Best UK SOUL Albums of 2025
We got together as a team to talk through the records that really stuck with us in 2025, and it quickly became clear this was never going to be a list built on streams, chart positions or industry noise. That’s not how we listen, and it’s not how Wordplay has ever moved.
We care about the feeling, the intent, the graft. The albums that lived with us, grew on us, and said something honest, whether they came from major stages or basement studios. The ones rooted in culture, community and craft, still made from the heart rather than the algorithm.
So here it is: our most played projects of the year. Albums, EPs, mixtapes, call them what you like. These are the projects that mattered to us in 2025.
anaiis – Devotion & The Black Divine
Recorded at London’s 5dB Studios, Devotion & The Black Divine is a quietly powerful meditation on uncertainty, acceptance and emotional growth. This album has been on repeat in the Wordplay studio since it’s release and had to make our list. Shaped profoundly by new motherhood, the album captures anaiis at her most open and human, embracing unpredictability with grace and creative freedom. It moves through a wide emotional spectrum while remaining beautifully still at its core, a soulful conversation between the artist, her inner world and the collective human experience.
Sam Wills — Speak
With Speak, Sam Wills takes a significant step forward, crafting a warm, genre-blurring record shaped by care and restraint. Influenced by modern soul and R&B, the album explores stagnation, escape and acceptance with quiet confidence. Unhurried and emotionally grounded, it’s a project that draws you in rather than reaching out.
Greentea Peng — Tell Dem It’s Sunny
Ok ok we get it, GTP can’t be pinned down into one genre and that’s what we love about her. But there’s no way we’re going to create favourite album lists without her. Expanding her psychedelic soul palette, the album examines light and shadow with nuance and grace. Meticulously produced and spiritually grounded, it’s a record that asks listeners to surrender rather than solve, and finds strength in that openness. Sod the genres, listen in.
RUBII — Feeluh
Feeluh confirms RUBII as one of the most compelling voices in contemporary UK R&B. Exploring rapid success, trust and betrayal, the EP balances vulnerability with confidence, blending alt soul and pop into something unmistakably hers. With momentum built from standout singles and a defining Glastonbury moment, Feeluh feels like an artist stepping forward without flinching.
Meron T — Palindrome
On Palindrome, Meron T channels South London club culture and diasporic rhythm into hypnotic, emotionally rich R&B. Her songwriting captures the push and pull of intimacy, love, uncertainty and restraint, with striking clarity. Lush and reflective, the album rewards close listening, revealing its depth in repetition.
Elmiene — Heat The Streets
Heat The Streets wears its love for classic R&B proudly. Elmiene leans into grand emotion and romantic vulnerability, pairing yearning ballads with funk-driven reflection. The result is a mixtape that feels warm, expressive and unafraid of sincerity, proof that big feelings still belong at the centre of soul music.
Sasha Keable — Act Right
Born from heartbreak, Act Right is music as catharsis. Sasha Keable channels pain into clarity across seven tightly focused tracks, blending jazz-leaning R&B with emotional directness. With only one feature and a renewed sense of purpose, the project feels personal, necessary and timely, an artist choosing honesty over polish.
Samm Henshaw – It Could Be Worse
With It Could Be Worse, Samm Henshaw delivers a warm, self-aware soul record. Anchored by the buoyant single Float, the album explores love, missteps and the fleeting nature of life’s highs with characteristic charm and honesty. Released exclusively on vinyl, it’s a strong move that as a physical magazine we have to applaud loudly!
Olivia Dean – The Art of Loving
Olivia Dean’s highly anticipated second album, The Art of Loving, is a rich, soul-forward exploration of love in all its nuance and complexity. Released in September, the record pairs her signature warmth with honest songwriting, shining on tracks like Nice To Each Other and Man I Need. The Art of Loving is without doubt the biggest release in UK Soul this year and we couldn’t leave it off our list.
Joy Crookes – Juniper
Joy Crookes returns with Juniper, a bold and emotionally expansive second album that builds confidently on the foundations of Skin. Released in September, the record confronts identity, anxiety, queer love and self-discovery with striking vulnerability, while pushing her sound into more adventurous territory. With standout collaborations from Vince Staples and Kano, Juniper has solidified Crookes with yet more heartfelt anthems.
Mahalia – Luvergirl
On Luvergirl, Mahalia reintroduces herself with confidence, warmth and a renewed sense of play. Released as a vibrant EP, the project explores love, femininity and sexuality through a Jamaican influenced lens, drawing on dancehall rhythms and rich collaborations with Masicka, Tanya Stephens and Lila Iké. Following IRL, Luvergirl feels both rooted and refreshed, a celebration of growth, heritage and romantic freedom.
