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

 

Edging closer to the big reveal, this batch sees the odd case of only 1 former SONG OF THE YEAR champion being included, meaning a new SOTY champ will be crowned:

41. CCF (I’m Gonna Stay With You) (Car Seat Headrest):

 indie rock at its current finest.

42. Godstained (Quadeca): 

though it’s beauty won’t be evident right away, repeated listens open it up.

43. Sweet Danger (Obongjayar): 

plays like a cross between a Spaghetti Western theme and an Afrobeat throwback, where Obongjayar leans into his villain era. (ROLLING STONE)

44. Enything (Quickly Quickly): 

a song clearly about longing, sung exactly on the appropriate cues.

45. Waterfall (Spellling): 

an all-out pop smackdown.

46. Ruminating (Lily Allen): 

the sadness smeared all over and that drawl.

47. This Conversation Is Missing Your Voice (Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke): 

I continue to amaze how Yorke can keep this level up even after all these decades.

48. Starburst (Danny Brown): 

the lead single from his latest album Stardust, listens like his strongest change up yet, incorporating heavy, pop-driven beats and a vibe closer to a rave than his more recent Quaranta, which found him laying it all out paired with more minimal beats. “Starburst” is punchy and powerful, with hyperpop overtones, Brown showing how high he can take his sound. It’s a workout of a song, driving into a thrashing of beats that are counteracted with a cool down, a spoken word portion read by Frost Children’s Angel Prost. (TREBLE)

49. Open Hearts (The Weeknd):

 a skyward synthpop hit à la ‘Blinding Lights’, ‘Save Your Tears’ and ‘Take My Breath’ (and was created with those tracks’ super pop producer/writer Max Martin), which is achieved with a carefully concocted blend of irresistible influences: Hi-NRG ecstasy, flashy trance, throbbing French electro. Oh, and it has a belter of a hook (this is the Weeknd, after all).  (TIMEOUT)

50. Manic! (JPEGMafia): 

from the jump, the production on “Manic!” pulls you into its whirlwind of sounds. It fuses chill textures with bursts of energy and even a few Middle Eastern-inspired melodies, resulting in something that feels both cinematic and volatile. (GETSOME MAGAZINE)

51. Full On (Perfume Genius): 

Hadreas says the demo for “Full On” was “piano and gibberish,” but that making it felt “very magical and very arrival-y.” Kinetic and windswept, “Full On” is as messy and wounded as anything else on any Perfume Genius album that precedes it, as Hadreas’ narrator watches quarterbacks cry while an unmarked boy goes “limp as a veil, thrown in a cruel fashion.” And yet, the lifespan of queerness holds a particular beauty here; even in violence, a boy is “laid up on the grass and nodding like a violet.” Hedonism wanes in the glow of the living. (PASTE)

52. Salute (Cardi B): 

a refined call to arms and of recognition.

53. Going Oblique (Le Reste): 

straddles cross-genres to great effect.

54. Picture Window (Japanese Breakfast): 

few artists can probe the multifaceted nature of grief like Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner. On “Picture Window,” she confronts its long shadow in the face of love, contrasting her anxiety-racked self with a more carefree partner who “only cries on Ferris wheels.” In a note to fans, Zauner wrote that this disconnect can be “both a relief and a struggle,” but it’s not something to run from. “Picture Window” is warm and inviting — indie rock mixed with cosmic country — even as our ghosts live among us. (ROLLING STONE)

55. It’s Time (Nourished By Time): 

proves than even within his monochromatic wall of sound, the variation of the music can raise its stakes very high.

56. Sunshine & Rain (Kali Uchis): 

“I do nothing in the dark ‘cause I believe in karma,” the Colombian American singer-songwriter confesses over organ and light sitar. Little else in “Sunshine & Rain…” develops the Hindu concept of cause and effect except perhaps how Kali Uchis will give lovers an evening’s pleasure, reciprocity be damned. Nevertheless, she admits we all need someone to love in a world that’s “deranged” (and how nice to see this word in an R&B song). Mixed as if through an incense haze, the song asserts itself as an internal monologue and a classic fuck-or-die plea, and Uchis’ whisper register never suggests cynicism. “Sunshine & Rain…” is both not enough and just enough. (PITCHFORK)

57. BMF (SZA): 

a to-the-point hip-shaker that sees the singer duel with some conflicting impulses towards a crush, with help from a skipping bassline and a gentle interpolation of the Brazilian bossa nova classic “The Girl from Ipanema.” It’s pure melodic magic. (BILLBOARD)

58. Party People (Rose Gray): 

grooves on the dancefloor magnificently.

59. Honeycomb (Panchiko): 

where the Panchiko sonic world truly opens up like a spring flower. Appropriately attracting bees for the “Honeycomb,” this single has a little pep in its step. It’s undeniably catchy, with video game-y choices throughout. It’s especially reminiscent of the game “Pikmin,” at least aesthetically. That chorus is divine; lyrically witty, the repeated chorus tackles dating in the modern world perfectly. Long paragraphs in text messages, while simultaneously feeling disconnected from your partner IRL, are everyday experiences for those of us in the dating pool (raises hand sadly). The song’s bridge has some “umph” to it, giving some more emotion to an otherwise flighty song. (GETSOME MAGAZINE)

60, High Tides (Saba feat. Maxx Moor): 

a mix bag for the year as far as LPs are concerned but here at least Saba mines interesting gold.

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

 

Another batch of remarkable tracks:

61. Ends Meet (Panda Bear): 

another very hooky, acid-washed banger with a throwback appeal. The tune and the chords, honestly, are, weirdly enough, giving La Bamba vibes. On some level, this tune does sound like your uncle getting funky at the family wedding. But it still goes. I love that somehow Noah on this record on multiple occasions is touching, even pole dancing, on every uncool third rail in music and somehow sounding amazing doing it. Also, the pure scuzzy noise solo on the bridge of this track is a surprising and, I think, very interesting addition to the song. It's like this fun edgy distraction to throw you off of the actually cheesy source material inspiring this track. (THE NEEDLE DROP)

62. So Far Ahead (Clipse feat Pharrell Williams): 

rifts between a gospel vibe and haunting horrorcore – a perfect fit for the duality Malice and Pusha bring to each track. (SOULINSTEREO)

63. KO (NLE The Great): 

diss track of the year?

64. Give Me Mercy (The Weeknd): 

reminding us all that, quietly, he can still break his heart in a track and awe us into paying attention.

65. Crumbling Empire (Sam Fender):

 isn’t just a standout because of its themes. It’s undeniably the album highlight, with arrangements that immediately pull you in before Fender’s signature emotion-fuelled grit hooks you for the long haul. However, its message becomes its anchor, with Fender addressing the cracks that the working-class community feel, within which people can work hard and tick all the boxes they’re supposed to but still get left behind by the system. (FAROUT MAGAZINE)

66. Wood (Taylor Swift): 

a fun, but not terribly memorable, ode to Travis Kelce's sexual prowess. It's provocative only when you compare it with the rest of Swift's work. On its own, you'd never notice the randy parts unless someone (me) told you the backstory. (SF GATE)

67. Lip Service (Jade): 

treads lightly but impact fully felt.

68. New David Bowie (Jim Legxacy): 

his usual mix and match production but now he is exploring way more.

69. Crashing (D4VD feat. Kali Uchis): 

bittersweet love fully explored.

70. Million Years (HAIM): 

tight, blissful harmonies.

 

 

71. Spire (Preservation & Gabe Nandez):

 old school done right.

72. Hotbox (Lil Nas X): 

campy and fun, packed with hilarious, to-the-point lines and cheeky bars. Specifically, the rapper talks about going out, flirting with guys, bringing them home, and all of the fun things that come with that. (RATINGS GAME MUSIC)

73. Nomonogamummy (Lily Allen): 

when pop stars try to incorporate reggae or dancehall, it’s usually bad but given the purpose of Allen’s new project, this shines and sears.

74. Don’t Remind Me (Amber Mark & Anderson .Paak):

 not quite the knockout return but here Amber grabs Paak for a sultry detour.

75. Ice In My OJ (Hayley Williams): 

more a boast but so nonchalantly done.

76. My Type (Sudan Archives): 

a full-on rap banger full of snapping percussion and futuristic synths. It's at this point that it's clear that she could take on just about any aspect of black music and wrestle it into any form she likes. (POPMATTERS)

77. Himalayan Yak Chew (Aesop Rock): 

his odd spoken word flow nails it.

78. Y Ya (Denzel Himself): 

mixing and mashing genres masterfully.

79. Shake It To The Max (Fly REMIX) (MOLIY, Shenseea, Skillibeng & Silent Addy): 

last October, Ghanaian-American Afrobeats singer MOLIY casually leaked a snippet of a dancehall-infused track she was working on with producer Silent Addy. She didn’t think much of it—until “Shake It to the Max” went viral, blowing up on TikTok. And that was before the remix with Shenseea and Skillibeng even dropped. What started as a throwaway snippet is now a full-blown posse cut: one of the funnest, sweatiest dancefloor anthems of the year—the true “song of the summer” for people who were actually outside. (COMPLEX)

80. Born Again (Lisa feat Doja Cat & Raye): 

the killer trio of Lisa, Doja Cat and Raye trade verses over a lithe synth funk beat that could have easily found place on an album by The Weeknd. The song percolates and surges in all the right places, benefiting greatly each time the vocal arrangement decides to add some spice. Curiously, Lisa’s portions of the song see her exclusively singing, ceding Born Again‘s brief rap verses to her collaborators. At times she feels like a guest in her own song, with Doja Cat absolutely walking away with the track on verse two as she lands the biggest and best punches. (THEBIASLIST)