Best of 20250
- The Gatepost
- 2 hours ago
- 7 min read
‘Kansas Anymore (The Longest Goodbye)’
By Sophia Oppedisano
Editor-in-Chief
I am just as shocked as you are that one of my top albums of 2025 was Tucker Pillsbury’s deluxe edition of his sophomore album, “Kansas Anymore.”
If you know me, my name and Pillsbury’s - who goes by his stage name Role Model - wouldn’t have been caught dead in the same sentence after his rap-influenced debut album “Rx” released in 2022.
But hear me out!
“Kansas Anymore (The Longest Goodbye)” came out on Valentine’s Day as the perfect companion for those who may have recently been through a crushing breakup. What sets this pop rock, folk-influenced gem apart from a factory heartbreak album is the threads of gratitude and reflection that are laced through Pillsbury's lyrics as well as his sentimentality for a love that simply wasn’t right.
His sincerity and self-awareness on tracks such as “Scumbag,” “The Dinner,” and “Some Protector” are a far cry from his bad-boy facade on “Rx,” and I found myself leaning into the longing lyrics on tracks such as “Slipfast” and “Something, Somehow, Someday.”
Tracks such as “Writing’s on the Wall,” “Deeply Still in Love,” and of course, the viral hit “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out,” feature fast acoustics, addictive melodies, and that patented melancholic, yet energetic sound of the Noah Kahan era.
While yet another breakup album might be the last thing we needed in 2025, I found myself drawn to Pillsbury’s honesty and his willingness to sit and wallow in his feelings while still managing to poke a bit of fun and sink into a sound that suits him.
“The Longest Goodbye” punctuates the album with a coy shrug from Pillsbury, suggesting that maybe, just maybe, we’ll be all right after all.
I’ll let you in on a secret:
I listened to “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out” 359 times in 2025.
Help! I’m stuck at Sally’s Wine Bar, and the wine still hasn’t run out.
‘With a Vengeance’
By Dylan Pichnarcik
Associate Editor
This train never slows, and neither does New York Times best-selling author Riley Sager, who produced this past June another captivating mystery novel, “With a Vengeance.”
Sager’s latest novel is a perfect reflection of the author’s dedicated work in publishing and is a high-speed revenge thriller that keeps the characters - and the readers - trapped on an ill-fated train ride on board The Philadelphia Phoenix, a fiery race where the secrets and misfortunes of the passengers are revealed.
The novel is set in 1942 and is a callback to the elegance of rail travel, and is sure to invoke memories of reading Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express.”
What I appreciate most about Sager’s work across all of his titles, and particularly in this novel, is the development of his characters and the attention to detail he puts on their backstories.
While objectively, it may be hard for readers to latch onto the idea that they have something in common with people who are supposed to live in the mid-century United States, Sager’s development of these individuals makes them leap from the page.
I also appreciate Sager’s representation of voices from many different backgrounds that allow people of different genders and groups to connect with.
Avid readers of Sager will also appreciate various nods and callbacks to “The Sagerverse” - a world that appears to be like our own, but is an external plane of existence where the characters he develops inhabit and interact with one another.
“With A Vengeance” will surely make you want to book a cross-country journey by train and get lost in a world of chaos, shock, and excitement.
‘MAYHEM’
By Antonio Machado
Multimedia Editor
Lady Gaga is a load-bearing name in the music industry. For so long, Gaga has repeatedly pushed the needle, reinventing how pop music is made through her innate theatricality.
Now, after spending a handful of years focusing on her acting career, Gaga has made a much-needed return to music with the release of her seventh studio album.
“MAYHEM” is something that has completely not ever been done before. It’s unafraid to reference or not reference, put it in a blender, s**t on it, vomit on it, eat it, and give birth to it.
The record is pastiche done tastefully. Gaga knows and understands how to make music - it was immediately apparent from her debut - and that understanding of music is exactly what allows her to branch out into various genres and aesthetics to explore her artistry and execute them all masterfully. She is unafraid to be influenced, but more importantly, she is aware of how to take her influences and throw them away to make her own sound.
This record is an invitation into the dance floor, and the introspective conversation that is had in the bathroom between dances. The record has a cutting grit, sharpened by Gaga’s flair for the dramatic, but it also has moments of blunt vulnerability, a peer into the softer artist underneath the persona.
“MAYHEM” is anything but. It’s a cohesive story of love, told through a raw, unfiltered inner conflict. It’s a record composed through the contradictions of the heart. It’s a constant, high-speed collision of Gaga and herself, constantly meeting at the intersection of Pop and Rock.
Good Gaga music? Recession indicator.
‘One Battle After Another’
By Owen Glancy
Arts & Features Editor
Of all the great films released last year, none made quite the impact that Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” did. The first truly action outing from Anderson, the film follows Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his daughter Willa (Chase Infinity) as Bob’s past finally catches up to him and the pair are forced to go on the run from an old nemesis.
The biggest positive of “One Battle After Another” is absolutely the cinematography. Every shot feels so dynamic and alive, even stills are infused with this breath of life that makes this chaotic world the film lives in so believable. There’s a car chase toward the end of the film that’s shot in such a unique and interesting way, that it makes you feel as if reality itself is bending and you’re being sucked right into the screen.
DiCaprio delivers a career-best performance as well, making up for his somewhat weaker string of performances in the 2020s in films such as “Don’t Look Up” and “Killers of the Flower Moon.” However, it’s Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn who dominate this film in the acting department, with Penn especially giving this creepily realistic yet oddly silly performance that could only work with Anderson’s directing.
“One Battle After Another” continues this new trend of auteurs in film making their most approachable works yet, getting a new audience interested in more challenging cinema. As Anderson’s first action film, it nails every aspect of the genre with great gun fights, simple yet endearing characters, and in-your-face social commentary all built on a foundation of incredible directing and performances.
‘Allston x Allston’
By Alexis Schlesinger
Editorial staff
Considering how many incredible albums and songs came out in 2025, I figured it would be an impossible task to highlight just one band and their work as the “Best of 2025.”
Fortunately for me, and everyone else on the planet who enjoys music, 27 of Boston’s greatest bands came together for the album collaboration of a lifetime.
The “Allston x Allston” album was released on Nov. 17, 2025, and consists of 27 tracks.
Local scene legends came together to cover each other’s songs, and the product is a unique listening experience you can’t find anywhere else.
The tracklist is compiled in a specific order, so don’t listen to this album on shuffle! Listening to the album straight through leads listeners from each cover to its original artist, creating a perfect loop all the way through.
As a huge fan of local folk-adjacent and shoegaze artists, I am incredibly partial to the first five tracks, especially Kinship’s cover of Wulfer’s song “Cat.”
However, this is a no-skip album. Each band took their given cover and gave it their own unique spin, while still preserving the original song's personality.
The existence of this album really speaks to the strength and beauty of the Boston music scene. You can hear the love and respect each band has for each other, and their greater community, in every track.
As if this album couldn’t get any sweeter than “friends covering each other’s music,” Allston x Allston was released to raise funds for “‘Warm Up Boston,’ a radical survival program serving Boston’s unhoused community.”
“Allston x Allston” is free to listen to, and available for purchase on the Bandcamp app for $16, or more, if you’re able. All proceeds from the album are donated to “Warm Up Boston.”
‘Kirby Air Riders’
By Paul Harrington
Staff Writer
Whenever a new racing game comes out, it usually gets compared to whatever the current iteration in the “Mario Kart” franchise is.
Surely, two great games can co-exist together.
But I think it’s safe to say that “Kirby Air Riders” for the Nintendo Switch 2 has solidified itself as one of the most chaotic and damn good racing games to have come during 2025.
Although I never got to play the original, I’m sure glad I'm here for the ride!
For beginners, the tutorial section offers a plethora of interactive exercises that teach you how to play the game and test you on what you just learned.
Having tutorials accessible from the start makes picking up the game a breeze for everyone.
They don’t go away even after completion, so if you want to practice a certain mechanic, you’re always free to do so.
Where “Kirby Air Riders” excels the most, in my opinion, is the City Trial mode. What I love about this mode is just how chaotic and fast paced things are.
You’d be surprised how fast the time goes in this mode as you’re picking up buffs and dodging hyper beams!
Once time is up, you play a little mini game and either win or lose.
Yes, the fast-paced and chaotic vibes can be said for just about every aspect of this game.
But that’s just what makes the gameplay so addicting and satisfying to experience.
“Kirby Air Riders” isn’t a racing game.
It’s a love letter to everyone who craves the fast life and messing around with friends on multiplayer.
