2025 in music: 100 Favourite Tracks

 

So... I still exist. Truth be told: I've gotten so rusty with writing and formatting anything in a blog capacity that - coupled with the fact I'm now using a Chromebook instead of Windows - everything feels completely alien and impossible to use to me. On a personal level, 2025 has been... really difficult. Various health issues with my mum, all of my cats have now passed away, and a growing unease with my own health has all snowballed into a bit of a tough time. I'm persisting and doing everything I can, and one of the many things I've cut out of my life to allow time to unwind where possible was, unfortunately, writing! I've written many times about my insecurities with writing and comparing myself to established music sites and their journalism and whilst a big chunk of that was dissatisfaction with what reporting has become, a lot of it is also just personal uncertainty and a lack of conviction. Some days I will assert that a particular album is gorgeous, intoxicating, earth-shattering... and then 6 months later it's a child I've abandoned at an orphanage. 

Old habits die hard, however - and I still keep a score of albums I listen to on a little Google document and check out the new music Friday playlists with a fervour that I doubt will ever die. So I thought: why not put something together and sing the praises of some pop that might give you a little serotonin boost too? Granted, some of these below tracks are anything but chipper - but what's music if not something to draw out every emotion we've been suppressing? 

I've handily linked each track to its YouTube video (whether it's lucky enough to have an official music video or not). Do music videos even have a future any more? Or is it just the TV channels that are dying? Do I reformat this entire list as a Tiktok video that just has 6 entries and one of them is left blank to encourage engagement? Perhaps attach a little clip of someone playing a mobile game to the bottom half of the screen in case I get too dull? That's almost a certainty. I'll embed a couple just to break up the text a bit, but that's as far as my clickbait skills will go I'm afraid.

As always, the order of this list is entirely arbitrary. I only really feel comfortable arguing that the top 10 would be the songs that I hold dear from this year the most; everywhere else is just a number plucked from a damn hat. If I had a hat.A live draw for 2026? Would that liven the blog up? We'll move on.

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#100 - "Light Years" by Nao

I forgot I have to write something about each song to justify its inclusion... gosh this could take a while, then. Nao quietly dropped "Jupiter" back in February and its highlights had already been released as singles in 2024, so I couldn't choose those... but from the 2025 releases, "Light Years" showcases her honey-like voice fully and unfolds with such a romantic warmth.

#99 - "Make You Love Me" by CATTY

I stumbled across a song of Welsh singer CATTY's last year - perhaps thanks to Popjustice - and she's been steadily dropping new singles since, perhaps in the slow build to a debut album that I'm sure I'll love. This track - like most on this list - is pure bedroom pop, begging to be screamed into a hairbrush.

#98 - "People Always Change" by Celeste

It seems an eon ago that Celeste burst onto the British scene with her debut, containing "Stop This Flame" which vastly outstayed its welcome as the mini jingle of Sky Sports' football coverage for about four years. Her voice on the follow-up is just as rich and heart-rending as the debut, and my favourite pick was this. 

#97 - "Elderberry Wine" by Wednesday

An extremely recent discovery for me, hence it perhaps placing lower than it might with a few months' hindsight. Country has been having its time in the sun for a few years now and - thankfully - with it has come a swathe of more palatable acts to balance out the God-bothering knobs that seem to dominate the Billboard charts. 

#96 - "Tennis" by Lily Allen

One of the year's more unexpected comebacks, "West End Girl" is packed with a whole bunch of jaw-dropping "this probably should have been saved for therapy" moments and a lot of them are missing a bit of polish and pizzazz that made her earlier albums best-of-the-noughties material. One of the more playful tracks is "Tennis", tapping into her gift of hiding a devastating emotional discovery behind a deceptively cutesy tune.

#95 - "Candy Stores" by Charlotte Plank

There is an extremely strong chance that anything that samples Grimes' "Oblivion" will immediately entrance me, if only because it makes me yearn for a time when the Canadian wasn't such a twit. Another one to watch out for in the future is (although hopefully not in a Grimes way!) is Charlotte Plank, who's appeared three times on my 2025 playlist. This is playful, fun and captivating.

#94 - "Norwegian Girl" by Donkeyboy

British audiences will perhaps remember this Norwegian band best for the song that went on to be X Factor winner Joe McElderry's debut single, "Ambitions", but - given how the rest of McElderry's career panned out perhaps it will escape your memory. The band have been steadily dropping little dollops of euphoria since then.

#93 - "Gnarly" by KATSEYE

I doubt I need to explain this song to anyone under the age of 25, given its ubiquity, so to those of us of an older persuasion: KATSEYE are a multinational girl group put together in the wake of the rise of K-Pop and have absolutely destroyed 2025 in a way that is honestly astonishing. This was their biggest viral moment, and proved incredibly divisive. For those of us who can stomach a bit of noise, it's raucous fun. 

#92 - "Lotus" by Little Simz, featuring Michael Kiwanuka & Yussef Dayes

Critics have been heaving praise upon Little Simz since her breakthrough in 2021 so I don't feel I have much to add here, but the reason I choose this over anything else from the excellent album of the same name is simple: Kiwanuka's voice. 

#91 - "Recognise" by Shura

This is the first entry on this list that makes me feel nostalgic about this blog; I remember vividly trying to get anyone to listen to "Indecision" or "Touch" by her back... gosh over 10 years ago now. All that time later, she's still got a way to tug on my heartstrings and put together pop that moves me.

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#90 - "I Wanna Hate You" by Yorke

Of the 400 or so songs floating around on my "recent obsessions" list (that probably dates back to 2021, so not THAT recent), the Spotify algorithm seems determined to make me hear this one the most, and I am not complaining. She bears a striking resemblance to Anya Taylor-Joy. Odd. 

#89 - "Reverberotic" by Alison Goldfrapp

"Please don't go down the Roisin Murphy route", we all beg our other favourite 50-something electropop goddess. 

#88 - "Man I Need" by Olivia Dean

A song good enough to excuse the tedium that followed it on the album, "Man I Need" is one of those unexpected breakout #1 hits that cannot really be argued with. Her voice and backing vocals dance around the catchy melody well. 

#87 - "The Long Night" by Purity Ring

Another of those 2010s acts on the cusp of indie credibility and stadium-bound pop, Purity Ring kinda slipped off my radar for a while before giving me a big shake this year with their self-titled album. This track is its highlight for me, and more than enough of an apology for their 5 year hiatus!

#86 - "Break the Girl" by Florence Road

Around this time every year, the BBC put out a "Sound of..." shortlist for the upcoming year that's supposed to showcase up-and-coming acts, and it's always a bit of an eyeroll because... what do you mean Sombr and Geese are ones to "watch out for"? They've already smashed 2025. One I hadn't been too familiar with are Florence Road, so I was delighted to see that I'd subconsciously added them to my 2025 playlist three times this year. This track is my favourite so far, and evokes that 90s alt-pop girl aesthetic so charmingly. 

#85 - "RACER" by Blusher

This Australian trio have been quietly throwing out pop anthems for a few years now and are probably my biggest head-scratcher: why aren't they absolutely massive in a Charli XCX way? I cannot recall hearing a song of theirs I wasn't blown away by. 

#84 - "Dream Girl" by Yaya Bey

Her most recent album floats between this dream-pop sound and more traditional R&B in a mildly frustrating way, because I have a personal bias towards the former. A song begging to be used in a strip club. 

#83 - "Zjerm" by Shkodra Elektronike

It is a time-old tradition of these end-of-year ranking lists that I shoehorn in something from the year's Eurovision Song Contest, no matter how disenfranchised I become with the whole thing and its handling of the Israel fiasco. (#banthem). This year was an admittedly weak one in song quality, but at the very very end of the final Saturday, these moody Albanians stepped forward and told me to hold my wig. 

#82 - "Girls Like You" by Sofia Camara

What a damn chorus. I am quite fearful that one day I'll be 65 years old and still belting along to songs like this, so wrapped in youth and promise and angst. Some things never age I guess. 

#81 - "Henry, Come On" by Lana del Rey

Look, maybe it deserves to place higher... but if she wants to delay the album and rename it on a whim every 6 months then I can react with petulance can't I? Anyway, yeah, great song Lana... we'll wait for the rest. 

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#80 - "You Used To Be So Sexy" by PUNCHBAG

A shot of adrenaline in its purest musical form. Brother-sister duo PUNCHBAG have been bursting with energy all year and are definitely a group to watch out for if you're into that whole "Sleigh Bells meets CHVRCHES" sound. 

#79 - "Back Of My Mind" by SG Lewis

Look, the whole "British DJ dominating the summer" thing might have died about 10 years ago with the peak of Calvin Harris, but whether he's producing for someone else or releasing his own material, SG Lewis WILL be on rotation in my household. This isn't even the only time he'll pop up in this list...

#78 - "Fuck Me Eyes" by Ethel Cain

Fresh off the back of TWO 2025 releases, Ethel Cain has had a hell of a year and whilst I've strongly liked both albums... there was a sense that the overarching themes of each one kinda spilled over into the other. Whilst "Perverts" was more ambient and experimental, "Willoughby Tucker..." was more conventional for a singer-songwriter. Both suffered a little from being more drawn out than they needed to be, but both also had rich highlights; this is my favourite of the latter. 

#77 - "Twilight Zone" by Ariana Grande

Re-releases of albums from the previous year are traditionally a moot issue for me, very seldom containing anything new that shakes me up - and this is something I would especially expect of Ariana Grande, the epitome of middling returns in her discography of late. When this dropped, however, I was hooked. A simple, serene counterpart to 2024's "We Can't Be Friends", which was also excellent. 

#76 - "Kimpton" by Barry Can't Swim & O'Flynn

I am reliably informed that this appears in the newest edition of EA FC (formerly FIFA), and whilst I cannot say I give that video game franchise the time of day any more I will fondly look back on the times I did for one thing alone: their soundtracks. Famous for piecing together music from all around the world, this track kinda encapsulates that whole sound: tropical, jubilant, vaguely Afrobeat compositional elements (indeed this samples a track from Burkina Faso). 

#75 - "SATISFY" by LSDXOXO & Shygirl

Shygirl has been dominating the experimental/rave-pop scene for coming up a decade now and whilst there wasn't much material from her this year as a solo project, this collaboration gives me another artist to delve into and put on when I want to throw my sizeable ass back.

#74 - "Loser" by Sophie and the Giants

Someone I've been keeping on the back burner since 2020's majestic collaboration with Purple Disco Machine, "Hypnotised", there's been almost an expectation that a song of hers will dominate my annual charts and this looks set to continue if the tracks are as gorgeous as "Loser".

#73 - "CUNTISSIMO" by MARINA

She really does have a knack for teasing a new project with something astonishing and then... inevitable disappointment. "Princess of Power" was not a record that'll live long in the memory, but back in April she dropped this and a lot of us gays lost our damn minds. 

#72 - "Blessings" by Calvin Harris & Clementine Douglas

I mentioned earlier that the "peak" of Calvin Harris has certainly got its footing firmly in the past now, but there's no denying he still has a grip on being able to produce one of the year's most gorgeous sun-kissed hits at any given moment. 

#71 - "12 to 12" by Sombr

As mentioned above when discussing Florence Road, 2025 has been a massive year for New York's twink to end all twinks. Absolutely inescapable on Tiktok with his hits "Back to Friends" and "Undressed", his last single before the release of his debut album was my favourite: a heavily distorted fusion of funk, Arctic Monkeys, and a smattering of glam rock. 

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#70 - "Bliss" by Tyla

Another one no stranger to Tiktok virality, Tyla has been building a name for herself as SZA's most reliable successor. The South African followed up her 2024 self-titled debut album with an EP in July that promises a great future for her.

#69 - "Awards Season" by Bon Iver

Dipping a little more into my nostalgia with this blog, Bon Iver's "Sable, Fable" record this year evoked his 2011 self-titled record to such an extent that it had me transported back to that year, soaking in "Holocene" and "Washington, MI" (and the whole damn album) on every single train journey to and from university... something in this track in particular just soothed that bittersweet nostalgia. "You can be remade, you can live again". 

#68 - "21st Century Cool Girl" by Chloe Qisha

I keep mentioning burgeoning new talents that keep finding their way onto my Spotify playlists and there's perhaps no more prolific culprit than Chloe Qisha lately. I could have picked any of her singles this year, but something about the way this builds so playfully keeps me entertained. 

#67 - "Colder" by anamē & Moyka

Ever since Moyka dropped "Rear View" in 2023 I have been like a junkie chasing the next hit with her. Thankfully, her trans-Scandinavian collaboration with these Swedes hit the spot just right, and ticks every box for me. Something in Norway has just been brewed right ever since Röyksopp emerged in the 90s. 

#66 - "Victory Lap" by Fred again.., Skepta & PlaqueBoyMax

Someone who, by now, has every new release immediately checked out by me is Fred again. The sample on this is insane, but Skepta's feature also steals the show. There's just something about Fred again..'s work that fills me with envy and fascination: how does he think to mix this stuff?

#65 - "Room of Fools" by FKA twigs

I'm not entirely sure why Blogger's embedding feature isn't finding the official visualisers for some of these, but we move. Another one to drop two full-length LPs in 2025, twigs has been balancing her older artistic, delicate self with a more electronic, dance sound and this culminates no better than on EUSEXUA. 

#64 - "The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station" by CMAT

2025 was a phenomenal year for Ireland's CMAT. A Mercury Prize nomination (and robbery, if you ask me!), a stand-out Glastonbury show, and the release of "Euro-Country" which is (spoiler for my later blog post) one of the best albums of the year. I've got a couple of other tracks to write about from her below, but this one is her at her core: devilishly funny, tongue-in-cheek, and yet simultaneously emotionally forthright and lyrically complex. 

#63 - "True Believer" by Hayley Williams

This track in particular has been dissected in such a meticulous way by reaction-video content all over Tiktok and YouTube recently that I feel I have nothing more to add, so I'll just summarise: richly political, cleverly-written lyrics and delivered in such an unsettling and haunting manner. 

#62 - "Ring Ring Ring" by Tyler, the Creator

I didn't quite love "Don't Tap The Glass" as much as his other recent albums, but that isn't to say it isn't without its charms. At its best it is a great mix of funk and pop in a way that would make Bruno Mars jealous, and whilst he enjoyed mainstream success with "Sugar On My Tongue" I personally find that track tedious and love this one instead x

#61 - "2 Hands" by Tate McRae

2025 is certainly a year of people who I'd previously written off as generic nonsense, shutting me up and dropping fantastic pop singles... but more of that, later. McRae enjoyed a string of hits that were all pretty damn good ("Revolving Door", "Sports Car") but my favourite of the album was this. I will also forever applaud her for her commitment to making a music video the proper way: ridiculously over-budget and choreographed within an inch of its life. 

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#60 - "Human Happens" by Magdalena Bay

Not content with dropping one of 2024's best albums, the Miami duo have been dropping random singles throughout 2025 that have all caught my attention. My pick of the lot is "Human Happens", and whether it ends up on an upcoming album or not I'll be swaying softly whenever it comes up on shuffle. 

#59 - "JUMP" by BLACKPINK 

As if the focus on each of the South Korean group's solo efforts for much of 2025 wasn't time-consuming enough, the group did still find time to drop one of the year's most catchy earworms... even if they can't quite perform it live to the standards the fans would like. 

#58 - "Headlights" by Alex G

Not the best cut of the album (more on that later), but Headlights still has me rapt with each listen and unravels so beautifully. I'm at the 58 mark and I'm already running out of writing stamina. Lord, forgive me.

#57 - "Everything Changes (But I Won't)" by Rose Gray

She's been releasing dance music that should've been hits for quite some time now, and this finally culminated in a debut album back in January that... could have been better, but showcases her core ability to get the room dancing quite well. 

#56 - "Hammer" by Lorde

After the mortifying disappointment of "Solar Power", I had fearfully resigned myself to the belief that perhaps Lorde wasn't going to release another great record. Maybe that phone call with Charli XCX shook off the cobwebs, because boy, she did.  

#55 - "Balenciaga Covered Eyes" by Agnes

That gap between the phenomenon that was 2008's "Release Me" and her triumphant 2021 comeback feels like a thing of the past, now, and this first glimpse of her upcoming 2026 album "Beautiful Madness" is a rich, dramatic house track that thrills me. 

#54 - "The Giver" by Chappell Roan

After a whirlwind 2024, the question of how Roan was going to follow anything up when the charts were still being absolutely dominated by the likes of "Pink Pony Club" or "Good Luck, Babe" was a head-scratcher. The answer, apparently, was a country hoedown about oral sex. Of course it was. 

#53 - "Bloom Baby Bloom" by Wolf Alice

I am sad to report that I didn't love The Clearing as much as I have their previous albums, although I haven't quite worked out all of the scores so it probably will still end up featuring in my later 50 Albums post. It promised a lot when this dropped back in May, and as a single it still stands among their career best.

#52 - "Midnight Sun" by Zara Larsson

I'm no expert in music marketing, but why would you release this at the end of June, Zara? This is a song begging to be "song of the summer" and - I believe - contenders for that need to be dropped as far back as March to allow the playlists to build in time. Oh well. It at least had its moment in Autumn. 

#51 - "Fineshyt" by Amaarae

I was torn between this, Starkilla and her collaboration with PinkPantheress as my pick from her phenomenal "Black Star" record this year, but this wins out slightly for having a beat that feels like it's lifted from a 2006 dance record and that makes me feel young again. 

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#50 - "Copycats" by Danny Brown & Underscores

I think I've made a mistake and this should be even higher, but I've linked the YouTube video now and I cannot be bothered to undo it. Brown's unique delivery over a dance record is just a winning formula. 

#49 - "Jealous Type" by Doja Cat

I don't know if she's deliberately chasing the success of "Say So" back in 2020, because she's certainly had her share of other hits, but when this slice of 80s heaven dropped a couple of months ago I couldn't help but think that this is going to shut up a lot of her critics. 

#48 - "Dream Night" by Jamie xx

I am always going to include a track by Jamie xx in these lists if he so happens to release a song in that given year, and I'm not sorry about it. He's just one of those producers I can always depend on to scratch my ear in the most pleasing ways. 

#47 - "Territorial" by Kali Uchis

It's just not fair that someone can release albums in two languages in the space of a year and both of them are spell-binding. Her signature "come to bed" delivery is at its strongest on "Territorial", and would have most UK journalists pondering "perhaps she should be on a Bond theme"...

#46 - "Crush" by Indigo de Souza

The flip on de Souza by critics this year was a little baffling and harsh. Sure, her album is little disappointing compared to the likes of "Any Shape You Take" or "All of This Will End", and I suspect a large portion of the 180 on her might be this track's poppier sound - but I just found it effortlessly charming and fun. 

#45 - "Spiders" by Lola Young

Of course I split the songs up so that the video I have to embed contains spiders. Sorry about that if you're a pussy like I. Young's career trajectory in 2025 is rare, perhaps only recently rivalled by Olivia Dean (at least from a British perspective) and whilst there were other great singles this year, my favourite is the grungey, raw "Spiders". 

#44 - "One of the Greats" by Florence and the Machine

At this point, she really is.

#43 - "The Scythe" by the Last Dinner Party

I still can't quite shake the feeling of "nepobaby" about them even though it's been proven that none of them are. The music is certainly good enough to dispel any complaints.

#42 - "Sauvignon Blanc" by ROSALÍA

Every year there is an album that I could feasibly include every single track in this list from. I have mercifully limited myself to just the four, but unfortunately they must all place incredibly high. One of LUX's more classically beautiful tracks, some initially wrote it off as the filler track and to them I heartily say: fuck off and die you daft slut. 

#41 - "Ethereal Connection" by Tame Impala

Unarguably the year's biggest letdown for some was the Tame Impala record, which split opinions as much as it did genres. Some argued it was too far a departure from his Lonerism/Currents sound, and whilst the record indeed was nowhere near as good as those two, I would still argue this: he has been scraping the "The Less I Know the Better" barrel shtick so much that it's worn thin. The best tracks from "Deadbeat" for me were his full descents into EDM hedonism, and this and "Afterthought" were by far the best on display for me. 

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#40 - "End of the World" by Miley Cyrus

Between being mercilessly savaged for sport by the joyless twats over Pitchfork, Cyrus stays playing with pop in a fascinating way to mixed results. She's never quite put together an album that would scream "classic" to me in the same sense that Carly Rae Jepsen's "Emotion" or Lady Gaga's "The Fame Monster" do, but she keeps mining these absolute diamonds every once in a while. "End of the World" is a joyous, ABBA-tinged majesty.  

#39 - "Feelings Gone" by SG Lewis and London Grammar

The ingredients don't particularly scream "summer classic": an interpolation of the verses of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" sung by the infamously wintry and introspective Hannah Reid from London Grammar. Something clicked, however, and this is the sort of track that begs to be played at the beach with a couple of bottles. 

#38 - "Born Again" by LISA, Doja Cat & RAYE

Given its components I really did expect this to chart better. Sure, #13 isn't to be sniffed at in the UK, but given that RAYE could release a fart and it'd be played 8 times every day on Radio 1 at the moment, it still felt surprising that this didn't top the charts. A lot of collaborations feel meaningless and tacked on lately, but each of the 3 shines in a completely unique way that doesn't overshadow the others. A fantastic track. 

#37 - "Take Me By The Hand" by Oklou & Bladee

I only heard this for the first time this week but I'm immediately hooked. Simultaneously sounds like the sort of thing that would have sent the UK chav girlies mental in 2005 on a Sony Ericsson, and Tumblr-using anime addicts sedated today.

#36 - "Yamaha" by Dijon

Almost impossible to single out a track from this album, but something about this one screams "Prince reincarnated" so I had to listen. 

#35 - "DEAD" by Sudan Archives

After 2022's "Natural Brown Prom Queen" - which might just be one of the most ambitious, layered and thrilling records of the decade - I was anticipating this hard. She did not disappoint one bit. I love this wholeheartedly, it's just placed a little low because there's another track of hers I love more. 

#34 - "Stateside" by PinkPantheress

I've been reluctant to fully embrace her in the past, in the days when her average track length was probably around 1:32, but thankfully that seems to have stopped... somewhat. 2025 saw the mega-star collaborate with just about everyone from the British music scene... Sugababes, Nia Archives, JADE, Kylie Minogue, Basement Jaxx, Groove Armada... but it's one of the unremixed songs that I choose here. 

#33 - "The Last of England" by Blood Orange

I am a sucker for personal childhood recordings and Voicemails and such being featured on a track, and given that this record was largely about mourning his mother, this track stood out as particularly heartbreaking. 

#32 - "Catch These Fists" by Wet Leg

I am so bemused every time I see online discourse about these girls because it's almost always the most unwashed, insecure, pathetic men complaining about their success because they aren't just trudging out 2000s landfill indie, or boring everyone to death with folk. They certainly have a niche and I enjoy that niche very much. 

#31 - "Gossip" by Confidence Man & JADE

You almost have to feel sorry for the other former Little Mix girls because they just aren't on her level. Where others have floundered with forgettable, generic pop, JADE has carved a career out that is unrivalled right now. 

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#30 - "Fort Knox" by Sigrid

I was torn between choosing this and "Hush Baby, Hurry Slowly" but in the end, this one felt slightly more dramatic and the pre-chorus "Never"s have me locked in every time. 

#29 - "NUEVAYoL" by Bad Bunny

I'm sure the impending Super Bowl performance will piss off all of the right people and that's just something to look forward to, isn't it? 

#28 - "Taxes" by Geese

Another album that it felt impossible to single out a particular track, but for whatever reason Taxes is my pick from their terrific "Getting Killed". 

#27 - "Carousel" by Laufey

Every single song on the newest Laufey record possesses this utterly bewitching and soothing quality, so in the end it came down to the melody of Carousel that justified its selection here. 

#26 - "Abracadabra" by Lady Gaga

Do I need to explain?

#25 - "The Boy" by Rochelle Jordan

The album left me feeling a little frustrated because at its peak, there're tracks like this that have me hooked... but it just went on about 20 minutes too long. 

#24 - "Spike Island" by Pulp

Look, most acts from the 90s (I was astonished to learn Pulp have been going since 1979 however) still releasing records today are not going to entice anyone under the age of 40. But when this dropped back in April I was gobsmacked... and also spent a while trying to remember what the melody reminded me of (answer: it was a 2000s dance song from a FIFA game called "Nothing But You" by Paul van Dyk)

#23 - "Itty Bitty" by Ashnikko

There was something a little odd about the fervour with which I would begin the commute to work every day back in March listening to this, but some things just spiritually speak to me. 

#22 - "Never Enough" by Turnstile

Those synths are just heaven, really. 

#21 - "La Yugular" by ROSALÍA

I could say "this is the most beautiful thing I have ever heard" about pretty much anything from this record, at this point. 

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#20 - "Running / Planning" by CMAT

I'd enjoyed a couple of the singles from her previous records but it was this, the first taste of the "Euro-Country" album (for me anyway) that had me sitting up and paying more attention to her. 

#19 - "Headphones On" by Addison Rae

My only awareness of Addison Rae prior to this year (I didn't really take "Diet Pepsi" in until this year, sorry) was that she'd been in a remake of She's All That on Netflix which looked... atrocious. I am unfamiliar with the rest of her acting career, so the impression was not great. But once Diet Pepsi finally hooked me, I dove into her self-titled album this year like an addict. "Headphones On" is a gorgeous bit of trip-hop. 

#18 - "Sushi" by FKA twigs

I still don't really know how to describe this. Much of the Afterglow follow-up to EUSEXUA was unlike most things I've heard before, but Sushi combines elements of ballroom, house, and chamber-pop in the most unassuming and beguiling way. 

#17 - "Basic Being Basic" by Djo

Steve from Stranger Things might not be able to shake off that particular acting credit but if he carries on making tracks like this I might forget it. 

#16 - "There's a Rhythmn" by Bon Iver

Much of Bon Iver's music is often associated with scenery and nature, that it feels strange how this could simultaneously fit a Spring, Winter or Autumn scene... maybe Summer is a bridge too far. It isn't bad being the perfect soundtrack for three quarters of the year, though, is it?

#15 - "Shy Girl" by Haute & Freddy

In amongst a swathe of complaints I could have about Tiktok and social media in general, I will allow them one concession: on a random day back in September, the algorithm - whatever it might be - decided to show me this song despite (no offence) not being particularly big or ostensibly being promoted by some awfully massive record label. A quick dive into their other tracks this year informed me that this is a duo I already love, but I had to choose the song that introduced me to them here. 

#14 - "The Subway" by Chappell Roan

Speaking of redheads with extremely white make-up completely invigorating pop music... 

#13 - "Plastic Box" by JADE

Most pop girls these days would have been more satisfied with a song of "Angel of My Dreams" calibre on their debut (solo) record, but JADE really spoiled us with about 4 or 5 equally brilliant songs. My favourite is this, but only by a smidge.

#12 - "Harvest Sky" by Oklou & Underscores

A song so obviously a love letter to the 2000s trance classics like "Kernkraft 400" or "Castles in the Sky" that it hurts and makes me feel so old. 

#11 -"ExtraL" by Jennie & Doechii

That Doechii verse was pretty much the most exciting thing to listen to for a whole 6 months, at least. 

The Fuckin' Top Ten (!)

#10 - "David" by Lorde

Some of the best songs of Lorde's career have this astonishingly personal narrative, and that didn't change in 2025. The highlight of "Virgin", to me, was this - which ostensibly refers to her relationship with a man 17 years her senior, a music industry figure no less, during her musical breakthrough: "Pure Heroine mistaken for a featherweight". 

#9 - "La Perla" by ROSALIA & Yahritza y su Esencia

One from the album that grows on me with each repeated listen, there's a nursery-rhyme quality to "La Perla" that just unfolds and builds so satisfyingly to its climax.

#8 - "Dopamine" by Robyn

There needs to be a study, at this point, into how Robyn keeps doing this. Disappearing for five years at a time and coming back with the most bombastic pop record you've ever heard. I don't know if an album is on the way, but if there is: prepare yourselves for me to become the most annoying person you know. 

 

#7 - "Afterlife" by Alex G

Even after all of the times I've listened to this this year, the fake-out ending always catches me off-guard. One of the year's most innately optimistic and joyous-sounding songs for me. 

#6 - "Punish" by Ethel Cain 

I did say that there might be a bit of emotional whiplash if choosing to listen to these in order. For every burst of joy in this list, something burrowed into my ears and hollowed out my heart in such a devastating way, but none more so than this track from the earlier ambient record "Perverts" in January.

#5 - "My Type" by Sudan Archives

FOR FUCK'S SAKE why won't this video embed? Please listen to it. It's fucking fantastic. 

#4 - "Fame is a Gun" by Addison Rae

I haven't checked my Spotify wrapped just yet but I am fairly sure this is my most-played song from 2025. It's so insanely addictive and I have no idea why.

#3 - "Berghain" by ROSALIA, Bjork & Yves Tumor

Again, having problems embedding the official video so the real thing is linked in the title above. Where do you even begin to describe this? A choir chanting in German about fatalistic love, before Yves Tumor literally hammers it home later? All of that with a Bjork interlude? Where does one even begin to vision-board this sort of thing?

  

#2 - "House" by Charli XCX & John Cale

The toss-up between this and my eventual #1 was so difficult because they are both starkly beautiful in their own ways. Following up the phenomenon that was "Brat" should have been impossible, but this first glimpse into her soundtrack for the upcoming Wuthering Heights adaptation was - somehow - even better. "House" is, largely thanks to the hauntingly beautiful vocal performance from Cale, the most eye-opening and startling song of the year.

#1 - "EURO-COUNTRY" by CMAT

Where "House" sought to unsettle and disturb with its sonic production, in the end it was the startling poetry of this that won out for me. A go-to whenever feeling wistful, or uncertain, or nostalgic. The inclusion of themes about growing up during the Irish financial crisis of the 2000s, not to mention the complicated politics and sense of "selling out" that the Irish feel treading English waters... it's a lot for any album to tackle, let alone a single track. But for me what cemented it at #1 and one of the most poignant things I've ever heard was its sheer honesty: "I was twelve when the da's started killing themselves all around me," she mourns during the bridge, but she still ends hopeful - "I know it can be better if we hound it".

Thank you for reading! Even if it was just to have a quick skim and scan for anyone you already stan and are ready to berate me for placing too low, I greatly appreciate it. I'll probably return next year, provided I'm still kicking. Have a wonderful 2026! A World Cup, a Winter Olympics, and a Peruvian general election I am told. Try and soak it all in.