THE TOP 100 SONG OF 2025 (PART ONE)...

 

Another great year for music and here are the songs I cheered on the loudest:

81. Outside (Cardi B): 

Cardi jumps on a sample of the classic "Triggaman" beat and talks shit about hooking up with whoever she wants. If you wanted, you could hear this whole song as Cardi taunting her ex: "Good for nothing, low-down dirty dogs, I'm convinced/ Next time you see your mama, tell her how she raised a bitch." But you don't have to be invested in celebrity-relationship narratives to have fun hearing Cardi in larger-than-life snarl mode. (STEREOGUM)

82. Vivid Light (Blood Orange): 

serene and then breaks into spoken word before being enveloped into serenity again.

83. Change The Channel (Clipping.): 

a breakneck fast-rap workout about a tense situation. Daveed Diggs, who just appeared in the Oscar contender Nickel Boys, really goes crazy over breakbeat techno that sounds like it was made to soundtrack a nightclub shootout in a '90s action movie. (STEREOGUM)

84. Ruin The Friendship (Taylor Swift): 

like most, I presumed this was going to be about some late girlfriend fallout but, instead, Swift weaves a stunning tale of what could have been coupled with wise quips.

85. Unoriginal (Magdalena Bay): 

the duo is so greatly in sync that they can just casually toss out a gem like this in an off year.

86. 5 Dollar Pony Rides (Mac Miller):

 if this was indeed the last time we will hear from Miller then he definitely signed off strong.

87. Blue Corvette (Borns): 

snags a great vibe.

88. Underpressure! (Gallant feat Wooyoung): 

slick and soulful.

89. Nettles (Ethel Cain): 

opens with a careful, eerie, continuous base sound with different instruments and melodies interweaving. Each new addition adds a new atmosphere and feeling, the listener having gone on an emotional journey before the lyrics have even started. Strings and violins create a sense of a new, scared confrontation with hope as her love for Willoughby gives her respite from the horrors of her family life. Just as we, the listeners, grasp at this inkling of hope, it deflates slightly as a sombre guitar melody is introduced. (THEMANCHESTER REVIEW)

90. Tonight (PinkPantheress): 

sticks with her usual brief motif but works in so much in-between.

 

91. The Bog Body (Viagra Boys): 

rock is still alive and kicking.

92. Flood (Little Simz feat. Obongjay & Moonchild Sanelly): 

over a pared-back post-punk beat, Simz details her life’s “genius plan”, namely “being free as I can”. The first half is spent detailing the roadblocks she’s faced in her quest, marching through them like a Marvel hero. Then, as if throwing her arm round a young apprentice’s shoulder as she walks, she lays out her six-point plan for greatness with koans of wisdom such as: “Never eat with the hyenas / ‘Cause they will look at you as bones.” If her rap career ever falters – and it looks exceedingly unlikely to on this form – she could write a brilliant leadership training book. (GUARDIAN)

93. Where You Taking My Baby? (BC Camplight): 

poignant to the point of touching.

94. Love On The Big Screen (Animal Collective):

 the lyrics tell a story beyond the simplistic nature of love, but rather what happens after the “honeymoon phase” in a relationship. The repetition of the chorus contrasted with the curious nature of the verses creates a jarringly honest yet joyful exploration of love. (ATWOOD MAGAZINE)

95. Mandingo (Wu-Tang Clan): 

we've heard this prototype before but it's still so popping!

96. Digital Emotional (Kilo Kish): 

Kish knows how to engage in these quirky ideas well.

97. Walk Home (Bon Iver): 

simple but yet so extremely intricate.

98. Abracadabra (Lady Gaga):

 there’s a lot of magic on “Abracadabra”: the way the synthesizers fade in and out like a slow-strobing disco light on a foggy dance floor, the sweeping, syncopated “A-braca-da-braaaa” hook, and of course the skipping way she declares “Feel the beat under your feet, the floor’s on fiiire.” The song was an immediate hit and 2025’s most inescapable earworm anthem thanks to the way she and her sorceress’ apprentices assembled a perfect Lady Gaga pop song — one that nods to early hits like “Just Dance” and “Bad Romance” right on the edge of glory while feeling totally of her own brand-new moment. (ROLLING STONE)

99. RIP KP (King Princess): 

a bit more poppier than we're used to but still gold.

100. Awkward Backward (Twin Shadow): 

released on an album towards the end of a year that was clearly meant to be quiet but he channels the subtle disappointments so well.