Some years, a handful of songs dominate our playlists, festival stages and social media trends. In others, the playing field feels a lot more level, greatness more evenly distributed. The last 12 months fall under the latter category. 2025’s output was varied and vital, whether coming in the form of CMAT’s empowering take on country, Lorde’s explorations of gender, the return of Steve Lacy or the excellence of Jim Legxacy. Here are the songs that made 2025 another mega year of music.
Rhian Daly, Music Editor
Words by: Alex Flood, Alex Rigotti, Ben Jolley, Andrew Trendell, Damian Jones, Daniel Peters, Gary Ryan, Georgia Evans, Hannah Mylrea, Hollie Geraghty, Ivana E. Morales, Jordan Bassett, Karen Gwee, Kayleigh Watson, Kyann-Sian Williams, Laura Molloy, Liberty Dunworth, Nick Levine, Poppy Burton, Rhian Daly, Rishi Shah, Tom Morgan and Ziwei Puah
50. Audrey Hobert – ‘Sex and the City’
Audrey Hobert never intended to become a musician growing up, but thank god that’s where life’s taken her. This year the New Yorker emerged as one of indie-pop’s smartest new voices, as evidenced on ‘Sex And The City’ – an addictive mix of meta moments, social observations and commentary on terrible trysts. RD
49. Chloe Qisha – ‘21st Century Cool Girl’
“Your next main pop girl” Chloe Qisha has crafted some of the most painfully relatable lyrics of 2025 in ’21st Century Cool Girl’. Over euphoric synth-pop instrumentation, she muses: “Now this could be hyperbole/ But I’m afraid I might die/ If you’re not holding me tight”. We’ve all had a crush like this – but it doesn’t always sound this good. HM
48. Tanner Adell – ‘Going Blonde’
On this evocative ballad, country’s fearless “buckle bunny” lets down her walls to explore her journey to find her birth mother, who’d passed away before they could meet. Armed with poignant lyrics, an angelic voice and a guitar, Tanner Adell shows the power of music to explore grief – and then to heal it. ZWP
47. Sombr – ‘12 to 12’
Sombr has a penchant for putting melancholic heartbreak to a funky melody and making it sound like an intoxicatingly good time. The dirty disco rock and deadly bassline of ‘12 To 12’ draw you in before the 20-year-old pulls off a spine-chilling falsetto. Don’t be too quick to judge the wunderkind by his viral sad boy ballads, because he’s much more dynamic than his hits suggest. ZWP
46. HUNTR/X – ‘Golden’
The pop excellence of ‘Golden’ from KPop Demon Hunters stems from its melodic potency, setting it apart in 2025’s sea of TikTok hits. Combine that with the vocal finesse of EJAE, Rei Ami and Audrey Nuna, and it becomes a cathartic anthem that slays demons, shatters records, seals the Honmoon and makes history. IEM
45. Debbii Dawson – ‘Chemical Reaction’
Imagine a dreamy, glittery country-disco song made to soundtrack an old-school romantic Western movie and you’ll get Debbii Dawson’s magnetic ‘Chemical Reaction’. The Giorgio Moroder-esque synths are hypnotising and the lyricism is evocative, but it’s the NME Cover star’s ethereal, otherworldly vocals that steal the show. ZWP
44. Black Country, New Road – ‘Besties’
The magical ‘Besties’ captures just about everything that makes Black Country, New Road so special. Virtuosic musicianship and heart-melting sentiments (“I wanna be anywhere other than this/ I wanna see my best friend waving at me”) combine in service of an endearing art pop fanfare that’s as emotionally generous as it is formally ambitious. TM
43. NMIXX – ‘Spinnin’ On It’
With ‘Spinnin’ On It’, NMIXX turn a toxic romance into a bittersweet pop-rock journey. Intensified by textured percussion and bass lines, the girl group’s frustrations boil into a quiet rage, but as the song winds on, the sextet declare their chaotic love won’t end. IEM
42. Wednesday – ‘Townies’
On ‘Townies’, a standout from the new Wednesday album ‘Bleeds’, frontwoman Karly Hartzman shows how excavating the pains of the past helps with closure. The things we’ve done to each other shouldn’t define the people we can be, as Hartzman remembers, exorcising ghosts through a redlined cut of cathartic grunge riffage. DP
41. Little Simz – ‘Thief’
With ‘Thief’, Little Simz comes out swinging. Driven by a propulsive rhythm that bores deep into your brain, as if it’s stealing some vital information Inception-style, she takes ruthless aim at a “person I’ve known my whole life coming like the devil in disguise.” An electrifying knock-out blow. TM
40. Kwn – ‘Talk You Through It’ (feat. FLO)
With this bedroom hymn, Kwn pulls her sapphic congregation deeper into her orbit. Tantalising piano and jittery 808s trace the curve of the east Londoner’s clenched jaw, while FLO’s honeyed harmonies coil around her in intimate tangles. Your every nerve will be thrumming long after the track ends. KSW
39. Wet Leg – ‘Mangetout’
A lost Strokes classic? A forgotten ‘Youth & Young Manhood’-era Kings Of Leon banger? ‘Mangetout’ could have passed for either. Except, of course, with its surreal imagery (seemingly inspired by Jack and the Beanstalk), saucy lyrics and sassy pay-off (“Get lost forever”), this indie anthem is quintessential Wet Leg. Chef’s kiss! JB
38. Steve Lacy – ‘Nice Shoes’
Perhaps it’s the tinny synth line and addictive breakbeat, or the stark lyrics, dotted with quotables and chanted like he’s a post-punk frontman: ‘Nice Shoes’ proves Steve Lacy doesn’t need much to make a great song. He’s called it a “trailer” for his next album, ‘Oh Yeah?’ – and anticipation is sky-high. KG
37. Sam Fender – ‘People Watching’
Easily the best song on the Mercury Prize winner’s third album, ‘People Watching’ is steeped in grief and anger – yet it bursts with emotional euphoria as Sam Fender cries “I people-watch on the way back home” over jangly guitars and a spine-tingling saxophone. A stadium-slayer for the ages. DJ
36. Water From Your Eyes – ‘Playing Classics’
An inventive and infectious slice of experimental pop, ‘Playing Classics’ is a welcome club-friendly gear-shift from Water From Your Eyes. A warped disco banger driven by four-to-the-floor beats and deadpan vocals, it conjures wondrous images of a dancefloor utopia: “There’s no, no real life, TV/ I just wanna dance, architecture no rent.” TM
35. Chappell Roan – ‘The Subway’
It’s so satisfying when a singer, especially someone as vocally powerful as Chappell Roan, lets completely loose – and on ‘The Subway’, she doesn’t hold anything back. The sombre build-up to the passionate, gut-wrenching two-minute outro of “She got away”, here is one for the books. ZWP
34. Sabrina Carpenter – ‘House Tour’
Pop’s reigning queen of innuendo sums up her M.O. on this effortlessly slinky funk bop, an extended come-on set to a sticky Janet Jackson-esque beat. When Sabrina Carpenter sings “I spent a little fortune on the waxed floors”, she isn’t complaining about the cost of polished mahogany. NL
33. Zara Larsson – ‘Midnight Sun’
‘Midnight Sun’, a rush of house and drum’n’bass with some of Zara Larsson’s best vocal runs, captures the feeling of looking around in the middle of a party, taking in the euphoria of the moment. And just like Larsson’s beloved “Swedish summer nights where the sun never sets”, we never want the moment, nor this song, to end. ZWP
32. Yungblud – ‘Hello Heaven, Hello’
Dominic Harrison’s dauntless nine-minute rock opera tightened his increasingly secure place at the head table of rock’n’roll. Gliding from strings-fuelled Britpop to sleazy Zeppelin flair, he’s never sounded so confident. Across this journey of “self-reclamation”, Harrison pivots from mainstream cult hero to one of Britain’s definitive rock stars. RS
31. Nourished By Time – ‘9 2 5’
Nourished By Time knows the struggles of making music while making a living. But Marcus Brown refuses to be pulled down by delusions of the ‘grindset’: “Oh brother, it’s a hateful life”, he sighs. Still, in this gloriously lo-fi house-pop anthem, he refuses to “let the dreamer die”. A model for us all. DP
30. Deftones – ‘Milk of the Madonna’
Breathless and ruthless in equal measure, Deftones ditch some of their typical haziness in search of a full-throttle piledriver of momentum. Imagery of thunder, wind, waves and the Holy Spirit find the Sacramento alt-metallers playing into the ’90s grunge spirit of The Smashing Pumpkins. Chino Moreno sums it up: “I’m on fire”. RS
29. Dijon – ‘Automatic’
There’s a compressed closeness to ‘Automatic’ – you can practically see the levels peaking as the myriad instruments (and Wu-Tang Clan freestyle sample) smash together; imagine Dijon’s lips smushed up against the microphone as he tries to convey “the lust degrees”. It’s searing intimacy, as brief and brilliant as a matchstick catching ablaze. KG
28. Florence Road – ‘Miss’
Florence Road introduced themselves as one of 2025’s most promising indie bands with a slew of infectious songs. ‘Miss’, though, put a spotlight on the emotional depth at the heart of their writing, singer Lily Aron bemoaning “ghosts in my kitchen” as her bandmates unleash a swirling, grungy storm around her. RD
27. Underscores – ‘Do It’
In her NME Cover story in March, Underscores teased a “fuck it, brain off” approach for her new music. Accordingly, her latest single ‘Do It’ wastes no time pummelling your pleasure centres. Whether she’s gleefully collapsing strains and eras of pop music or asserting her dominance through coy, I-dare-you lyrics, April Harper Grey is fully in control. KG
26. YHWH Nailgun – ‘Sickle Walk’
New York’s most visceral rockers create music that’s somehow pulverising yet transcendental. ‘Sickle Walk’ is a flash of punishing drums and aching guitars, while frontman Zack Borzone delivers his hyperminimalist poetry in pained, haunting moans: “Still shiver when I’m unclean”. Bone-chilling and boundary-pushing. AR
25. FKA Twigs – ‘Room Of Fools’
FKA Twigs apparently wrote this thumping rave sermon in a club bathroom. “This room of fools/ We make something together,” she proclaims with a growl in a swirl of elasticated beats. It’s as if you’re right there on an intimate dance floor with her, standing body-to-body in a crowd of strangers. HG
24. Haim – ‘Relationships’
Few can strike the balance between tongue-in-cheek wit and honest emotion better than HAIM, and ‘Relationships’ is no exception. Exploring the mixture of pain, frustration and empowerment that surges with heartbreak, the sister trio continued to prove they are undefeated in turning messy feelings into summer anthems. LD
23. Fontaines D.C. – ‘It’s Amazing To Be Young’
Just when you thought they’d left it all on the field with 2024’s career-high ‘Romance’, Dublin’s finest went the extra mile with this deluxe-edition bonus track. Inspired by guitarist Carlos O’Connell’s newborn child, ‘It’s Amazing To Be Young’ sighs with a pure, innocent euphoria and optimism. Enjoy these days while you can. AT
22. Fred Again.., Skepta, Plaqueboymax – ‘Victory Lap’
While no stranger to a collab, Fred Again..’s meeting of minds with grime king Skepta was a true grand slam. ‘Victory Lap’ revolves around a Doechii sample and a sludgy bassline, Skep’s relentless flow and droll quips amping the urgency up to 11. KW
21. Lily Allen – ‘Pussy Palace’
In which Lily Allen lays the smackdown on David Harbour, the ex-husband and Stranger Things actor widely believed to have inspired her monumental comeback album ‘West End Girl’. “Am I looking at a sex addict?” she wonders over serene synths, proving what happens when you cross a famously outspoken woman. What was he thinking? JB
20. Lady Gaga – ‘Abracadabra’
Lady Gaga reclaimed her pop throne in 2025 with the deliriously fun ‘Mayhem’, which marked a return to her uncompromising roots. Infectious chart hit ‘Abracadabra’ was her seventh record’s larger-than-life highlight. Full of huge synths and an earworm, delightfully nonsensical hook, this career-reigniting banger is a club-ready blast. BJ
19. JADE – ‘Plastic Box’
On this glorious happy-sad banger, new maximalist pop standard-bearer JADE taps into Robyn’s disco-desolation, torturing herself by comparing herself to a partner’s exes and wishing she could erase his relationship history like lines from an Etch-a-Sketch. Her emotive vocals sell the feeling of irrational thoughts turning to knives. GR
18. RAYE – ‘Where Is My Husband!’
Subtlety is the last thing on RAYE’s mind on this jazzy, soul-pop bop, whether she’s rapid-firing cheeky demands for “a diamond ring on my wedding finger” or showing off her formidable vocal chops with the help of a larger-than-life brass band. It’s theatrical and deliriously addictive. ZWP
17. Olivia Dean – ‘Man I Need’
There are some songs so catchy that, like a fizzing synapse fired from brain to body, they practically command a shimmy, leg-pop or booty shake. ‘Man I Need’, the chart-topping catalyst for Olivia Dean’s stunningly successful popstar reinvention, is one of those songs. Now, which way’s the dance floor? AF
16. Lorde – ‘Man Of The Year’
On ‘Man Of The Year’, Lorde rediscovers a euphoric version of herself free from gender roles. Riding her bike and “jerking off”, tender guitars morph into a grand, clangorous breakdown as Lorde emerges from the rubble: “Let’s hear it for the man of the year!” A pop masterpiece, equal parts breezy and brutal. AR
15. Florence + The Machine – ‘One Of The Greats’
Florence Welch has made an art out of fusing the mythic with the searingly personal. Over six sprawling minutes, she manages to interrogate her place as ‘One Of The Greats’ with the same wit and swagger that solidifies it: “Must be nice to be a man, and make boring music just because you can”. PB
14. Oklou – ‘Blade Bird’
In ‘Blade Bird’, Oklou unsheathes her heart. Glitchy acoustic guitars elevate this song, equally beautiful and despondent, about the pains of yearning. Having had to rethink her perceptions of love, the French singer-songwriter leans into stasis and learns that, though it’s a comfortable place to be, the hurt still remains. DP
13. Jim Legxacy – ‘Father’
Over pitched-up soul and jerky 808s, Jim Legxacy confronts the bruises of growing up without a dad. He flips longing into electricity, memory into motion, unravelling absence with a poet’s honesty and a producer’s chaotic spark. It’s grief made kinetic – a raw, riotous track that shows exactly why the UK underground rallies around him. KSW
12. Wolf Alice – ‘Bloom Baby Bloom’
“Do I have to make you sit on your hands? / Fucking baby, baby man,” Ellie Rowsell eye-rolls at the start of ‘Bloom Baby Bloom’. As those lines suggest, the song finds the Wolf Alice frontwoman in complete control, delivering a tour de force vocal performance with a band that sound more electrifying than ever. RD
11. Turnstile – ‘Look Out For Me’
‘Look Out For Me’ is a full-tilt Turnstile odyssey, fusing hardcore grit with electronic experimentation. Brendan Yates’ declaration that “my heart is hanging by a thread” slices through the chaos before swelling into ethereal synths. Dialogue from The Wire then slips in before it dissolves into Baltimore-club-inspired beats. It’s a decisive, exhilarating leap forward for the band. GE
10. Bad Bunny – ‘Baile Inolvidable’
Bad Bunny’s braggadocious bangers are only matched by his bleeding-heart balladry. ‘Baile Inolvidable’ is one of his most magnificent torch songs, the superstar mourning a vanquished romance and “unforgettable dance” as his handpicked salsa band – including young talent from Puerto Rico’s public music school, Escuela Libre de Música – plays to their heart’s content. KG
9. Pulp – ‘Spike Island’
“I exist to do this: shouting and pointing,” sings Jarvis Cocker with intent on this lead track from Pulp’s long-awaited comeback album ‘More’. He knows what he was put on this earth to do: charm and delight with the kind of nuanced, uber-entertaining art-pop that could have dropped in ’95 but we’re oh-so-lucky is happening now. AT
8. Addison Rae – ‘Headphones On’
“Life’s no fun through clear waters,” Addison Rae almost sighs on ‘Headphones On’, capturing both the collective yearning for hedonism in pop music in 2025 and the carefree mantra of her debut album in one distant, breathy vocal. With notes of dreamy ’90s R&B and Madonna’s ‘Ray Of Light’ era, pop’s brightest new star gives us plenty of reason to tune in. LM
7. Rosalía – ‘Reliquia’
Rosalía’s ambitious fourth album ‘Lux’ took her on a journey around the world, and on ‘Reliquia’, she takes that seriously – the lyrics recalling moments in Rome, Barcelona, Paris, Los Angeles, Milan, and the UK… and that’s just the first verse. Musically, it’s just as adventurous, its gorgeous opening string arrangement melting into gently thumping electronic production. RD
6. Hayley Williams – ‘True Believer’
Trading Paramore’s pop-rock for experimental solo endeavours, Hayley Williams makes an especially bold statement on ‘True Believer’. “The South will not rise again/ ‘Til it’s paid for every sin,” she opines atop eerie keys, referencing Billie Holiday’s ‘Strange Fruit’ and slicing deep into the historic rot that lies at the heart of her home. KW
5. Katseye – ‘Gnarly’
When Katseye debuted in 2024, they seemed to be following a soft, cutesy approach to girl group superstardom. In April, they unceremoniously booted all sweetness out of the picture with the attitude and divisive edge of ‘Gnarly’. “Hottie, hottie / Like a bag of Takis / I’m the shit,” they boast, taking us on a mind-bending journey set to speaker-shaking bass that asks the listener to decide if a list of items (“Boba tea”, “Tesla”, “Fried chicken”) is gnarly (positive) or gnarly (derogatory). The verdict on Katseye? Most definitely the former. RD
4. Amaarae – ‘S.M.O.’
You’ll be hard-pressed to find a more gleeful hook this year than “Scream and shout, slut me out!” Amaarae reaches a clubby, creative apotheosis on ‘S.M.O.’, a lithe and loving fusion of myriad inspirations and styles: Ghanaian highlife, zouk, gqom and more. It’s fresh and forward in more ways than one. Amaarae thrills with her lyrical versatility, sliding from heavenly sweet-talk (“I wanna meet the God that made you”) to cheeky wordplay (“Coke bottle from Sexico”) to naked vulnerability in the transcendental conclusion. Sexy, sweaty, stunning: ‘S.M.O.’ proves without a doubt that Amaarae is a ‘Black Star’. KG
3. CMAT – ‘Take A Sexy Picture Of Me’
Body shamers beware! Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson is coming for you. Her weapons of choice? Smooth country-pop, an ear for a killer hook and an arsenal of sarcastic come-ons. Sick of social media gremlins leaving negative comments about her appearance, the singer has reclaimed the narrative with her biggest hit to date. Since therapy’s too expensive, she suggests, perhaps they could take a saucy snap of her and make her “look 16”. Or 15. Or 14. Whatever may tickle their tragic fancy. The result incited a TikTok craze (the ‘Woke Macarena’ dance) and, hopefully, inspired the gremlins to log off. JB
2. Geese – ‘Taxes’
“Hype is really dumb,” mercurial Geese frontman Cameron Winter told NME when the New York five-piece appeared on The Cover in 2023. And yet this year’s five-star album ‘Getting Killed’ proved that the buzz around them was more than justified. Here was an experimental rock record that’s at once familiar and alien, summed up by ‘Taxes’, an inspired aural collage that merges stream-of-consciousness lyrics (“Doctor! Heal yourself!”) with a musical release that conjures pure euphoria. We’ve no idea what it’s about, but it’s a lot of fun coming up with your own interpretation. No wonder Nick Cave’s a fan. JB
1. PinkPantheress – ‘Illegal’
When PinkPantheress dropped her punchy, no-skips mixtape ‘Fancy That’ in May, it was no surprise she made ‘Illegal’ its bass-bumping headline act. It hits like a storm gale, distilling ’90s rave energy and smouldering dance-pop lyricism into a young, fun banger. Igniting with flares of pulsating synths borrowed from Underworld’s 1994 anthem ‘Dark & Long (Dark Train)’, it even nods in reverence to all the electronic music giants whose shoulders she’s partying on.
Pink has made headlines for standing by her sub-three-minute hits, and with this adrenaline-fuelled thrillride, she’s once again proved that’s all the time she needs. Combining winking storytelling smarts, artful sampling, cheeky culture-defining quips (those opening lines!) and dance floor-filling beats, ‘Illegal’ showed us just how big she could go. A true feat. HG
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