top title tracks of 2025
annual nerdy rant
10. Graffiti - ALL(H)OURS
this song is a very familiar kpop sound (heavy vocals, modal mixture, harmonic bridge and noisy chorus) but it is expertly done in my opinion to be something fresh - the fun harmony adds to the catchiness of the noise and the noise is so rhythmically interesting. one of the most effective dance breaks ever - the quiet introduction of the triplet rhythm through the soft bridge that turns into the noisiest part of the song, still upkeeping that new subdivision... its so much more fun that the standard half-time instrumental. you don't need to just remove hits and there you have half-time - you can create a half-time feeling with more subtle subdivisions and effectively change the feel of it.
9. Fly Up - RIIZE
hello soul hello gospel hello rock n roll.... as fun and feel good as you need gospel inspired songs to be. i love that riize are often very loyal to whatever genre they're doing in a song and just like impossible is a love letter to house music, this song is a love letter to its genres. their voices are so good and can carry the euphoric energy, obviously none more than sohee... the soul in his voice...hes insane. its so feel good and fun and its the kind of song who's mv is intrinsic to understanding it. the mv is a masterpiece - the constant movement of it versus the brief moments of floating, the long continuous choreographed shots, the euphoria of the massive group of people all dancing in sync. joyous!!
8. STUNNER - TEN
an extremely clean and smooth song. the bass is so clean but wide, making the transition into the big prechorus sound feel very natural. and truly an anti-chorus that pays off! it strips back to the clean, wide bass with some fun extra rhythms tied to tens falsetto - but brings back the bigger synth sound when he sings 'bigger', it feels like true text painting and doesn't rob us of that sound for the sake of a true anti-chorus. i love the ability to switch up the thickness of the texture for short moments rather than commitment to one level of sound per section. the bridge once again giving us a natural slow build up in texture and emotion up to an extremely impressive high note - and the anti-chorus hasnt even lost it's charm yet it's still exciting and cool and sexy. masterpiece on building and changing texture.
7. TILT - Red Velvet - Irene & Seulgi
just sooo clean. one of the joys of having just two voices in the song is the ability to make these long continuous lines truly effective. right from the start we get this continuous seulgi part that truly feels connected to the four on the floor kick because of how long they work in tandem until she rounds off her phrase, only for irene to follow with the exact same effect. and then the second verse doing the same but an octave higher! it re-contextualises their relationship with the kick rhythm, where in the first verse it feels like they're on top of it, somewhat in control, now it feels like irene is falling slighting behind the rhythm trying to catch up with it so there's more desperation to it. the repeated 'tilt' in the chorus act almost as syncopated high-hats in the rhythm section, allowing a chorus to get by with the emptiest of drum loops. its allowed to be incredibly simple because everything hits where it should to create a fuller sound with little instrumentation.
6. Beautiful Life - Xdinary Heroes
there is something extremely charming about "copying" something like bohemian rhapsody... like bohemian rhapsody is the genesis of all its look-alikes who honour it in different generations and with different rock sounds: greenday with jesus of suburbia/homecoming, and mcr with welcome to the black parade in the early 2000s. and now xdinary have established their own rock sound so well that they can put forward their offering and its able to actually hold its own. so many good texture and instrumental changes between sections. the 'step down' in rhythm between chorus sections from full time -> syncopated half-time -> true half-time at a slower tempo.. seamless. the transition back into tempo being a four on the floor kick and a single guitar feels so greenday it is joyous. the piano slowly growing in prominence as the track progresses so it feels like a true transition in meaning and story from the beginning to the end.. its proper storytelling and it works so well because xdinary always have something to say.
5. 1&Only - XLOV
simple, smooth, pretty, sexy... it does exactly what it attempts to do and nothing more which is the exact kind of confidence xlov exudes. the rhythm is a familiar afrobeat and it's kept extremely simple and repetitive to let the vocals create their own faster subdivisions or drag the rhythm out - haru's long vocal fried 'ah' being an example of this drag, or the short breathy 'energy's speeding it up. it feels like their breath is speeding up and slowing down on top of a consistent rhythm...which is just sexy! their voices are perfectly suited to what theyre singing, the airy quality, the agility, the confidence, all of that adds to the believability of it as a listener. and ofc the choreo....
4. Doctor Doctor - ZEROBASEONE
just such a pretty song... the track being this simple, catchy pop-rnb sound leaves so much room for the vocals to do their thing and they absolutely do. the lilting melodies that skip up and down in long phrases really give the feeling of love-sickness, like they're in a trance as they sing, ending with an almost sigh from taerae's last line in the chorus. matthews verse... one of my favourite sing-raps in kpop now, you feel the lovesick tone in his voice as he starts higher and slowly falls in pitch each line and the triplets sound so natural and smooth. the size and fuzz on the keys growing from the first half of the chorus to the second really help build up this breath which leads to taerae/haos sighed 'heartache 그래 역시' - tension being built up to be let out in a long breath. you know in cartoons when someone's frozen looking at their crush and their heart bumps out of their chest and their eyes turn into hearts and they take a deep breath in and sigh... thats what this song sounds like.
3. FOCUS - Hearts2Hearts
i love u house i love u garage... the word focus is such a good concept for this sound and vocal melody - the quick movements, the harsh cut offs after words, the staccato piano and vocals, the repetitive lines; the choreo borrowing from waacking and voguing, the quick movements followed by still moments; the mv camerawork and mirror imaging being so incredible. the concept is so perfectly married to every part of the song! the lighter tone to all the instrumentation, the high tone piano to the soaring strings, adds to the cuteness and prettiness of the love song. it also allows everything to stay out of the way of the bass which is carries the low end perfectly on it's own due to its intricate pattern and repetition. truly one of the most fun things kpop can provide is a good genre piece that feels like all of the conceptual parts of it meet together in a way that makes sense and match and i could not point out a single part of this release that feels like a plot hole.
2. THUNDER - CIX
cix did it again... a banger right at the start of the year i knew was going to end up on here. i think i described this at the time as daft punk if they were hot men who danced.... its the big funky electro sound that we can all associate with daft punk, like a disco track but every instrument is electrified and punchy and playing at full strength right in your face. and then there's beautifully written vocal harmonies over the top throughout and isolated as an intro and outro to not let you forget how catchy and harmonious that wall of vocals is. the falling chromatic bvs from the get go sets up the crunchy harmony perfectly so the crunchy instrumental feels supported and exciting instead of overly aggressive. this kind of sound was not uncommon in kpop this year (see nct dream - chiller) but i think it was the most effective as it stuck to its genre and had an extremely catchy hook but had the most fun it possibly could have within those boundaries. (also a masterclass in stage direction and choreo with extra dancers!! for the first time in history those music show stages didn't look entirely empty without sets)
SET NET G0?! - CRAVITY
some of you are gonna be surprised to hear this but its the first time a vity track has made it to no1! set net go did it tho... this is an example of hype actually paying off perfectly. vity rebranded, they dropped trailers/imagery and everything was saying we can be this mix of brightness and maturity. and this song is! it is fun and catchy and upbeat, but theres this air of melancholy, or a change about to come in the harmony and texture - the prechorus interrupts the lively bassline with these long pads that establish the root minor key and bring the emotion that feels like finally accepting something thats inevitable. the chorus starting with just an isolated guitar is so risky - there's no hiding anything the guitar is carrying all the attention and it feels vulnerable. and it even hesitates - the first note of the phrase on the second loop is played late, and it's only noticeable and doable if you have just one instrument vulnerably isolated. it feels like taking a step out on your own and slipping up but no ones around to judge or help you up, so you get back on track by yourself. i love chorus vocal lines that sit on one note and are all about the rhythm, and they leave us on that until the very last chorus, bringing in the prechorus pads, and then on the final phrase of the song, minhee splits into the higher harmony. the prechoruses set up that line in harmony and lyrics but it prolongs the release of it until the very last phrase of the song. i could talk about this song for hours theres so much im not touching on but ultimately title of the year
[bonus: woongki debut has been one of the best things in my year, its made this year of kpop for me so fun and meaningful and although hes not on this list hes truly so important to mention. every single bit of success and love ahof has received has been worked hard for and upmost deserved and i wish them a million times more]
thank you to anyone bothered to read this! i do this for myself but its always so nice to share opinions and thoughts so please do, are these any of your favs, are there any from groups you think i may have missed etc. please yap away! and happy new year to you all!!!
