Best Indian Indie Albums 2025: 12 Picks

The best Indian albums of 2025 from the indie scene: Parvaaz, Sijya, Taba Chake, Meewakching, Alva Kuuto, Agam, Ditty and more, with songs to start on.

Key facts

Critics' consensus: Parvaaz, Sijya and Ditty appear on both the Rolling Stone India and Homegrown year-end lists
Regional language highlight: Alva Kuuto's self-titled Tulu rock debut, produced by Varun Murali of Swarathma
Longest in the making: Agam's Arrival of the Ethereal, eight years in the making, with an 80-piece Czech orchestra
International label signing: Sijya's Leather & Brass EP on One Little Independent Records
Northeast voices: Taba Chake's Khud Ko Miloon and Meewakching's Bildungsroman

The best Indian albums of 2025 from the independent scene include Parvaaz's Na Gul Na Gulistan, Sijya's Leather & Brass EP, Taba Chake's Khud Ko Miloon, Meewakching's Bildungsroman and Alva Kuuto's Tulu rock debut. Add Agam's long-awaited Arrival of the Ethereal, Ditty's Kali, Anika's Five Foot Three and Skulk's Skin, and you have a year when indie artists made full albums count again. Below are 12 indie records from 2025 worth hearing from start to finish, with the songs to start on.

How we picked these albums

This list sticks to independent rock, folk, pop, electronic and singer-songwriter records released in 2025. Hip-hop and metal had big years too, but we cover those genres separately, so they are left out here. Every entry below was picked by at least one of the major year-end lists, either Rolling Stone India's 25 Best Indian Albums and EPs of 2025 or Homegrown's albums and EPs of the year. Several made both.

Two themes run through the selection. The first is language. A Tulu rock album and a Manipuri band whose crowds sing along in Bengaluru both made the critics' lists. The second is mood. Rolling Stone India described the year as one in which Parvaaz, Sijya and Sen "gave us beautifully bleak albums". Still, there is plenty of warmth here as well, from Taba Chake to Anika.

The 12 best Indian indie albums of 2025

1. Parvaaz, Na Gul Na Gulistan

The Bengaluru band's eight-track album was one of Rolling Stone India's last additions to its list. It is also the first Parvaaz album with drummer Bharath Kashyap, who joins Khalid Ahamed, Fidel D'Souza and Sachin Banandur. Homegrown called it an expansive folk-rock record that pairs chiming acoustic guitars and patient drums with ambient washes, and said it shows Parvaaz "at their most vulnerable". Ahamed's lyrics wrestle with belief, mortality and things that cannot be repaired. Read our full Na Gul Na Gulistan review for a track-by-track take.

Start with: Kauaʻi ʻōʻō

2. Sijya, Leather & Brass EP

New Delhi producer, composer and vocalist Sijya released this six-track EP on One Little Independent Records, the label that is home to Björk. Rolling Stone India heard degradation and decay as its sonic touchstones and named "Do I Know" as the most accessible, rhythm-driven song. Homegrown noted that Matthew Herbert and Hugh Jones guided the record, which uses heavy distortion as an emotional language. Our Leather & Brass review goes deeper.

Start with: Do I Know

3. Taba Chake, Khud Ko Miloon

The Arunachal Pradesh singer-songwriter's second album arrived about six years after his breakout debut, Bombay Dreams. It has 10 tracks, plus three raw versions for a total of 13. Rolling Stone India said the record comes from more time spent back home trying to find himself. It mixes the hummable title track and the cheery "Kya Ho Agar" with indie rock turns on "Jee Le" and "Suno Dil Ki". He returns to fingerstyle guitar on "Whispers In English".

Start with: Khud Ko Miloon

4. Meewakching, Bildungsroman

As its title suggests, the Manipuri indie band's album is a coming-of-age story, written amid the conflict in their home state. Rolling Stone India reported that at the band's August launch gig in Bengaluru, the crowd sang both English and Manipuri songs at full volume. The album covers dreamy love songs such as "Supermarket (Everytime)", the gutsier "Anarcho Love Song" and the hyperlocal "Crabwalking In Imphal", where the band tries a bit of rap. The shoegaze of "I Can't Trust" carries a direct line about the government letting "our people die young".

Start with: Crabwalking In Imphal

5. Alva Kuuto, Alva Kuuto

The self-titled debut from the Mangaluru-origin band led by Praveen Alva is a rare Tulu-language rock album. Varun Murali of the folk-rock band Swarathma produced its eight tracks. Rolling Stone India traced its arc from the playful "Ashana" and the wistful "Ee" to the funk of "Gongey" and the fury of "Pukkele". It compared Alva's shouts and the guitar solos on "Pageyta Pugey" to the intensity of Rage Against The Machine.

Start with: Pageyta Pugey

6. Agam, Arrival of the Ethereal

The Bengaluru sextet spent eight years making this album. Arrival of the Ethereal brings in Grammy winner Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt on "Flight To The Summer Sky" and an 80-piece Czech orchestra. It also includes "Between Doubt and Destiny", featuring Munz of The Down Troddence, and the wedding anthem "Walk of the Bride", which Rolling Stone India says thousands sing along to at every show. The album is rooted in traditional compositions and set to progressive rock arrangements, from a band nearly 20 years into its career. Our Agam band profile has the backstory.

Start with: Walk of the Bride

7. Ditty, Kali

The second album from the Berlin-based, New Delhi-bred singer-songwriter was produced with Bowls and pressed on recycled vinyl. Rolling Stone India called it "conscious folk music for an unconscious age". The title track tackles colourism and racism, and "Money" questions the environmental cost of consumerism. "Dunya (For Our Children)" is the album's moral core. Homegrown noted the stripped-down production, with piano, handclaps and outdoor sounds such as birdsong. It also pointed to the album's bilingual writing, which draws on Ditty's migrant past.

Start with: Dunya (For Our Children)

8. Anika, Five Foot Three

The Goa-based singer's seven-track debut was produced by Mumbai pop producer Tejas. Rolling Stone India said it "establishes a vocabulary for vulnerability" that feels unpretentious. The title track celebrates the small victories that build a sense of self. "Tic Tac Toe" leans into pop, "Dancing With A Piscses" brings punchy rock, and "Sex Is Overrated" and "19" are funny and heartbreaking at the same time.

Start with: Five Foot Three

9. Skulk, Skin

Skulk is the moniker of Goa-based composer, producer and visual artist Katyayini Gargi. Skin is a twelve-track, synth-driven debut and the first release for the Onno collective. Homegrown compared her songwriting to Fiona Apple and described the album as bold and slightly off-kilter, with inventive sound design. It is split into two halves. One deals with staying afloat in everyday life, the other with navigating the socio-political world.

10. Tanmaya Bhatnagar, Phoolon Sa Dil EP

Five years after her debut song "Kya Tum Naraaz Ho?", the singer-songwriter released this Hindi EP, produced by Dhruv Bhola and Amar Pandey. Rolling Stone India said it distils the joys, trials and power of love into something vital. "Noor" is written for her daughter and "Supriya" is dedicated to her mother. "Zindagi" adds lo-fi textures and sampled vocals.

Start with: Phoolon Sa Dil

11. Sutej Singh, Restless | Relentless

The guitarist-composer from Solan, Himachal Pradesh, released this follow-up about seven years after his breakout album, The Emerging. It features "Kaadambari", his first song with vocals, sung by Nandini Srikar. Rolling Stone India pointed to the Pink Floyd-like grandeur of the title track and the orchestral arrangements on "Mayflower", and called Singh part of a new generation of Indian guitarists. Read our Sutej Singh profile for more.

Start with: Kaadambari

12. OAFF, Between Flowers

Composer-producer Kabeer Kathpalia, who records as OAFF, made this short record of just under 20 minutes and paired it with a visual film. Rolling Stone India said it came from a year in which he lost his grandparents and also got married. Sid Sriram sings on "Falling" and Amira Gill on the Punjabi title track. Vidhya Gopal appears on "Rooth Gaye", Pratika Gopinath on "Forever" and Divyam Sodhi on the opener "Baalmaa". Homegrown also included it in its picks of the year.

Start with: Falling

Honourable mentions

Several more 2025 indie releases appeared on these lists. On Rolling Stone India's list there were Sanjay Divecha's nine-track acoustic album Leela, Kavya's Hyperreal EP (co-produced with Goya), Hanita Bhambri's gothic pop record Shoharat, Kayan's Is Love Enough? EP and Sen's Pages From The Past. Homegrown's list added Angad Berar's psychedelic Sundae, Pune band CVRSES' three-track Heart Decay and Syeyl's Mental Sunshine.

Where to listen

Most of these records are on all the major streaming services, and several came out on vinyl, including Ditty's Kali. The quickest way in is to play the "start with" songs above in order, then pick the album that catches you and listen to it all the way through, the way these artists intended.

FAQ

What are the best Indian albums of 2025?

Among independent releases, critics singled out Parvaaz's Na Gul Na Gulistan, Sijya's Leather & Brass, Taba Chake's Khud Ko Miloon, Meewakching's Bildungsroman, Alva Kuuto's debut, Agam's Arrival of the Ethereal and Ditty's Kali.