top of page
Search

Top 50 Songs of 2025

  • Writer: Andrew Doucette
    Andrew Doucette
  • 1 hour ago
  • 19 min read
ree


Is this song that objectively great? Probably not, but I do enjoy it quite a bit! It’s kind of nice to hear a banger where he explicitly talks about how he has a new chain that says, “Fuck ICE”. And I can’t think of a better phrase right now than fuck ICE! 


49. Sammy Virji - "Dis Badman" (Feat. Champion & Irah)


This is one of the wubbier and upbeat tracks on Virji’s album from this year, but I could really put a number of tracks here. Just in the last few weeks, this is the one that’s ended up standing out a bit more than the others. I also picked it because I had taken a video of Virji playing it at Lollapalooza to see what it was, as it was unreleased at the time, so finally seeing it released was nice!



It feels a bit weird to have a Mac Miller song on a list of best music of 2025, but oh well. “Stoned” is one of the tracks on Balloonerism that combines his hip-hop and melodic sensibilities really well, such as how his storytelling verse compares to the catchy bassline of the hook. And maybe the most important thing is that it’s not too heavy to listen to knowing that he’s gone. 



While I didn’t love the Venturing album as a whole enough to have it on my Top 50 project list, the opener “Play My Guitar” stood out enough to make my songs list! I just really appreciated the difference in sound from everything else she’s done this year and how earnest the subject matter of the track is.



It’s really cool to hear Earl do a more sing-song-y melody on this song. He’s always been a bit of a rapper’s rapper, so hearing him do something kind of different is nice. Also, hearing him in a positive place after all these years of darkness is wonderful! As usual though, it’s the writing that really drives it home. No one else could write a line like, “The struggle not a team sport. You’re not afforded recourse, of course I had to reroute,” and have it hit this hard.




The whole album is awesome, but this is the song that’s always stood out to me! It sounds like someone who only listened to old Prince demos, but also is able to put his own spin on the sound to make it unique to himself. It’s a song that simultaneously is weird enough to appeal to people to hate pop music, but is also sticky enough that if a pop fan heard it, they might love it too!



This is the most “Paramore” sounding song on the album, but I also just love how open she is with her mental health on here. The entire track is about how she loves and is dependent on her antidepressant, mirtazapine, so much so that the majority of the chorus is, “Mirtazapine, you make me eat, you make me sleep.” I’m glad we ended up getting another Hayley Williams solo album, especially since it sounds like Paramore might be on another short hiatus. 



I really like how this combines both the jam-band aspect and the alt-country aspect of Daniel Donato! It’s also just a nice phrase to have a song about, seeing the sunshine in the rain. The song jams, not much more to say about it. 



I’ve had this song stuck in my head since Fraxiom did it in Madison over two years ago, so I’m glad it’s finally out now! It’s not the most complex song that Food House has ever released, but it’s been my favorite song from them this year.



This song came out not long after their explosive Bonnaroo set that kicked off the festival, and it was the perfect track to be the single for their debut album! The song shows off their knack for accessible metal riffs, but also the singer’s ability to be inviting while consistently yelling. I’m not sure where the band will go from here, but I’m excited to see!



40. Quadeca - "Forgone"


I’m not sure if this is my favorite Quadeca song, but it might be his best song. Sure, it’s a bit melodramatic, but the piano melody that drives the track is so incredibly gorgeous that it goes beyond description! As always, Quadeca’s vocals are good, but it’s his skills as a producer and arranger that make Quadeca someone to look out for. 



Forget who made the song and all the discourse about how Addison Rae became popular, and listen to this extremely catchy trip-hop influenced pop song about using music as an escape. Give it a fair shot and tell me it’s not great!


38. Inzo & Blookah - "Go Mode" (Feat. DijahSB)


There’s really not that much to this song, I just ended up listening to it a lot this year! I think it’s because it exists on the line between electronic banger, but also chill enough to be listened to in everyday life. I also really love the breakdown on the second chorus and how it changes the entire groove of the song. 



Half of this song is just a buildup with a conversation between two people talking about dream spaces and what is reality, but I’ve come to love the long introduction. The other half of the song is an awesome, psychedelic drop that really works with the monologue. It’s not for everyone, but I listened to it a lot this year!


36. Danny Brown - "Copycats" (Feat. Underscores)

I really didn’t think it was going to be this song that stood out the most of the album, but the chorus is so catchy that I had no choice! I’ve been walking around going, “Rap star, pop star, rock star, gimmie that gimmie that,” in my head for the last two months. Of course, Danny Brown delivers on the verses in a way only he can. This is honestly a good introduction to where both artists are in 2025, so maybe I should be recommending this more often!



35. Eptic - “Light Up” (Feat. LYNY)


Gotta love an EDM banger that goes, “Wawawawa waa waa” after some nice LYNY bass. It really just speaks to the emotional core of what dubstep can be with such meaningful lyrics.



I’m not sure what it is, but this song has been on repeat ever since it came out! Nudy’s flow is always tight, but I think it’s something about the string-laiden beat and the interpolation of “Throw Some D’s” in the chorus. It’s probably one of the only songs in this Atlanta trap subgenre that can be described as “elegant”. 


33. Little Simz - "Blood" (Feat. Wretch 32 & Cashh)


This is such a cool track! The song shows a made up sibling conversation between Wretch 32 and Simz that evolves over the course of three verses. They talk about money issues, their tumultuous childhood, and caring for their aging mother. On top of all that, the song is actually enjoyable to listen to as well, which is kind of mindblowing! 



I don’t think I’ve seen a single movie or tv show that Naomi Scott is in, but she’s starred in quite a few huge movies; including the Aladdin live-action remake in 2019 and the horror blockbuster Smile 2. After seeing her at Lollapalooza, I am a fan of her music though! There’s hopefully an album coming sooner rather than later, but all the singles she’s put out are at least good, with “Cherry” being the clear highlight! It’s an infectious pop track with clear 2000s R&B influence. It exists in the same vein as Blood Orange and things he’s produced over the past decade, so it’s no surprise that she’s a huge fan of his. I hope the album ends up being as good as this single leads me to believe! 



“Illegal” was the hit, and for obvious reasons, but I’ve always preferred the lead single to the mixtape. While I do like her garage-tinged pop, it was cool to hear her over a more straightforward four-on-the-floor dance track. The sound of the bass is also just so infectious!



30. Jigitz - "pressure"


I’m a sucker for these semi-emotional EDM songs that have a mantra-like chorus. All the words of the song are just repeating, “All I wanna do, is make it out alive,” over and over. The production is fairly simple and builds nicely as well, which makes it a perfect listen for any time or mood. This is a great track that you don’t even need to be an electronic music fan to enjoy!



It was a tight battle between this song and “Everything is Peaceful Love”, but I think the Wisconsinite in me is biased since he talks about living in Wisconsin on this song. The entire second verse is about how he feels about living in Wisconsin as someone in the music industry. And even outside of the Wisconsin bias, the song itself is stunningly gorgeous too!



The guitar-laiden beat is perfect for JPEGMAFIA’s new sound, and the energy is somehow even higher than his other bangers! The video is also probably the highest budget video that Peggy has ever done, so that’s a nice little addition to this already great track!



This was the lead single from Frost Children’s album this year, and even though the album itself was sick, the lead single is still my favorite track! This song combines both the indie-sleeze and the 2010-s dance music sides that Frost Children has had before into one package that is better than anything they’ve done previously! Frost Children has had some really great tracks and projects before, but this is the song that shows them stepping out of the shadows and truly finding their sound!



Not much to say about this one besides it’s a blistering, distorted, aggressive psych-rock track that’s way catchier than it has any right to be. I’m also making sure this song is one of the ones that gets the video popped up because the video is incredible! Gotta love a claymation, R-rated, intergalactic, Black market deal gone wrong music video!



25. Knock2 - "select@"


Hearing Knock2 try his hand at a drum and bass track was so cool! I guess it’s not necessarily the best track in the genre, but I love hearing his combination of dubstep and house into a nasty DnB track!



While “Victory Lap” was the biggest track from these two this year, “Back 2 Back” has always been a personal favorite! Skepta shows why he’s one of the most legendary UK rappers over this dark, grime-influenced beat from Fred. The song also shows Skepta rapping back and forth with his 20-year old radio freestyles, hence the title of the song. It’s been a while since we had a full Skepta album, hopefully we get one in the next year or two, especially if the production is this good!


23. Bad Bunny - "DtMF"


This really was Bad Bunny’s year. On an album that is dedicated to his home of Puerto Rico, this is easily the most emotional track. The song is all about appreciating people and places before they’re gone, with the title translating to “I should’ve taken more photos”. I feel like I might not be qualified to really break down this track, but I’m very glad that this song became a hit, because no matter if you understand the words or not, you can feel the emotion and care put into it.


22. MPH - "Raw"


This song is so unbelievably groovy! I understand why it didn’t make it onto MPH’s high concept album that came out this year, but this song could make any event into a dance party instantaneously! Between his albums last year and this year, along with a couple insane stand alone singles, MPH has made a name for himself in the UKG genre!



This appears to be the first taste from Raye’s upcoming album, and it sounds fantastic! It sounds even more jazz-oriented than her debut album, but it still sounds current and not like a complete copy. I hope the new album stylistically aligns with this single, because this is the perfect direction for her to go in!




Gotta love a song that’s at least partly about how awesome music is! Underscores has quietly had a pretty big year, but there were two main singles that seem to be leading up to her next album. While “Do It” has grown on me quite a bit, it’s still not “Music”. “Music” mashes up the 2000s-era pop and dance with Underscores’s experimentation and knack for a pop chorus. I also really like how the song transforms in the second half to a more dance-oriented track that shows off her production skills. It’s not my favorite thing she’s ever done, but this is a great lead up to what I hope is her upcoming album early next year!


19 .Griz - "Coast 2 Coast" (Feat. Flowdan)


This is one of the first examples of a song that I heard at a show, and had to actively seek it out for when it came out. Levity played it at their show in Madison that I went to, except it was played with the vocal of MPH’s “Funk Master” over it. While I do kind of prefer the mashup with “Funk Master” over this original vocal performance from Flowdan, this song is still an insane banger! It’s the perfect combination of trunk-rattling wubs and intricate percussion that drives the track. I can’t say I know a lot about Griz, but this track is pretty great!



Buffalo Nichols is keeping up the tradition of folk music not just being pleasant songs to have in the background, but powerful, protest music that makes the general public uncomfortable. The song cuts to the heart of what living in America as a Black man is like without any buffer. There is no dumbing down of anything, to the point where when I saw him do the song live, I saw people physically reacting to some of the lyrics. That’s an important part of folk music that doesn’t seem to get the credit or popularity anymore, but Buffalo Nichols is continuing that tradition.



This might be the most explicitly accessible song that Tyler’s ever made! The chorus is so infectious, and the instrumental switch from the verses to the chorus only makes it pop just that much more! Tyler’s singing still isn’t objectively great, but he’s made it palatable enough, especially for a song like this that doesn't need a great vocal performance. But of course, it’s the details in the song that make it more enjoyable that many other songs, a couple of them being the talkbox and synth lines. At this point, Tyler can do whatever he wants and almost certainly come out with something great!


16. Rosalía - "Berghain" (Feat. Björk & Yves Tumor)


Maybe in a few more months, another song from the album will be here, but the single still hits the hardest for me! Only Rosalía could combine a German opera, original verse in Spanish, the chorus being an orchestral choir, Björk singing about divine intervention, and Yves Tumor saying “I’ll fuck you till you love me” and still have it be great!




Ok, I know it starts suddenly, but that’s because the entire album transitions from one song to the next. Besides that though, “Open Hearts” is another perfect electro-pop song from The Weeknd! It’s such a simple instrumental that’s being propelled with this manic drum pattern, but it’s really The Weeknd’s vocal performance and melody that take this song to the next level! If you haven’t liked anything that The Weeknd has done recently, this isn’t exactly the song I would recommend, but if you have enjoyed his previous work this decade, “Open Hearts” is another notch on the belt!



This might’ve been my most played song the first half of the year! Of course, after having supposed to see them three times at Bonnaroo and actually ending up seeing them zero times, the song became a bit of a sour reminder of what could’ve been. It’ll also unfortunately always be a bit like that, as the full album came out Bonnaroo weekend, but this song is so good that it had to be here! I haven’t heard a straightforward rocker like this from them in quite a while! While I do love the large brass section on here, it really is the dirty guitar lick and earthy vocal performance that make this track!


13. JID - "Gz"


This could’ve easily been “Community” with Clipse, but I think people are underrating the story and impact behind this song. The track revolves around a story of JID’s car getting robbed outside of the Falcons stadium, but him forgiving the people who did it because he knows what it’s like to grow up in their circumstances. It’s a truly moving moment to be so in tune with your place in the world to have your car robbed and not immediately be angry at the people who robbed you, but instead angry at the system that consistently demonizes and disenfranchises Black youth so much that they have to act out to feel powerful. I don’t know if it’s his best track, but it’s yet another example of JID’s underrated storytelling ability!



I can’t believe Alabama Shakes didn’t capitalize off of putting out a single this good with a new album! It’s been close to a decade since we’ve gotten new music from the group, but it feels like they haven’t missed a step. Hopefully we finally do get a new album next year!


11. Clipse - "So Be It"


If this were the objective best song of the year list, this would definitely be “The Birds Don’t Sing” instead, but I do enjoy listening to “So Be It” more. “The Birds Don’t Sing” is so emotionally potent that I can’t listen to it over and over, whereas “So Be It” is nothing more than two incredible rappers over an incredible beat! Sometimes, there doesn’t need to be a plethora of different things going on for a song to be amazing, and this is the perfect example of that! Don’t think about it too hard, just listen to that reversed sample and the Thorton brothers proving why they’re two of the best to ever do it!




ree

I don’t know if this is the most gorgeous song that Ethel Cain’s ever made, but it’s up there! The subtle guitar playing being the only instrument during the first half works so perfectly with Ethel’s storytelling, but the slow addition of drums and banjo halfway through the song is one of my favorite moments of music all year! Aside from Ethel’s couple pop tracks, this is a perfect introduction to what kind of music she actually makes!




ree

Nia Archives started a new label this year called Up Ya Archives, and this song with Cheetah was the first thing released on the label! “Get Loose” was the best of a few fantastic jungle tunes from Nia Archives this year! I’d try to describe the track, but also, if you know what jungle music is and the song being called “Get Loose”, that gives a pretty idea! It’s hard to really explain jungle music if you haven’t heard it, but honestly, “Get Loose” is a pretty good track to start with!




ree

8. Wet Leg - "CPR"


While I did really appreciate Wet Leg’s sonic evolution with their second album this year, my favorite songs still ended up being the sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek rock bangers. Rhian’s vocal performance on the track is full of so much personality, and the little details from the instrumentalists that coincide with those personal details. The biggest example is when Rhian talks about getting the chills, there’s a creepy arpeggio in the background that’s clearly supposed to give the listener the chills. I hope Wet Leg continues to evolve, and even if we never get something like this again from them, I’m glad we still got a couple more of these tracks on Moisturizer! 




ree

7. Skrillex & ISOxo - "Fuze"


This is the first official collaboration between my two favorite active electronic artists, of course this had to be here! This song throws back to when Skrillex was at his peak popularity and was redefining what dubstep sounded like! The drop is so gigantic and heavy that it’s hard to sit still while listening to it! As usual though, the thing that separates these two from the rest of the pack is the melodies. There are quite a few producers that can make some mind-bending drops, but not many can also make a gorgeous melody that works both on a piano during the intro, and on a synth after the drop. Hopefully they finally put out more music together, because they have another five-ish unreleased songs they’ve teased!




ree

I can’t believe that this song hasn’t been around for at least a decade already. I know that’s the point of the song, to be nostalgic, but this sounds so much like a 2010s electronic hit that it’s a bit eerie. The song is about reminiscing on being a teenager and growing up in the internet age. Of course, there’s many specific details about Nina’s life that aren’t immediately relatable to me, a couple being dying my hair and buying skirts at Supre, but I can relate to hearing a song in a social media post and it changing my mindframe, and scoring particular parts of my childhood, or to having a cracked iPod Touch. And then, the sonics of the song itself sound straight out of 2010s house music, which makes the song hit even harder! Even the video is designed like a throwback to Youtube in between 2010 and 2015! If you grew up in this generation, “iPod Touch” is a perfect throwback to the best parts of middle school!




ree

5. LYNY - "Section"


I really wasn’t that hyped about this song the first time I heard it, but it ended up as my favorite electronic song of the year! The song is a masterclass in minimalism when it comes to dubstep. A lot of EDM tracks tend to rely on having every facet of the song being pumped up to astronomical proportions. In comparison, “Section” sounds like it only has a few different sounds. There are different parts of a drumkit (hi-hat, snare, shaker, etc), a deep bass, a riser, and the vocals. I love how it allows the listener to fill in the “missing” pieces in their head, if they want to. The song also samples the classic track “Satisfaction”, which is a nice childhood throwback to hearing it in the Just Dance videogame. LYNY has always known how to make the simple sound entertaining, and “Section” is the best example of his career so far!




ree

Even though Jane put out too many songs to count this year, it was the track she dropped on January 1st that stood the test of time! The production on here is still mindblowing after all these listens! When people talk about the overstimulation and dopamine crisis that the internet is giving us, this is the audio equivalent of that. There’s barely even enough space in the song for Jane to rap about “being Jesus in the moshpit”, let alone space to even try to process how to make something like this. Jane’s music was always boundary pushing, but this was the start of her taking it to another level!




ree

Even though this song comes from the worse of the two albums Goose dropped this year, it’s still my favorite track from them! Sure, it’s a bit corny and simple with the emotion, but for some reason, it works for me! The chorus of the song is, “Give it time. Go ahead and give it hell. Give it all you’ve got, or give it up for something else. It’s a revelation. It’s a hallelujah. It’s the nature of the spirit running through ya”. These lines aren’t exactly going to win any awards for creativity, but sometimes the important lines don’t need to be complicated. Instrumentally, the track is also fantastic, especially when it comes to the second half where they deliver a couple quality solos. This was definitely one of my comfort songs of 2025. 




ree

2. Geese - "Taxes"


I really thought this was going to be “Au Pays Du Cocaine”, but the extra three months with this single was just too much to overcome. It took all that time, or at least more than it should’ve, to realize how devastating the first lines of the song are, “I should burn in hell, but I don’t deserve this. Nobody deserves this.” It’s such a potent way to explain whatever hardships he’s going through in life and how it’s affecting him while simultaneously leaving whatever the specific thing or things are up to the listener. The song is just as iconic instrumentally as well, with the sonic shift halfway through the song being one of my favorite musical moments of 2025! I know everyone is saying this, but Geese really are one of the best newer names in rock music!




ree

Let’s do something different here. Yes, the song’s melody, instrumentation, and vocal performance are fantastic, but it really is the writing here that makes it my favorite song of 2025! So instead of talking about it normally, let’s break down five of my favorite lines in the song!


  • “I can barely tell the cattle roads from the chemtrails of our past lives”


Honestly, I just really like the way this line sounds. The dichotomy of something so physical of cattle roads being compared to something as existential and metaphorical as the chemtrails of people’s lives is a wild combination I can’t believe someone thought of. 


  • “I learned that time is not my friend or my foe, more like one of the guys from work”


This is the most clever way I’ve ever heard to say, “It is what it is.” Not everything has to have this ulterior motive and otherworldly meaning, some things just are because they are, and that’s ok


  • “Home was close, death was hard, friends are both. You can't put a sticker price on hurt”


“You can’t put a sticker price on hurt,” is such an honest line for how people feel pain. There’s no telling how much pain people are in when they say they are hurting, nor is there any way to avoid it when something does end up hurting. It demands to be felt. And having the line of how friends are both close and hard is such a cool thing to say!


  • “Perhaps the love we had was not what made the globe turn. But more akin, in fact, to what made the cows lay down”


There’s obviously multiple ways to interpret this lyric, but I’ve tended to look at it a bit more nihilistically, or biologically. I interpret it as that even though love can feel like this otherworldly thing that is all-encompassing, it’s actually the most natural thing that we do as humans. We do it because our species would not survive without it. If we as humans want to survive, we need to love each other and reproduce. If cows are tired and content, they lay down because that’s what their biology tells them to do. That’s not to say that love isn’t a wonderful thing that we all need as humans to survive. In fact, just watch the new show Pluribus, and see how long Carol ends up lasting without love and connection in her life (no spoilers). It’s just that love is also this very human and evolutionary thing that we do. 


  • “Oh, the simple joy. Oh, the simpler loneliness”


And of course, I need to mention the chorus. This isn’t the only  version of it, but it breaks the chorus down the most essential parts. Joy is a fairly simple thing. We can go hang out with friends or family, try a new restaurant, go see a concert, watch the sunset, hang out with your pet, or any number of infinite things that can bring us joy. But also, at the end of the day, what’s simpler is being lonely and sitting at home. Hearing that put so succinctly in the chorus of such a thought provoking song really makes it hit that much harder!




Playlist:



 
 
 

Comments

Post: Blog2_Post

©2020 by Filling Space. Proudly created with Wix.com

bottom of page