All Songs Considered Viking's Choice 2025: The Guitar
Dec 30, 2025
Explore the vibrant world of guitar music in 2025, featuring a mix of styles and artists. Delve into Gwenifer Raymond's haunting fingerstyle, and uncover the storytelling magic of Hayden Pedigo. Discover the power trio revival with TAKAAT's energetic sound, and experience Rafael Toral's innovative jazz renditions. Enjoy Laura Snowden's classical intimacy, the Zulu traditions of Madala Kunene & Sibusile Xaba, and William Tyler's ambient hymns. Finally, get swept away by Vernon Reid's ecstatic guitar shredding.
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Guitar's Wide Renaissance In 2025
- 2025 felt like a standout year for guitar across many genres beyond rock and Americana.
- Lars frames the guitar's resurgence as broad, covering fingerstyle, jazz, ambient and experimental approaches.
Album Of The Year: Gwenifer Raymond
- Lars names Gwenifer Raymond's Last Night I Heard the Dog Star Bark his album of the year and plays "Bleak Night in Rabbit's Wood."
- He describes her playing as visceral, returning to themes while feeling physically forceful on the instrument.
Human Reaction Against AI Boosts Fingerstyle
- Fingerstyle guitar seems to be in a renaissance driven partly by a desire for human, organic music in an AI era.
- Robin calls this an "AI backlash," where listeners crave unmistakably human performances.