5 New Albums To Check Out On October 3rd, 2025

Swift returns with her highly anticipated 12th studio album this Friday. The new album, The Life of a Showgirl, is a glimpse inside the artist’s life on the road. Fans of  The Tortured Poets Department will find Showgirl has much more of a vibrant and upbeat outlook on life. The 14-time Grammy winner worked on much of the album while on the European leg of her  Eras tour last year. Swift designed numerous different album covers for Showgirl, so don’t be surprised if the version you find is different from the standard one pictured above. Swifties can also catch “Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl,” debuting in theaters on Friday.

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus — X’s For Eyes (Better Noise Music)

Florida alt-rockers The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus are back with their sixth studio album, X’s For Eyes. The multi-platinum band’s new offering harkens back to their 2006 debut, Don’t You Fake It. The new album was recorded with essentially the same studio team. X’s will include not only new music, but songs from RJA’s original demo that did not make it onto their debut record. While you will definitely feel those “Face Down” vibes at times, X’s runs the gamut of the band’s sound through almost two decades, from emo to pop-punk to post-hardcore.

Waylon Jennings — Songbird (Son of Jessi/Thirty Tigers)

Songbird is a collection of unreleased tracks by the late country music legend Waylon Jennings. The album features songs recorded during Jennings’ time with the Waylors from 1973 to 1984. The Country Music Hall of Famer was the first solo country artist to have a platinum album. This album will be the first of three posthumous releases by Sons of Jessi and Thirty Tigers. Songbird was produced by Waylon and Richie Albright and features his all-star band, including Albright, Ralph Mooney, Tony Joe White, Jessi Colter, and others. The title track is a cover of the Fleetwood Mac song written by Christine McVie that was included on the band’s 1977 Rumours album.

AFI — Silver Bleeds the Black Sun (Run For Cover)

Silver Bleeds the Black Sun is AFI’s first release for new label Run For Cover Records. The album leans heavily into the adult goth-rock and post-punk of previous albums like  The Blood Album and Bodies. You can hear hints of New Order, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sisters of Mercy, and other band influences throughout the ten-track release. The album’s second single, “Holy Visions,” sounds like an industrial-tinged cross between The Cure and A Flock of Seagulls.

Lily Rose — I Know What I Want (Mercury Records)

“Villain” singer Lily Rose releases her latest effort this Friday. The award-winning singer’s new album leans a little more country than some of her previous work, but it still maintains its pop sensibilities. I Know What I Want has been five years in the making and captures Rose’s emotional rollercoaster through that timespan. The thirteen-track album comes as Rose, who has toured with the likes of Shania Twain and Sam Hunt, winds down her own 17-date headlining tour.

The Best Of The Rest

If none of those albums fit your vibe, here are some of the other albums due out on October 3:

Oasis — (What’s the Story) Morning Glory: 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Big Brother)
Alison Wonderland — GHOST WORLD (Republic)
Carter Faith — Cherry Valley (MCA Nashville/Gatsby Records)
Lovejoy — One Simple Trick (Anvil Cat/Revolution/Warner)
Matisyahu — Ancient Child (Sound On)
Mayday Parade — Sad (Many Hats Endeavors)
Michael Schenker Group — Don’t Sell Your Soul (earMUSIC)
Idlewild — Idlewild (V2 Records)
Richard Ashcroft — Lovin’ You (Virgin)
Ledisi — For Dinah (Listen Back Entertainment/Candid Records)
Snooper — Worldwide (Third Man)
Vitamin String Quartet — VSQ Performs Billie Eilish (Vitamin Records)
Max Pope — Praise Animal (Kartel Music Group)