Podcast Episode 39 | Sufjan Stevens | Javelin

EP. 63 | Our Top 10 Albums of 2025 – This Is Not Happening – An Album Of The Month Podcast

Festive Greetings from This Is Not Happening and welcome to our year-end, 2025 wrap-up episode. As always we split the pod into Part 1 and Part 2.Part 1 features our Top 10 favourite albums of 2025. We use a proprietary algorithm to create our list our collective favourite albums, we're talking nascent data-science excellence! Every year it throws up some surprises as our tastes are so different (and in some ways so similar.Part 2 features a festive Spin It or Bin It. We each bring a candidate for track of the year and ask the age old question 'Spin It or Bin It' … will anyone really bin anyone elses Track of the Year? Probably.To retain the tension, I won't share any spoilers here … other than to share a 40 track playlist of some of our favourite 2025 tracks … here.Whatever you do at this time of year, who ever you do it with … have a good one.Please join us in January where we will go back to the usual format of Album of the Month + Spin It or Bin It.We've been writing the blog for years come and have a look – https://thisisnothappening.net/

1. EP. 63 | Our Top 10 Albums of 2025 01:20:41
2. EP. 62 | Juniper | Joy Crookes 01:14:05
3. EP.61 | Blood Orange | Essex Honey 01:12:50
4. EP.60 | Wet Leg | Moisturizer 01:11:11
5. EP.59 | Little Simz | Lotus 01:11:16

Welcome to Episode 39 of This is Not Happening. An Album of the Month Podcast where in Part 1 we deep dive into an Album that one of us has chosen and in Part 2 we play ‘Spin it or Bin it’.  This is where we pick a theme and each select a song that represents that theme. We judge each others selections by asking the question ‘Spin It or Bin It’?

This month, in Part 1, we get stuck in TINH favourite, Sufjan Steven’s latest release  ‘Javelin’. Wow. Is there a lot to talk about. I hope we do it justice. In Part 2, the Spin it or Bin it theme is ‘Unconventional Love Songs’ where we all chose a track that we think fits the theme and ask the others ‘Spin It or Bin It’.

Part 1 | Sufjan Stevens | Javelin

It’s David’s choice this month and a record 3rd time that we’ve reviewed an album by the same artist. On one hand this Sufjan doing Sufjan things … and then on the other, it’s a heart breaking, gut punch of an album that takes you to beautifully uncomfortable places. It’s genuinely spectacular. 

• Listen to the album here.
• Watch some videos here.
• Buy some stuff here.
• In the chat we reference Sufjan’s Instagram, that can be found here.
• A rare and recent (ish) interview with Sufjan on his health condition is here.

Part 2 | Spin It or Bin It | Unconventional Love Songs

Who are we to judge what ‘conventional’ means, what ‘love’ means … what a ‘song’ is? The interpretation of ‘unconventional love songs’ was left wide open this month.

We all chose a 4 track shortlist to chose our track, you can here all 16 tracks on this playlist here.

• Nolan chose – ‘The Night’ by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
• Joey chose – ‘Ms Fat Booty’   by Mos Def
• Guy chose – ‘Chateau Lobby #4 (for 2 virgins)’ by Father John Misty
• David chose – ‘Where Dreams go to Die’ by John Grant

*** Enjoy the Episode ***