Favorite Songs of 2025

Chappell Roan channels her campy flair into an energetic country bop about women loving women, with an infectious violin hook to boot. What remains to be seen is whether she'll carry this energy into her next album cycle - I for one would love to see her hone this style more!

Iglooghost's "Bronze Claw Iso" EP is his foray into "Crane Muzik," a mysterious movement borne out of the bizarre and gritty culture of construction and crane operation. With acid bass, metallic percussion, and hazy vocals about spiraling into a disassociated rage, you can almost smell the mud and rust.

Pendulum's triumphant return features several songs that build on the metal sound they flirted with on their last LP. This track, a collaboration with AWOLNATION, is an explosive ballad about moving forward after surviving abuse, juxtaposing intense guitar riffs with gorgeous harmonization.

Of Magdalena Bay's many singles this year, this one was my favorite: a groovy, crunchy tune with dreamy synths and gorgeous vocal work. Humans may be flawed, but they occasionally make some really good music.

Hypnotic and sensual, FKA twigs' "Girl Feels Good" blends her avant-pop style with trip-hop. The filtered synth lead and airy production, combined with her lyrics celebrating femininity, evoke a head-turning confidence that shines in the darkest night.

"Release Me" originally debuted as a part of death's dynamic shroud's subscription-based NUWRLD Mixtape Club before getting a public release on their Lunar Curtain compilation series. And I'm glad it did - pounding bass, glamourous synths, and an infectious hook make this one of the lesser-known treasures in vaporwave released this year.

In this underscores single, a provocative machine gun bass sets the stage for her hyperpop groove that compares infatuation to a really catchy earworm. If this is what love sounds like, I'd want it on repeat too!

On an album full of fantastic electronic bangers reminiscent of 2010's-era complextro, Ninajirachi's "Sing Good" is comparatively stripped-back and intimate, documenting her earliest memories of listening to music and attempting to make her own. It's an endearing ditty that's sure to speak to any artist that can't help but create.

Beneath the absurdity of food house's production lies some profound commentary on feeling out of place in niche music communities and the anxiety that drives overthinking on it. I don't have answers for any of Fraxiom's problems, but I'm glad she made a banger track out of them.

This year Giant Claw released "Decadent Stress Chamber," an LP full of oddities from his myriad production sessions that resulted in some fantastic mixtapes from death's dynamic shroud over the past couple of years. This collection of tracks, however, represent his most meticulously crafted and polished, showcasing his wide array of influences and production techniques: sampled pop vocal hooks, nostalgic sound design, and a strong dose of distortion where needed. While the entire album warrants a full listen, "No Life" to me represents the best of it, taking its listeners on a provocative journey through PS2-style vaporwave ambience, four-on-the-floor house, and a neck-breaking metal climax. If you've never listened to Giant Claw, I can't think of a better track to hear first.