Dee and Christoph share their standout albums of the year

Musicians spend a lot of time with headphones on, cycling through new releases between rehearsals, teaching sessions, and the occasional bout of jet lag. For Dee and Christoph, the past twelve months delivered a steady stream of records worth slowing down for. From late-night listening sessions at home in the Bay Area to soundchecks in small rooms across the Pacific, certain records stuck. The duo agreed to narrow the field and highlight the releases that defined their year, offering a window into the sounds shaping their current creative direction.

Even from the other side of the world, Australian music pulses through the airwaves and streaming queues that feed the duo's playlists. Dee admits to keeping Triple J on rotation during early morning songwriting sessions, drawn to the station's championing of emerging artists and its annual countdown. Christoph points to a pilgrimage years ago to a Laneway Festival set in Melbourne that recalibrated his sense of what a live album could feel like. These cross-cultural touchstones inevitably surface in the records that made the cut.

The exercise of choosing five albums forced both artists to articulate why a particular record mattered. Replay value counted, but so did the emotional weather each album created. What follows is a curated walk through the releases that lived on their turntables and in their car stereos, along with a few words about the music that soundtracked the writing and rehearsing happening at their home base.

The criteria behind the choices

Distilling a year of listening into a handful of records required a loose rubric. Dee prioritised songwriting that rewarded repeated attention, albums where every listen revealed a new harmonic detail or lyrical turn. Christoph leaned toward records with adventurous production, releases that pushed studio craft into territory that felt genuinely fresh. Both agreed that an album had to feel like a complete world, not just a collection of singles stitched together.

The pair also paid attention to how a record functioned in the room. Some albums worked best as late-night companions, while others demanded the focus of a long drive or a quiet Sunday afternoon with the windows down. The final selections reflect this range, spanning intimate folk, boundary-blurring jazz, and left-field pop that rewards both background listening and deep dives.

First on the list

The opening pick is a record that arrived quietly in the spring and steadily grew into an obsession. Its careful sequencing turns individual songs into a single, flowing narrative, the kind of album you can leave playing from start to finish without reaching for the skip button. Dee's favourite tracks cluster around the middle of the record, where the arrangements open up and the lyrics grow more vulnerable.

Christoph was struck by the engineering, particularly the way the drums sat in the mix. He spent an entire afternoon dissecting a single snare sound, eventually borrowing a similar microphone technique for an upcoming demo. Records that inspire that kind of technical curiosity earn a permanent spot in the conversation.

Second on the list

The second selection comes from a Brisbane-based quartet whose blend of soul, hip-hop, and electronic texture caught the duo's attention during a late-night streaming session. The album moves fluidly between dancefloor energy and introspective balladry, anchored by a vocalist who commands attention from the first note. Dee caught wind of the group via Triple J Unearthed long before the full-length landed, a connection that made the eventual record feel like a personal victory.

Christoph, a frequent visitor to Brisbane for shows and writing retreats, praised the record's sense of community. Guest vocalists pop up across the tracklist, creating a web of collaborations that mirrors the kind of musical family Dee and Christoph have built through their own work. It is the kind of generous, outward-looking music that makes you want to call up old friends and start a band.

Third on the list

A jazz album took the third slot, recorded live over two nights in a small club with no overdubs. The rawness of the performances translates through the speakers, capturing the electricity of a room full of listeners leaning in. Christoph compared the experience to his early days playing Sunday night residencies at a tiny venue in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, where every note carried the weight of a small, devoted crowd.

Dee highlighted a mid-album ballad that stretches past nine minutes, building from a whispered vocal into a full-band crescendo. The patience of the arrangement reflects a confidence that feels increasingly rare in modern releases. Both agreed that the record rewards listeners who still believe in the album as an art form, not just a playlist filler.

Fourth on the list

For the fourth pick, the duo gravitated toward a folk record recorded in a remote coastal studio. The production is sparse and organic, built around acoustic guitars, brushed drums, and harmonies that feel like sunlight through a window. Dee fell for the record during a long drive along the Great Ocean Road, where the songs seemed to soundtrack the passing cliffs and ocean spray with uncanny precision.

Christoph admired the lyrical specificity, noting that every song contained a vivid location or sensory memory. The album feels like a series of postcards from a life lived outdoors, the kind of record that pairs well with a thermos of tea and a slow walk through a national park. It stands as a reminder that quiet records can leave the loudest impressions.

Fifth on the list

Rounding out the list is a left-field pop record that defies easy categorisation. The production pivots from glossy synth-pop to gritty electronic experimentation within the span of a single song. Dee described the listening experience as akin to flipping through a stack of vintage magazines, each track offering a different era of pop history filtered through a modern lens.

Christoph singled out the sequencing, which avoids the common trap of front-loading singles. The record builds momentum slowly, rewarding patience with an epic closing suite that unites the album's various threads. Both felt it captured the playful spirit of pop music at its best, the kind of record that makes you want to dance alone in your kitchen.

Where the music was made

Much of the inspiration behind these choices feeds directly into the work happening at the duo's home studio. Dee and Christoph have spent the past year developing new material that reflects the wide-ranging influences present across these five records. The creative hub for this work is Plant Studios, their shared space where songwriting, rehearsal, and recording converge.

The studio recently hosted a series of intimate sessions with local youth performers from the VAGABOOM program, giving the space a dual life as both a professional recording environment and a classroom. Hearing the young artists respond to the records on this list reminded the duo why certain albums matter. Great records do not just sit on a shelf; they become the background score to the next generation of music-makers finding their voice.

The common thread running through these five records is their willingness to trust the listener, offering albums that unfold gradually rather than revealing everything at once. For anyone building a playlist for the coming months, starting with any of these full-lengths is a reliable way to fill the air with music that asks for and repays close attention.