TOP 60 SONGS OF 2025 SO FAR
The problem with these lists - for however many that get made - is that they'll forever be defined by what they don't have, rather than what they do. For as much time as it might take to curate and compile the best however many songs or albums or films or books, we'll always be left asking why these lists aren't validating enough for us specifically. I dread that response because it really is inevitable, be it The Quietus or Pitchfork, Sight & Sound or uhhh Barack Obama? He does those little lists, doesn't he?
Point being, this list will never be good enough unless I could reach into your mind and relay back unto you the songs you consider more "worthy" than mine - whether you've heard mine or not. Granted, I almost certainly missed out on some of your favorites, so recommendations are always appreciated. But first and foremost, these are to be treated as recommendations rather than competition to your own opinions on the matter. Your taste will differ, and that's because it's yours. So if you fax me with "Where's Jane Remover?" I don't know the answer to that question. New Jersey probably. But she's probably not here.
Also, I finished this list order about a week or so ago (early-ish July), meaning anything brand new as of writing this will be more likely to appear on the year-end list once I put that together. That means probably no Clipse. Sorry in advance, both to you and to Clipse.
My methodology is slightly different for these mid-year lists compared to my year-end ones. I tend to be more impulsive, a little more reactionary (but not in the weird way), and overall a bit messier by comparison. While this is a good means to predict how my year-end list might look, I also wouldn't be surprised if certain songs drastically rise or fall in the rankings between now and the next list. This is simply a means to gauge where my head is at, as well as how music's been doing for the past six months - even if it's just one tiny guy's opinion on the matter.
A playlist is provided at the end. If you have more money than you know what to do with, you can click this suspicious looking link and do what it suggests. Or you could also donate to the whales. Either or.
60. Teyana Taylor (feat. Issa Rae) - Bed of Roses
Taylor's status as an icon of the genre has yet to fully push past the years of uncertainty and inconsistency, but a slow and steady return with some track features and an upcoming album will hopefully keep her on that path. That SZA/Frank Ocean-style vocal intonation is honestly something I can't get enough of.
59. Mei Semones - I Can Do What I Want
Semones is as much mindful and mature as she is playful and raw, shifting tempos and intertwining influences that - despite being worn on her sleeve - feel difficult to imagine even capable of existing on that same sleeve. I know Backyardigans video essays are bringing Bossa Nova back to the forefront, but it's a difficult genre to tap into unless you're already doing something right.
58. Polo & Pan (feat. I.M. YONI) - Nenuphar
Having spent my entire life in a frigid Boreal Forest has made me yearn for even just the aesthetic of warmth.
57. Sunflower Bean - Nothing Romantic
Maybe Glam Rock is the more apt descriptor? Some genres are simply less cool to recreate in the present moment, and those who do tend to be insufferably lame. Some might make that claim for Sunflower Bean, but what I like about their take on things is that they sound less like their influences directly and more like some hypothetical competition for them. Broader genre tropes but without feeling so directly indebted to the path that's already been paved.
56. Molly Nilsson - Il peggior bar di Caracas
Cold, minimal, and distant - like a party happening down the road from where you're dancing. Nilsson's voice will never not be an acquired taste, but I love how it gets buried within the mix without feeling lost or unnoticeable. At that point, it just feels like another part to that liminal atmosphere that more minimal synthpop does so well.
55. Username (feat. Pax) - Step Back
Footwork is having a killer year thus far, lying somewhere between the future of clubbing and the deconstruction of it altogether. Various internet scenes have attempted to co-opt it, but I'd argue there's a real distinction between the genre as designed for the floor and as it gets mirrored by those who'll drop it in three years' time once they decide post-rock is more "prestigious".
54. Night Tapes - Pacifico
Inevitable Magdalena Bay comparisons aside, the long-awaited debut album of Night Tapes after six long years is almost certainly going to garner a similar level of hype followed by the most obnoxious fanbase known to mankind. I actually consider these guys more consistent than their peers if only because the mood of those other groups supersedes the melodies, which tend to get buried or go unresolved. Here, the hooks take precedence and the details set the stage.
53. Swans - The Healers
Yes, many of us have a deep desire to discard Swans for the actions of Michael Gira or even just the eventual cringe we feel at anything we enjoyed so many years ago. We all draw a line somewhere, and as much as I still pray for the alleged bad people I know of to stop making music I enjoy, there are honestly so few bands who can create anxiety out of structuring like these guys.
52. The Convenience - Dub Vultures
Jumping around guitar riffs like it's the easiest thing in the world, operating super impressively in a genre that disguises that talent in more slacker aesthetics. As if they don't really care if you aren't noticing, but they're willing to crush it for those who care.
51. John Michel & Anthony James (feat. KidTokio) - ONEWAY
On an album defined by its sampling, this is my choice for the most natural and exciting combination. I may not be familiar with KidTokio, but the energy he brings on his feature is as good as, if not even better than, the headliner in Michel (who also delivers one of his best verses on the whole record.)
50. Dead Gowns - Wet Dog
In great company as an indie rock artist balancing the ethereal with raw imperfections and vulnerability. To my knowledge, this is her debut LP (certainly her breakout release, with an EP a few years prior), which just makes me jealous that someone can come out of the gates swinging like this while I sit watching more talented people get recognized, albeit not as much as many of them really deserve. I'll give Dead Gowns one to two more albums until some publication pushes hard for their status in the modern indie canon - whatever that means.
49. Chaos in the CBD (feat. Saucy Lady) - Tears
Of all the retro-throwbacks you'll get, this might be the least expected of the bunch - and from the strangest of sources. To my knowledge, Chaos in the CBD mostly does Balearic Beat stuff (again with the bias toward warm-sounding genres from a person in a cold climate), so to lean so hard into this synthy 90's RnB sound with the help of... Saucy Lady?... the fact it worked out so well is kind of a miracle.
48. Khadija Al Hanafi - Rocks
The previous Footwork entry I described as being closer to the clubs, whereas this one feels much more appropriate for night-time driving. I'd even go so far as to say it's an essential for any playlist dabbling in that area, at least if you're looking for mood-setters. I described Michal Wolski's "Elastic" in similar terms two years ago, though they couldn't be more different in every other regard.
47. Quade - See Unit
Nervous, quiet, occasionally screeching post-rock closer to the avant-garde side of things. Peaceful when it wants to be, crazed when it can no longer help it.
46. Men I Trust - All My Candles
Their prettiest melody, and a fit for a rarer side of Men I Trust that seems to make the most of the smallest moments. This one's practically "tiny" enough to serve as an interlude, yet it's the one that resonates with me the most.
45. The Moonlandingz - The Sign of a Man
Lias Saoudi and co. were early figures in what would more broadly be known somewhere down the line as the Windmill Scene, and while other related artists have since surpassed them in popularity (albeit a very obnoxious form of popularity), you'll still find life in their predecessors. Case in point: Not just 'The Sign of a Man' with its Glam/Hi-NRG leanings, but also that this isn't even the only Saoudi project featured on this list. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there.
44. Junk Drawer - Pell Mell
Jangly beyond belief from this intricate, deadpan indie rock/post-punk band following up their debut LP from COVID's first full month (April, 2020). They did have an EP in-between however, which is how I found out about them. Super glad I remembered them too, since - despite a small-ish output in the decade since they formed - they fill the same niche that many bands try for, but few nail. Slightly slacker in tone, but never bored. Ought and whatnot.
43. Fiona Apple - Pretrial (Let Her Go Home)
Maybe Apple resonates a kind of theater-kid energy in the general assumption of her work, but few theater kids are capable of bitterness this stark. Impossible to appreciate without confronting the realities expressed while still prioritizing a more poetic observation over didactic, condescending pleading. Say what you will about her (Look at you, Fantano...), she won't let blunt revelations end any chance for interpretation or nuance.
42. Cesar y su Jardin - Festin Metafisico
You have to appreciate the artists who seem to come from nowhere fully-realized. This group may have had an EP from about ten months prior to this record's release, but any buzz must have kept fairly local - that, or maybe it just evaded me personally. While I had to cut Natalia Lafourcade from the list last minute (no disrespect to the album in question, which I do very much like), this track has a lot of the same appeal for me. Lush, lively, and beautiful.
41. Erika de Casier - Delusional
Don't tell my peers - most of whom have been stans of sorts from early on - but I wasn't entirely won over by de Casier up to this point. My leanings were more with the Kelela's and the Ravyn Lenae's of the world. Maybe I jumped the gun, or perhaps her veering toward more downtempo/trip hop aesthetics is what she needed to win me over. The melodies resolve a little cleaner, the atmosphere is a bit hazier, and those horsey tape effects on my chosen track 'Delusional' turn it into a good mixing option for those of us who still use 'Since I Left You' for everything.
40. Jim Ghedi - Sheaf & Feld
I do NOT remember Ghedi being this intense back on 'A Hymn for Ancient Land' seven years ago. That was my last time spent with the guy prior to this record, barring some glimpses from afar that gave very little indication of what he would become. This is a bizarre track off a bizarre album, turning folk tunes into these surreal and even apocalyptic soundscapes. A massive, if not terrifying, evolution.
39. Slikback - Data
Slikback's been making waves for a while now as a co-founder of the 'Hakuna Kulala' label, specializing in minimal, sometimes industrial electronic music (Gqom and whatnot) as their reputation grew as a darling amidst that scene. Since then, the guy has been remarkably prolific and a continued force for those of us seeking panic attack soundtracks. 'Data' might be among his most hectic, already starting on a tense note before eventually swarming the listener completely. Sometimes, the best music is the kind that's out to get us.
38. Miley Cyrus - Easy Lover
Not like Cyrus hasn't always been a more than capable vocalist, or even one with some great moments over the years ('Plastic Hearts' was a lot of fun, and I'll always stick up for the unfairly reviled 'Dead Petz'), but... c'mon. Those of us who aren't dedicated popheads were gonna call fluke and expect her to wallow in stable mediocrity for the long-term. Instead, she goes full extravagant and brings something that's as dedicated to its influences as it is meeting the present moment in its aesthetics. The rhyming might be a little too on-the-nose, but you can't claim she doesn't sell it.
37. Clipping. (feat. Cartel Madras) - Mirrorshades pt. 2
Clipping. might just be at their best when disguising their abstractions behind less upfront atmospheres. From 'Summertime' to 'Shooter', they occasionally revel in the thought of sounding just a little off without giving the game away entirely. 'Mirrorshades pt. 2' is another fantastic example, not to mention one that the feature Cartel Madras absolutely crushes. Yet somehow, I hadn't noticed it's been five years between their last album and this one. Daveed Diggs will spend half a decade doing kids movie soundtracks and then come back to industrial hip house aesthetics - I honestly kind of respect it.
36. The Weeknd (feat. Justice) - Wake Me Up
So... no more The Weeknd, huh? At least not under that name. From early mixtapes to Super Bowls, it's easy to get sentimental even about his lesser moments since he still managed to keep the whole thing tied to this strange cultivated mythos of his - ultraviolent, melancholic, hedonistic, in fear of death yet always on the brink. This track is the opener of an album culminating that vision, and it has to be his most overt send-up to Michael Jackson considering all those earlier comparisons. Conveys a real feeling of finality and importance without losing its eventual groove. Justice needs to do more production for pop artists.
35. Perfume Genius (feat. Aldous Harding) - No Front Teeth
Not one of Perfume Genius's finest albums (in my conventional opinion), though this would have to make the cut for one of his essential songs. It helps to have Aldous Harding on-board, indie chameleon genius that she is, giving a perfect balance between vibrancy and tenderness.
34. Nourished by Time - 9 2 5
Nourished by Time is promising that his upcoming album will be his strongest yet, which is a great sign for one of modern music's coolest breakout artists. This guy really knows the meaning of the intimate anthemic - I'd almost call him a practitioner of "Bedroom House" but I just know saying something like that unironically would get me eaten alive by one of the six people who chose to read this section instead of skipping to number one in hopes of feeling validated. In fact, Nourished by Time's sound remains so fresh and so effortless that I'll probably be calling him a New Artist until the end of time.
33. Lou-Adriane Cassidy - Alepok
Just because the people at the Polaris Music Prize ghosted my email requesting to be a valued jury member doesn't mean I can't still be invested in what I'll call "Polaris-core". And yes, Cassidy made the shortlist this year, so I can continue to begrudgingly appreciate that the people Polaris prefer to vote on these albums have their finger to the pulse of the provinces better than I probably do. But even if you look at that description and think this might sound limp or aimless, I can at least assure you that this is one of the brighter pop songs to drop thus far this year. Infectious, almost new wave type energy, something I tend to appreciate in a very Patrick Bateman-esque way.
32. Richard Dawson - Gondola
I might just be indebted to Dawson since he lit up my world back in 2017 with 'Peasant'. The guy always finds ways to impress me, much in the same way the generations before me fell over at the very thought of Neil Young. By most accounts, Dawson's newest album is far from his most impressive, but dammit if it doesn't scratch the same itch few others could even dare to try. I like that in spite of all his weirdo tricks and quirks, he still manages to have one of the most emotive and sincerest-sounding voices in the whole folk scene, at least as far as I've explored it.
31. Avalon Emerson (feat. Storm Queen) - On It Goes
It must be a requirement for great dance music to be the tiniest bit annoying. House music is practically just melodic pestering - that's a big part of why I love it. If this song initially pisses you off, it'll be for the same reason it might later get you hooked. The more I revisit, the more bizarre details I find buried in the mix, almost like having a proper system to play it means each corner of the room would get its own separate experience with how spacious the whole thing feels. Hopefully this song is a promise of things to come for the already very talented Avalon Emerson.