My Highlights of 2025: My Software, Music, and Media Picks of the Year ·
Source:
Leon Vynehall / YouTube
A look back through some of my key gear releases, acquisitions, and my favourite music picks of the year. Here are my highlights of 2025!
My Highlights of 2025
This year was a great time for new gear, but also for the music that is made with it. With a staggering amount of music and music-adjacent content available, we spend so much time trawling through it all, in the hope of finding something that truly resonates with us.
With this in mind, I’ve taken a look back at the gear, music, and other media released this year that really stood out and left a lasting impression on me. Here are some of those moments. Enjoy!
My Highlights Of 2025: Korg multi/poly native
There were so many incredible softsynth releases this year from the heavyweights like Serum 2 and Omnisphere 3 to Pigments 7, UA Anthem, and many more. At this point, there are so many high-quality plugin instruments of this kind available that it becomes difficult to choose between them.
One that stood out was perhaps an underdog to me at first, and in the context of the latest Korg Collection release, the launch of the multi/poly native became more appealing, especially considering that there is a hardware version with keyboard and rack module options. What resonated with me immediately was the multi/poly native interface.
Rather than the scaled knob-per-function interfaces of the classic Korg plugins, the multi/poly native keeps virtual analogue synthesis relevant in a very intuitive and immediate way. This allows you to gradually dive deeper into more detailed sound creation as your understanding of synthesis expands. Get it at Plugin Boutique.*
My Highlights Of 2025: Leon Vynehall – In Daytona Yellow
Choosing my favourite music release of the year is getting harder and harder, more due to there being a lack of decent material than a wealth of options to choose from. However, one of the outstanding records of the year marked the emergence of an established artist approaching a new lane with their creativity.
For years, we’ve known Leon Vynehall as a perveyor of sophisticated club records, but over time the London-based producer has shifted into a new direction stylistically, embracing the current musical landscape with some strong collaborations. Although the soulful core of the Vynehall is certainly still apparent, the end result sounds like something closer to Little Dragon or Gorillaz than a house record.
The new album, In Daytona Yellow, was released through Vynehall’s own Studio Ooze imprint, which he launched in 2022 as an outlet for his own productions. One of the great aspects of albums loaded with artist features is that they expose you to a range of artists you might not be familiar with, which makes this one worth checking out.
My Highlights Of 2025: Aura Plugins Access Virus Editor
One of the best new acquisitions this year was the Virus Editor from Aura Plugins. If you’re aware of the Access Virus virtual analogue synths, you’ll also know they are no longer being manufactured, and the Total Integration software is not supported on the latest versions of macOS and Windows.
However, I was thrilled to discover that the Aura Editor functions in a very similar way to the original Virus TI plugin, and it includes drivers that enable audio interface and MIDI controller functionality. Besides being able to automate the Virus from your DAW, it makes browsing and loading new patches such a breeze.
Another cool aspect of the editor is that it supports the other versions of the Virus besides the TI series, too. So if you can find a second-hand Virus A, B, C, or Rack XL, the Aura Editor turns it into a powerful DAW-controlled DSP synth. Aura Plugins also offers editors for synths from Roland, Korg, Clavia Nord, Waldorf, and Novation, and they are still on sale until New Year’s Day.
My Highlights Of 2025: Andy Wallace Interview
If you follow any of my columns, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of music-related documentaries, interviews, and podcasts, especially when they feature producers and engineers who are perhaps a little underpublicized. This year, one of the most exciting interviews I came across was the Andy Wallace interview by Rick Beato.
While he’s worked on other genres too, Andy Wallace is easily the most renowned mix engineer within contemporary music from the 1980s, 90s, and beyond. Even if you’ve studied all his work religiously, there is still so much background info that he delves into in this interview, providing context to the incredibly influential albums that he worked on.
His mixing credits range from Afrika Bambaataa, Run-D.M.C., Slayer, and The Cult in the 1980s to Sepultura, Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine, Front 242, and Silverchair. Then, from the early 2000s, Wallace almost single-handedly defined the Nu-Metal sound with his work on iconic albums from Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, System Of A Down, Slipknot, and many others.
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