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The broader music world might be a bit “blah” right now as cultural stagnation grows and the ominous threat of “AI-made music” looms larger. But Christian music is still thriving, surging on Billboard charts and growing on streaming platforms worldwide.
These are plentiful times for fans of quality Christian music. Anyone complaining about its quality in 2025 simply isn’t looking around enough. So much great music is being made—even some albums that I believe will be looked back on as masterpieces of the genre (see my top two below).
Christian music in 2025 is wonderfully diverse in style and geographic representation. My albums and EPs lists below include hip-hop, folk, lo-fi, surf rock, and what might be called “grunge-rock worship.” The artists represented hail from three different continents. Each artist is a musical expression of Christ-loving, God-glorifying, Scripture-inspired faith.
Here are my picks for the best Christian music released in 2025: best songs, best albums, and best EPs. These certainly reflect my own tastes and won’t resonate with everyone—but I hope you’ll find at least a few artists or tracks here that you love and hadn’t heard before. Give them a listen.
You can find my picks for the best Christian songs of the year in a 100-song playlist on either Spotify or Apple Music.
Here are my picks for the nine best overall album releases under the broad umbrella of “Christian music” (plus 10 honorable mentions).
When this album was released in April, I wrote for The Gospel Coalition that Guerra’s latest “exceeds the high bar he’s already established.” After countless plays in the months since, I still think that’s true.
One of Christian music’s brightest talents, Jon Guerra is as focused and artistically brilliant as he’s ever been on Jesus. As the album title suggests, these are Christocentric songs with a deeply devotional gravitas, filtered through a Bob Dylan or Nick Drake folk aesthetic.
It’s hard to believe this 18-song opus is just part one of a two-part album. Even on its own, this album is quite the achievement—an indie rock worship masterpiece. Stylistically there’s nothing in Christian music remotely like this.
As I wrote for TGC in October, “Many of the songs are singable worship melodies not unlike youth group praise-night staples, but filtered through a grunge-punk aesthetic of someone who grew up on Nirvana, The Ramones, and The Clash.” If you haven’t given the album a concentrated listen yet, turn up the volume and buckle up.
Australian singer-songwriter Tenielle Neda has released several great EPs and singles over the years, but 2025 saw her release a full-length album for the first time. The result is worth the wait.
The album is delicate but quietly beautiful—full of melodic meditations on the Father’s love for us and how we love in response. Standout track “The Invitation” was a winner in TGC’s “What Is the Gospel?” contest, and “The Lord Is My Shepherd” is one of the loveliest takes on Psalm 23 I’ve heard.
Forrest Frank continued his monumental ascent in 2025, packing out arena shows, breaking records on Billboard charts, and racking up streams. Not even a skateboarding accident could put a damper on his big year.
His Child of God II became a staple in our household this year—the rare soundtrack to school drop-offs and pick-ups that’s enjoyable for me and my 7-, 5-, and 3-year old kids. Frank’s memorable hooks keep getting better and his earnest joy is meeting the vibe. He’s the biggest thing going in Christian music.
Like Forrest Frank, Tucson-based Strings & Heart is a social-media-fueled indie Christian success story. The trio of brothers has a youthful, lo-fi surf-rock sound that at times feels like a next-generation Switchfoot. Their sophomore album is full of catchy, worshipful songs that evoke a spiritual hunger for what’s real in a world of “plastic” fakery. All in all, it’s one of the most refreshing releases of the year in Christian music.
Jon Keith is having a great year. In 2025, the San Diego native didn’t just release the stunning Grow Wings—an album all about God’s grace and the renewing power of the gospel. He also released a collab album, West Indies, with fellow West Coast Christian hip-hop artist Miles Minnick; a great single with Timbaland, Aaron Cole, and xander.; and just last month the fantastic Butterflies EP. Keith is a rising star not only in Christian hip-hop but in pop music generally—and this was a breakout year.
The Gray Havens’s fifth album may be their best yet. It’s full of the band’s characteristic Sehnsucht-tinged spiritual longing, yet with a defiant, resurrection-fueled joy in the face of fear and grief (encapsulated by the title track, which closes the album). This is mature songwriting both lyrically and musically.
Sondae is a vibe. The United Kingdom artist, part of Anotherland’s roster of up-and-coming Christian music talent, came on my radar this year. He has been on frequent rotation ever since. His new album, Northstar, is a devotionally rich, atmospheric array of gentle, prayerful songs about faith, sanctification, and loving Jesus.
One of my favorite early-year releases, Nick Chambers’s debut album is a deeply personal expression of devotional music. It’s a quiet, no-frills collection of songs about intimacy with God. There are no radio-ready worship anthems here, but that’s OK. It’s a contemplative record to play while you sit quietly with the Lord on a rainy day or a winter’s night.
Honorable Mentions: Citizens, m us eum; Fielder, Fielder; Hollyn and Weathrman, Theology of Beauty: Fall; Lecrae, Reconstruction; MUCH MORE, Born Again, Again; Andrew Peterson, A Liturgy, a Legacy, and the Songs of Rich Mullins (Live); Poor Bishop Hooper, As Foretold: Part 2; The Porter’s Gate, Message Songs; TAYA, The Reminder; Young Oceans, Love like Raindrops Made of Light.
It’s impossible to keep track of all the great EPs released by Christian artists in 2025. But of those on my radar, these eight were my favorites.
1. Andy Squyres, Miracle Service. Lyrically, there’s no better collection of four songs from any Christian artist this year. Squyres’s songs here (as well as in his other 2025 EP, Sacred Vows) are worth listening to slowly, savoring their poetry and depth.
2. Dell Mac and gio., Jericho. This five-song EP is a collab between two exciting, up-and-coming young Christian artists (both featured in my 2025 quality Christian music list). If this is a glimpse of the new sound of Christian music, I’m excited for the future.
3. Jon Keith, Butterflies. A sort of quadriptych meditation on love, the four songs on Keith’s latest EP include two songs about his love for God and two songs about his love for his wife. “The same voice, the same heart, is directed in two directions that are central to my identity,” he shared.
4. Kings Kaleidoscope, Asaph’s Arrows II. I’ve loved Kings Kaleidoscope’s previous takes on classic hymns, and their latest EP doesn’t disappoint. Highlights include “Amazing Grace,” “It Is Well,” and “This Is My Father’s World.”
5. Ethan Nathaniel, Heavenly Places. From one of the most haunting voices in Christian music today, Ethan Nathaniel’s latest EP is a gorgeous and devotionally rich five-song collection.
6. CityAlight, Hear the Hallelujahs Roar (Live). Sydney-based CityAlight have released some great songs in 2025, including this new EP of five characteristically powerful modern hymns.
7. Lecrae and Miles Minnick, Get Well Soon! This collab combined the talents of Christian hip-hop heavyweights Lecrae and Miles Minnick, resulting in a fun, worshipful mixtape with a West Coast vibe.
8. Weston Skaggs, Though It Be a Cross – Hymns. The songs on this EP are updated indie versions of the sorts of hymns your grandparents sang at Baptist churches 100 years ago. Skaggs’s aesthetic is sometimes playful, sometimes haunting, frequently beautiful.
It’s that time of year, when the world falls in love—with Christmas music! If you’re ready to immerse yourself in the sounds of the season, we’ve got a brand-new playlist for you. The Gospel Coalition’s free 2025 Christmas playlist is full of joyful, festive, and nostalgic songs to help you celebrate the sweetness of this sacred season.
The 75 songs on this playlist are all recordings from at least 20 years ago—most of them from further back in the 1950s and 1960s. Each song has been thoughtfully selected by TGC Arts & Culture Editor Brett McCracken to cultivate a fun but meaningful mix of vintage Christmas vibes.
To start listening to this free resource, simply click below to receive your link to the private playlist on Spotify or Apple Music.
Get instant access to TGC’s Christmas playlist »
Brett McCracken is a senior editor and director of communications at The Gospel Coalition. He is the coeditor of Scrolling Ourselves to Death: Reclaiming Life in a Digital Age and the author of The Wisdom Pyramid: Feeding Your Soul in a Post-Truth World, Uncomfortable: The Awkward and Essential Challenge of Christian Community and several other books. Brett and his wife, Kira, live in Santa Ana, California, with their three children. They belong to Southlands Santa Ana. You can follow him on X or Instagram.
The Gospel Coalition selects the best Christian books published in 2025 in our annual TGC Book Awards.
Best Christian Music of 2025 – The Gospel Coalition
