Maybe it was just me, but I thought 2025 was a really really good year for music. We got some fresh talents (Adela, Jae Stephens, Infinite Coles), some surprising comebacks from past talents (Jessica Simpson, Franz Ferdinand, Day26, Sugababes), and some unexpected pivots from current talents (Doja Cat, Rosalia, Lily Allen).
I whittled this list down from almost 300 contenders that I was really feeling last year, so if your fave isn’t here, maybe it just missed the cut. Or I thought it sucked, which is also fine because nobody asked me for this anyway.
100. Demi Lovato “Fast”
I’m glad this song and my first Fire Island Pines Party happened at the same time because she screamed GAY and I screamed back WELL, YES!
99. David Michael Hawkins “SIN”
David Michael Hawkins is a gay country singer based in Nashville who released this song over the summer. Some of his interviews discuss being an HIV+ country singer and how that shapes his outlook on music, and he had this to say about his summer single:
I wrote SIN because I know there are LGBTQIA youth struggling to love themselves. I know there are addicts that think they are too far gone to change. And I know there are people with an HIV diagnosis that think no one will ever love them. I want them to know they aren’t alone, and I understand their pain. And that there is hope even at the darkest times. Hope you all enjoy.
98. Leon Thomas feat. 4batz “Lone Wolf”
Nickelodeon Kids of a certain age (ie, younger than me) might recognize Leon Thomas from Victorious, but I first heard of him when he won a Grammy for co-writing “Snooze” for SZA. He just won some Grammys last night for his late-2024 album, but this song is from his next project, Pholks, (released October 2025) which will probably make some noise at next year’s ceremony.
97. Father John Misty “She Cleans Up”
I didn’t pay much attention to Father John Misty after he left Fleet Foxes. His first solo album after leaving the band was okay, but I really only loved “Hollywood Forever…”
Color me surprised that 13 years and five more albums later, he dropped a tight, no-skips set somewhere between early Beck and later St. Vincent.
96. Wet Leg “Pokemon”
Wet Leg looks different! Originally a duo on their first album, the girls have added three dudes to the lineup to expand their sound, but this is still very much a Rhian and Hester project. And it’s so good I had five songs fighting for my favorite. I don’t know a lot of indie rock girlbands from the UK but I should investigate more if this is the scene. And yes I’m still calling them a girlband.
95. Teyana Taylor “Long Time” (Roddy Lima Remix)
This is the year of Teyana Taylor. I have been on Team Tey since “Google Me” back in 2008, so it’s very exciting to see this career explosion on the heels of a very messy divorce. Escape Room as an album is too inconsistent for me with too many interludes, but it’s interesting as an overall exploration of that relationship. This late-night-dance-party remix of “Long Time” makes me want Teyana to lean harder into electronica — she has a great 90s voice for it.
94. Lucius “Do It All For You”
Jess and Holly were the original “twins who aren’t twins but harmonizing and styling like twins” before Chloe & Halle, and they’re still at it.
93. Sissy Ford “Streets”
Blonde White Girl Rapper Alert!!
Iggy Azalea pretty much ruined that whole genre for me, but Sissy studied music at East London Arts and Music before starting to gain traction online. And she doesn’t put on a fake blaccent, so I’m tentatively on board. “Streets” is such a bop.
92. Benjamin Booker “NEW WORLD”
Benjamin Booker hadn’t released an album in 7 years when Lower came out last January, and he’s covering a lot of territory. It can lean a little experimental for me, but “NEW WORLD” has a groove that hits right in the Millennial pocket.
91. Saucy Santana “Bounce”
Bounce that ass hoe, shake them tiddies!
Saucy makes the best stripper music.
90. Indigo De Souza “Heartthrob”
Indigo De Souza is an indie rocker from North Carolina and this is her first project after being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder back in 2023. She hasn’t lost any of her creative spark though and her lyrics stand out in a crowded market of metaphors and imagery for being especially plainspoken.
89. JoJo “Nobody”
I go see JoJo perform every time she comes to NYC because she never misses on stage. She opened her last NYC show with this song and I’ve been singing it since.
88. Slayyyter “DANCE”
When I put “DANCE” on my list, it was just a track on her last EP. “CANNIBALISM!” was the lead off track for the album, but this is the song that caught me when I listened to the full collection. And then last week she dropped it as a single, so I guess I should have waited and put it on 2026 instead.
87. Dublon / TABLE / Deza “Salve”
I don’t know anything about these people at all. They’re all Scandinavian, but I don’t know which one is the main driver of the song. Dublon is credited first, so I put his picture up there, but I think both he and the guys behind TABLE are just jazz-house artists. Spotify thinks this is my new favorite genre because I listened to Berlioz so much last year, but I’m not mad. This is such a lush groove.
86. After “300 dreams”
I have never heard a song that sounded so much like 1998 VH1 in my entire life. I’m so obsessed with this whole vibe. They just got together in LA last year, and their reviews are terrible, so maybe everyone else is tired of nostalgia.
85. Kesha “BOY CRAZY.”
Just like Demi Lovato, Kesha also screamed GAY at me. And then she put ketamine in her pussy and recorded this song with a pink jockstrap on.
84. Ledisi “Love You Too”
I love the singers who are still singing and Ledisi never met a mic she couldn’t bless. This is grown-up R&B music for the adults in the room.
83. Lily Allen “Relapse”
Caucasian Mess!! OMG!! This whole album could be on this list, but damn. You should always put your best foot forward in a relationship, but if you insist on being a piece of shit, don’t do it in a relationship with a musician who has no problem oversharing. “Relapse” is the least scandalous of the tracks, but it’s also the most reflective and enveloping.
82. DOOM GONG “The Future is a Choice”
I had never heard of DOOM GONG before this year, because prog rock isn’t usually on my list. However, my ears are always pointed to the streets for drama, and DOOM GONG had a show in NYC this year where the sound engineer at the venue was a huge dick. I kept seeing posts about it in music circles and was like “dang, this band must be pretty beloved if they’re getting all this support,” and come to find out — their album slapped.
81. Amber Mark “Doin’ Me”
Former Roc-Nation intern Amber Mark has been releasing smooth R&B for about ten years now, but still hasn’t managed to break into the mainstream. You can really put on any of her albums and listen straight through, so it’s hard to pick out a favorite song from her latest, but I like anything that feels like summertime in the 90s.
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