Some records arrive with noise and urgency. Others move more quietly, finding their way into your days over time, revealing themselves slowly, and staying put long after the initial listen.
Earthstar Mountain, Hannah Cohen’s 2025 album, has been that kind of record for us here at The Sound Doctor.
It’s the one that kept getting played in the background after shows, finding its way onto personal playlists, put on in cars on the way home, and again months later, returning somehow sounding deeper and more settled each time. As the year unfolded, it became clear that this wasn’t just a personal feeling. The wider music world was circling back to it too.
By the end of 2025, Earthstar Mountain had appeared across a broad spread of year-end Best Album lists. Rolling Stone included it among its 100 best albums of the year, placing it firmly in the larger musical conversation, while Consequence and Glide Magazine both recognised it as one of the year’s most enduring releases. Talkhouse went further still, with writer and musician Greta Morgan naming it her most beloved record of the year, not as part of a ranking but as a deeply felt personal choice. Independent tastemakers echoed that sentiment, with the album also appearing on curated lists like The Wax Museum’s Best Albums of 2025.
This recognition didn’t come as a late surprise though. Midway through the year, Earthstar Mountain was already being singled out in “Best of 2025 So Far” round-ups, including BrooklynVegan’s Indie Basement favourites and Consequence’s mid-year list. These early nods weren’t about hype or momentum, but about records people were actually returning to, the ones that had quietly earned their place.
There’s something reassuring about that trajectory. This is not a record that flared brightly and disappeared. It moved at its own pace, building trust with listeners and writers alike, and proving that patience still has a place in how music is discovered and loved.
For us, that feels entirely aligned with what we value at The Sound Doctor. We’re drawn to artists who make work that rewards attention, who leave space in their music, and who invite listeners to slow down rather than keep up. Earthstar Mountain does exactly that.
It’s a record that feels made for rooms where people are really listening. And those are the rooms we care most about creating.