i am indeed aiming to make this a recurrent thing for the mid-term future. and lo and behold, 2025 was easily the one where i listened to the most amount of new music, ever. after looking at last year's list, i got a little embarrassed at the sheer lack of female-led projects and made real effort to correct it for last year. i hope the fruits of my actions are clear and abundant as you make your way down my painstakingly long list.
i'll repeat again that most of the songs featured here are not from 2025, just new songs i was exposed to this year.
10. "Clusterhug" by I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME (2020 / indie rock)
as it happens most often, it was later down the line that i found out more about the artist in question - whose name immediately sparked my curiosity. i've listened to the original version of the song a couple of times in preparation for this, and i think it's a wonderful first step into its final version. sans the boosted bass and the crass theatricality, i do consider the 2020 version to be better in every way. it's such a beautifully presented track, catching your attention from the very beginning of the dissonant synths, booming intro and the smack of that opening line ("i'm a teenage beauty queen of sorts").
this is a thing that only really clicked with me when listening to the brobecks' version, but the theatricality of the track is so well executed: it immediately signals to you the melodrama incoming, often coming back through the piano plucks inside the verses, only then to entrap you in its awesome production and kickass chorus. it transforms it into one of those songs that you have to really lock in to listen to, if only to be rewarded by the catharsis of the romantic devotion underlined by the rocking instrumental. i adore listening to this song, and i have a feeling that it's only going to get better for me as time goes by. coming down from the high of that second chorus, the fun solo afterwards and the otherworldly bridge is a top notch experience, every single time. what a beautiful thing to listen to when you're in love.
9. "Heat Wave" by Snail Mail (2018 / indie rock)
i'm too young to have ever experienced liz phair for the first time back on her debut, but it is so easy to imagine how it could have felt given my first exposure to snail mail through this song. from the very opening notes, the echo of the guitar and her raw, understated vocals, i got it immediately. i could feel myself in the room with her, a girl baring her heart with her guitar during a sweltering afternoon. even as the song builds up, that sensation is never lost. it mainly shines through with the lyrics: her deep seated insecurity at being cut off from a relationship and forced to reckon with it ("and i hope whoever it is / holds their breath around you / cause i know i did"). it's such a real, tender way to face a breakup, to grief through it.
what resonated with me mostly is that, even through the anger, the bargaining, the overwhelming sadness, and the acceptance in the repeated bars by the ending, what lingers is the hope that everything will be reverted: "and otherwise / if only sometimes / would you give it up, green eyes?" a masterful execution of the feelings most of us have gone through already, and will continue to for the rest of our lives.
8. "The Clown" by Elefant (2006 / garage rock revival)
one of my efforts this year was to become acquainted with the 2000s alt rock scene, scouting both the most popular groups and the hidden gems. this turned out to be one of the latter, a group with a pretty small discography and whose lead singer (as shown in the spotify bio picture) is the most argentinian man i've ever seen. this track in particular initially caught my attention due to not being in 4/4, but i eventually grew to like it more and more during the coming months.
if i really think about it, it's the instrumentation that did it for me. the chiptune-like motif that runs throughout the song is quite reminiscent of a circus, keeping the song tied to the theme in a way that doesn't come off as gimmicky. the song manages to sneak multiple callbacks of that caliber, like the synth buildup in the second prechorus, or the surrounding nature of the drums coming during the later half of the chorus. i can't help but dig those kinds of accents and how they contribute to the theatricality of the instrumental. this is not to downplay the lyrical content of the song, which seems to explore an inherently toxic relationship that's bound to ruin both people involved. there's some great imagery pulled throughout and fun songwriter tricks (prechorus two neglecting the "all the time" caveat present in the previously given "i don't lie" statement). it even manages to fully integrate the performance aspect of it by the end, where the singer ends by chanting thank you's to their audience. it's got this slight perverse, unsettling edge that i love to encounter in music, and it is, without a single doubt, my 6/8 song of the year.
7. "Dancing to The Smiths" by Hana Eid (2022 / indie rock)
i can so easily imagine this song playing on one of those late 90s, early 2000s indie films that i used to half-watch on tv years ago. just from the very beginning, the guitar and drum pattern immediately take you on a whirlwind that doesn't let up until the very end. it's such a wonderful way to outline what this song is actually about, which is being in love. and in particular, this specific situation where you get to experience treasured moments with the object of your affection in mundane situations (chatting with the clerk at a convenience store, jamming to their favorite band, driving on the road) and makes such a great job at de-abstracting the thought train you're subjected to. just from the opening line, "will you like it when you see it?", as you come to think of the other person as the epitome of your desires in a way that makes you want to become the kind of person they would fall for, because they already feel tailor-made for you.
the song is able to achieve this premise by contrasting these situations with an earnest, insecure discourse happening in the narrator's head. it's kind of nuts how much of myself i could see in there: a younger and more naive version of me, who used to have these same thoughts verbatim. within the song, it doesn't really come off as insecure, where you could really interpret it like that if you think about it a little; after all, isn't the loved one in the song choosing to spend their time with the narrator to begin with? but even then, the overthought way in which the narrator in the song constantly looks back on themself and wishes to also become the object of their desire is so deeply relatable, so justifiably euphoric. it is all accompanied by a rocking, nostalgic instrumental, designed to encircle the scenes described in the hue of golden days. unapologetically adolescent in its delivery, this is to me the quintessential love song of the year.
6. "Neon Roses" by The Technicolors (2017 / alternative rock)
i can't help but feel like this song is playing a really nasty trick on me. it reminds me a lot of what i felt with sabrina carpenter's "espresso", a great pop song that can be seen as an amalgamation of the best pop trends appearing as far back as 2018. it's hard to give it that much credit when you recognize most of his fantastic elements as things that have been made already, doja cat's "say so" being a big influence in particular. but to be completely honest with you, i still like espresso a lot -- its cheeky lyrics and impeccable groove are immediately appealing and i have never felt anything but joy when my local radio plays it. and ultimately, i think that experience is exactly what i feel for this track right here.
looking at it from a different angle, you may even argue that it is commendable that this song manages to encompass the best trends in the 90-2010s alt rock scene, where acts like coldplay and the killers immediately come to mind. its appeal is almost surgical in its precision, down to the distorted guitars in the verses giving way to a clear-open melancholy in the chorus, and the methodically imperfect vocal performance. the way this song manages to distill the crucial elements that make up the best of the specific genre is just marvelous. and to be completely honest with you, i wouldn't care even if i actually thought this song leaned more into plagiarism rather than inspiration. it's just actually that damn good, an evergreen emotional roller-coaster that i love to ride every single time.
5. "The Plural of Moose is Moose" by Happy Belated (2018 / folk rock)
i loved this song from the very first second i ever listened of it. it's such a simple guitar strum; but it immediately made it feel like the kind of song i've been looking for forever, whether i was aware of it or not. and here it was, finally at my disposal. yearning is the name of the game, as it bleeds through in the lyrics: "eveline / you called my head again / you and yourself again." unlike the other ballads in the tracklist, their structure leans more into the abstraction, all the while managing to form the image of the object of someone's fascination.
seeing the "stomp and holler" tag in this one made me giggle a bit. IMO, it clearly lands more in the indie folk side of things, where i could see an argument for this to be paired with the millennial optimism given the time this track was dropped in. but there's something so enchanting about its quaintness, how stripped-back it feels not only on the production side of things but in its delivery, in the way it chooses to delve into the subject of romantic affection: with wistful melancholy instead of joy and euphoria.
it's managed to render the experience of listening to this song to a very, very personal thing --- really hard to try and put it into words. i close my eyes and can see the trees going past me, the golden of the sunset flashing through the leaves. i find it kind of perfect, then, that the group that originated this song disbanded shortly after delivering their first and only album. it makes this song feel like what it was always meant to be: a needle in a haystack, a fleeting tune i was destined to meet randomly at a certain point in my life, its existence a near miracle.
4. "Meteorite" by Jack Swing (2025 / indie rock)
the story of me and this song is a proper slow burn, with me finding out about it randomly at the beginning of february and then becoming obsessed with it by the end of 2025. for me, it definitely falls into the category of songs that get better with each new listen: by december, i started thinking of this one as a perfect song, growing more and more immaculate even as i scouted the rest of this band's discography. this track might share the theme of some of the other songs already mentioned in this list --- of having a clear understanding of the classics and vowing to be an embodiment of the best things found in the genre.
there's something so deeply euphoric found throughout the entirety of this song, mainly in the instantly recognizable guitar riff running through it, which gets built upon as the track keeps building and building. it's just so magnificent how alive the guitar feels in it: its presence between choruses and the little flourishes during the verses effectively make it feel like another voice in the song. all of this paired with the fantastic vocal performance makes its last third an incredibly cathartic ending. that solo in the end is pure indulgence, and such a powerful way to let you bask in the afterglow. it's one of those songs i'd recommend to anybody regardless of genre, as a stark reminder of what music is here to do for us.
3. "Railway Car" by Messer (2025 / electropop)
ever since mitch left the comfort of pentatonix to delve into his own musical musings, i've been astonished by what he can offer in the songwriting department. he was already the author of some of the best lyrics i've had the pleasure to listen to ("take my hand and touch yourself / i want to look at you in the eyes"), and this song is brimming with all his best songwriting tricks. the pompous word construction, punctuated by a sincere delivery that makes it impossible not to feel its heartbreak right in the core.
but i'd be foolish to pretend that the best part in this track isn't the vocal work, which is something that he's rightfully claimed as the best vocalist in the a capella quintet. sure, mitch's vocal skill is most notable in his expansive range, but what really puts this song this high up for me is the vast range of emotion that he's able to deliver with it (the bridge from "side" is my go to when i want to explain it.) the use of his head voice in particular is so well executed for this track, as he's able to display so much of the raw agony of heartbreak and uncertainty into it ("i'm white-knuckling the days"). most of all, every single note in this song feels so meticulously placed and delivered. the way he's able to sprinkle all these adlibs throughout could be designed for me, specifically, as they do tons to keep the momentum of the song going without undercutting its emotional significance. and while, smartly, the production in this song is pretty spare to give mitch's vocal work its place to shine, i still adore the instrumentation in the song, with a particular highlight being the gentle piano solo right before the bridge. all in all, this song is exquisitely elegant in its rawness, easily placing as the best track on the album and my second favorite for the entirety of messer's output.
2. "Zero" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2009 / disco punk)
up until this year, i was a very passive person when it came to my listening habits and the music i wanted to get into. spotify has made it easy for me to go through recommendations and pick the songs that sound the most agreeable for me. i wanted to change that for this year: i deliberate made an effort to search outside of my comfort zone, and to check web pages and forums to get access to different recommendations. this determination was what led me to the yeah yeah yeahs in the first place --- when i randomly stumbled onto their name, googled them out of curiosity and immediately thought they looked cool as shit.
if i can be completely honest for a second, it was pretty much a toss up for what song i could put here. throughout the year i got really into tracks like y control, fancy, phenomena and kiss kiss, while deja vu ended up being my most listened song of the year. but there is something special about zero in particular, in the way it embodies everything i've come to appreciate about the YYYs. obviously, karen o is a force of nature and her personality is the number one thing people remark on when they talk about this band: likewise, i did my fair bit of falling in love with her during this year. she's the rightful centerpiece of this song: her vocals dominate the track through her raw delivery, culminating in that infectious bridge where i legit think that's the best she's ever sounded. its undecipherable lyrics could suggest a sexual undertone that is amplified by her delivery, making each one of their hard rockers deeply erotic. there's that little bit of gender fuckery that i appreciate in general about YYY's lyrics ("makes me feel like a madman on the run"). and the marriage of 80's pop influences with the usual art-punk attitude in the back is a match made in heaven: the "material girl" esque synths before the bridge turn it into a rock-driven euphoria --- again, mostly driven home by karen's unhinged energy. i do not know if i'll stand by this choice for years to come (they have some gorgeous ballads on maps, modern romance and hysteric), but it is what it feels right. and with this band in particular, succumbing to my first instinct feels like the right thing to do.
before i get to number one, here's what i'm really trying to keep to a minimum of honorable mentions:
"The Subway" by Chappell Roan (2025 / pop): this is the pick for what you might have heard on the radio. chappell is easily my favorite artist in this new batch of pop girlies, mainly due to her indie sensibilities and the incredible malleability of her voice. this song in particular is a musical-theatre level performance from her, with her deeply hurt singing in the first stretch and the raw, belting display of agony in the breakdown through the end.
"Anyone Since" by Beau Sloane (2024 / indie rock): although not my favorite, i've come to recognize this one as the best in the album. the engaging contrast between the dance-punk verses and downbeat chorus manage the tone of heartbreak excellently, both parts united by the circling synth riff. but most of all i adore the crass sincerity in the lyrics, the show of sick insecurity and lingering love ("can you please ask me to stay?") it does help that this song is about another singer present in this very list, hah.
"Cliff Drive" by The Sunshine State (2022 / indie pop): i really like that the storytelling present in this song, contrasting the pretty straightforward structure of it, feels rather abstract in depicting scenes of teenager naivety. it gives it that adolescent edge without being too self-impressed, like someone looking back on the terrible decisions you took when you were a jaded teen ("you're stealing money from her wallet even though / she would give it if you just asked so.") i also really love how gentle the drums sound towards the chanting by the end.
"Reach" by benches (2025 / indie rock): a very poignant and emotional rock ballad with a perfect atmosphere and the delicious delivery of the vocalist's performance. my only complaint with this one is that i wish it had a bridge -- it would've probably properly made the list if that were the case.
"505" by Arctic Monkeys (2007 / alternative rock): this is the song that made me realize how powerful the mention of someone's thighs are to suggest something not necessarily sexual, but undoubtedly sensual. "with your hands between your thighs / and a smile" is such a beautifully intimate image, and it being delivered amongst the trademark reverb and loud guitars of the alt scene makes it even better.
"Suburbia" by Devon Again (2021 / indie pop): without a doubt my favorite pop song of the year. i was instantly obsessed from the second i first heard that prechorus lead with the singer's infectious falsetto. it's cocky and seductive, with some great emotional lyrics scattered around the chorus and the bridge.
"The Wolf" by Witch Post (2025 / crank wave): i listened to a few great male-female duets this year (Black Soap, suburban wonderland, ...Then, the Sky Opened up and Swallowed Them Whole). but this particular one takes the cake for me, because IMO it works really well within the themes of the song. from the guy's point of view, who takes the verses and prechoruses, it's about being faced with utter despair ("nothing good is left / everything good is gone"). when the girl comes in during the chorus and bridge, it's about encouraging the other voice to push past it ("be a wolf, don't worry / don't shy away") while trying to convince herself that it's worth it to do so ("though i try to crystallize / i can't give you a reason"). the distorted guitar feels overbearing through it, yet it manages to retain a certain gentleness when necessary. really awesome to listen to.
"Ashes" by Adam Hanney & Co. (2016 / indie rock): this one had the most fascinating story out of all tracks here. i listened to this one earlier in the year, from a blank artist on spotify who had this album and nothing else. under fears of it all being an AI scam, i tried digging up for more and found the song on bandcamp, under a different artist and year of release. this led me to tracking down the vocalist, who used to have a steady presence in youtube and spotify back in the day, only to discover that they had shelved all their original work from any and all platforms and nowadays makes their living by playing guitar for other musical acts. in short, the only way i could've stumbled upon this song was by someone else stealing their only remaining available music back into spotify, but under a different name. while all that wasn't a good conclusion to all my research (why did he wipe off all of his own stuff from the internet?), it hasn't been an impediment to my enjoyment of this track: an upbeat indie song about post-breakup denial, rich in singer-songwriter details and a heartwrenching outro.
and now, without further ado...
1. "In Undertow" by Alvvays (2017 / shoegaze)
when i showed my friend this song towards the end of october, i called it "the prettiest song on earth." this might be a case of baby's first shoegaze experience, but in a year where spotify kept bombarding me with its bubblegrunge suggestions ---songs where the rocking instrumentals and airy vocals felt at odds most of the time--- this track was a revelation. it finally clicked for me, what genuinely works about this: how the chaos in the echo-y, crushing instrumental contrasts the mellow in the singer's voice, in a way that feels like a marriage rather than a way to mask vocal limitations. it is, by all metrics, a wonderfully produced track that gives me utter joy to listen to.
there's a good dose of irony that keeps this song from leaning too much into the melodrama. or maybe, by being a bit cheeky ("what's next for you and me? / i'll take suggestions") it's actually able to indulge in it with more honesty. it's another thing that i ruminated on, a few weeks ago when this song came on after being let go by my job. it is a virtue to look at the past, at a terrible thing that has just happened and laugh a bit. honestly, it is a bit ridiculous to linger in the sadness of grief. it's pathetic and revealing, and so it feels great to go over the mundane things we can do to distract us from the pain ("meditate, play solitaire / take up self defense"), only to then finally give in the cringe of its lingering effects ("we toss and turn / in undertow / time to let go".)
but, honestly, what really sold me on this song was its ending. after the revelation and catharsis of the bridge, the track stutters a step before letting the singer punctuate its final two notes in our first taste of her angelic falsetto, a wonderfully jazzy trick that makes me wish someone would make a jazz cover of it. and what a genuinely wonderful point to end this year with. i wouldn't want it any other way.
