought I’d share the tracks that helped me actually survive the last quarter of 2025.
And yes – I say “last quarter” because December is, as we all know, a month-size illusion pill. Weeks feel like months, months feel like years, and time in general feels like it lasts about two decades with everything we’re trying to navigate. So for these next 30 days, I’m giving my soul a decade-long extension sprinkled with glitter and sequins.
Mariah has officially thawed, so let’s start with the international albums that tickled my little emotional antennae:
International Albums
Rosalía – LUX
Pronounced “loox”, from the Latin word for “light.”
I’ve written about this masterpiece — and you’ve probably read a dozen think-pieces yourselves — but let’s be honest: the point is not reading about it, it’s listening to it. Everything she has ever done is already inside you, and it will be there forever, especially the moment the chorus of “La Perla” blasts through your speakers.
Florence + The Machine – Everybody Scream
It’s coming.
IT. IS. COMING.
Our prayers — all of them — have been answered. And yes, mine too, especially after missing three of her concerts.
The new album is magical. Truly. But… I missed the melody and tempo she usually weaves so effortlessly, and I found the flow a bit tiring. The Clamber Version of the record, however, gave me exactly the punch I wanted.
Olivia Dean – The Art of Loving
An exquisite, all-time-classic kind of pop. That soft, powdery voice walks with you through the supermarket, the metro, the Saturday ironing session – the whole album is just lovely.
The Last Dinner Party – From The Pyre
This album monopolised my headphones in October. When it ended and the algorithm jumped to the next autoplay track, my mother – who had been listening along – simply said:
“Put the previous one back on, that was beautiful.”
How can you deny your mother, especially one with a refined art-rock sensibility who genuinely enjoyed the band’s second album? A record that did not disappoint after their fantastic debut Prelude to Ecstasy: clearer storytelling, a slightly sexier tone, and a more pronounced rock energy.
Honourable mentions I’ll analyse in my end-of-year lists:
Asaf Avidan, Jonathan Jeremiah, Joy Crookes, Celeste, Daniel Caesar.
Local Albums (lo♱cal)
While Mariah breaks the same records every year, don’t think for a moment that our own “Despoináki” isn’t sitting comfortably on her throne too. And with that reference, let me introduce the Greek albums that made me puff up like a sparkly, overexcited peacock:
Pan Pan – Υπεραστική Μουσική (Long-Distance Music)
Pan Pan, I will love you forever.
I could honestly end the review here and it would still be fair. He has one of the most consistent sonic identities in Greece that blend of emotion, clarity and storytelling that somehow organises the thoughts of an entire generation and turns them into music.
This album feels rawer, poppier, sexier and I adore that.
All the collaborations are fantastic. “Γιγάντιο Χνούδι” will make you tear up within minutes, and “Πυγολαμπίδες” belongs on eternal repeat.
Nothing more to add: the whole album is a 10/10.
The Steams – Vile Wonders
One of the best bands of recent years releases its third studio album — and the title, as always, plays with contrast. “Vile Wonders”: an oxymoron that fits their universe perfectly.
This album feels like the natural evolution of the previous two — and perhaps the most “Steams” they’ve ever sounded. More honest, more vulnerable, more real.
You hear it in both the lyrics and the sound, especially in the softer, more unexpected corners of the record.
Psych rock, rock, post-punk touches, plus the folk-world elements and the Greek lyrics that suit them so well.
Favourites: D.I.C.E., Arcadia, Iron Sea, Gargaduan.
Mob – II
A long-awaited follow-up to their explosive debut. Two years later, Mob II is finally here.
Their music is nighttime music for me cosmic, otherworldly. Whether I’m staring at streetlights, ceilings, or sitting silently in the metro, it transports me to starry skies filled with galaxies and swirling colours.
The album feels even more refined: the rap–spoken word alchemy of Walking Monkey, the choral power of “The Listener” featuring the Choir of Kos, and the voice of the incredible Yusef Lateef reciting his poem “The Heart.”
A constantly surprising sonic spectrum.
Pro tip: start with “Utu & Sin.”
The Dionysians – Να κάψουμε το χθες (Burn Yesterday Down)*
“With every step I take, I see you in Plateia Nerou.”
A line you’ll keep repeating as you daydream about summer concerts.
Their sound becomes an obsession: retro-psychedelic garage rock with Greek lyrics, reviving the spirit of the ’60s with authenticity and fire. Music that makes you yell “yeah yeah yeah” while dancing without a break.
