This is part of a series, posting between 30th December 2025 and 3rd January 2026
Here's another Top 20 Banger – one of my absolute favourite electronic music albums of 2025.
Nuclear oblivion is upon us, the government is going to deport trans people to the moon, and all the CEOs are snogging the wrong people at Coldplay concerts. The world has gone to hell in a handbasket. But all will be okay because Soulwax are back.
This is unashamedly a pop album. “Pop” in the sense of music style, and “pop” as in a graphical punch that hits you between the eyes. A Lichtenstein BAM! There are plonky pianos, daft synth fills, giddy bongos, sparky acid, and a track called Constant Happiness Machine.
Just listen to that wriggly acid bass on the dizzy title track All Systems Are Lying. It’s massive. It’s like Daft Punk on a week-long bender. It’s like Giorgio Moroder farting down a plughole. It’s like… wonderful.
The Dewaele brothers describe this as “a rock album made without any electric guitars.” Like Led Zep with zaps. And yet despite its flairs and flourishes, there’s a simplicity at the heart of Systems. Modular synthesisers, live drums, some studio gubbins, but not a whole lot more. It’s the ideas that keep things busy.
The early Romans didn’t have a name for January and February. Do me a favour. During the dizzly misery of the coming winter weeks, during that long characterless slush before the flowers start budding again, pop this album on your record player and/or streaming device. Add a burst of Soulwax colour to your grey life.
Hell can keep its handbasket. It's just nice to have Soulwax back.
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