40) IT girl – JADE

A song that feels like JADE’s manifesto. Yes, Little Mix could have released a song like IT Girl, but it’s JADE’s very specific vocal style and personality that make this a truly spectacular moment. JADE’s first single of 2025 and still one of her best. It’s a yes from me.

39) Baby Blue – SG Lewis & Oliver Sim

SG Lewis has a knack of working with all of my favourite voices in music and showcasing their unique sound rather than moulding them into his. Baby Blue is no exception and I love how Oliver sounds on this, he just brings this delicate touch that elevates this record to new euphoric heights. A joyous record I never regret hitting play on.

38) Fort Knox – Sigrid

Sigrid is at her best when her songs have a bit of bite to them and few go as hard as Fort Knox. The way the vocal production changes for the ‘Never kissed you, Never taught you’ bit is pop genius and ends up creating a song that feels like you are always in the hook. ‘Did I love you? I didn’t mean to’ is a lyric so cutting it sees Sigrid at her punchy best once more.

37) Arm’s Length – Sam Fender

My favourite single from Sam Fender’s excellent People Watching album to come out this year, Arm’s Length feels like it just grows and grows for the 4 minutes it’s on. The ‘Do you have to know me know me inside out’ hook buried itself in my head for weeks, while Sam’s delicate vocals as the song develops eventually soar by the end. It feels poignant and honest, like so many of the best moments of People Watching.

36) Cry For Me – The Weeknd

The best songs by The Weeknd manage to feel genreless, not quite Pop, not quite RnB, sort of records beamed down from somewhere else that move and react to the listener. Cry For You is bold and punchy in its sound while Abel’s voice suits this grinding bassline so much. The atmosphere on The Weeknd tracks like this make it feel so much bigger than itself which is why it makes me feel so much whenever I hear it.

35) Born Again (Feat. Doja Cat & RAYE) – LISA

One of the first songs to dominate my year, when we get collaborations like this I can’t help but completely lose myself to them. Lisa sounds brilliant on this, the disco sound suiting her massively. Doja Cat has a knockout verse and continued to impress me vocally more than ever in 2025, while RAYE proves yet again why she sounds so damn good on a massive pop hook. The final 20 seconds of Born Again are pop GOLD.

34) EoO – Bad Bunny

DeBI TiRAR MaS FOToS is an album where the album tracks far outshined most of the singles for me, but EoO was comfortably my favourite of the singles from 2025. A baffling, genre spanning and insanely infectious track EoO never lets up and I never want it to. I refuse to claim that there was any other reason for me enjoying EoO as much as I did this year.

33) Joe – Fickle Friends

Fickle Friends remain one of the most underrated bands in Indie Pop and Joe is their best moment in years. Love the way Natassja sings ‘Okayyyy’ through the verses before that almighty hook hits. Killer riffs, catchy lyrics and impossibly infectious; Joe is just an absolute riot.

32) Blessings – Calvin Harris & Clementine Douglas

At my core all I crave is a basic Calvin Harris crafted dance banger and Blessings is exactly that. I love how Clementine Douglas sounds on this, her vocal so bright and cuts through the bass so perfectly bringing just enough soul to really shine. There’s surprisingly few dance tracks that really captured me this year but Blessings was absolutely one that did.

31) Everything is Peaceful Love – Bon Iver

Saying I love how Justin Vernon sounds on a song is such a boring take from me at this point, he might be my all time favourite male voice in music, but it’s songs like Everything is Peaceful Love that remind me exactly why. This is Bon Iver in their soulful bag too and it’s so joyous. Justin’s layers of vocals on what is otherwise a funk infused pop record elevate this to add a poignancy to everything.

30) It’s Amazing To Be Young – Fontaines D.C.

It’s amazing that my love for Fontaines D.C. wasn’t just a year long blip in judgement. It’s Amazing to be Young is stacked with darkness in its lyrics and yet comes out the other end hopeful and joyous and features some of my favourite vocal moments from Grian Chatten.

29) twilight zone – Ariana Grande

It’s hard to imagine Ariana Grande having been able to add even more of a delicate emotional touch to her incredible Eternal Sunshine album, but somehow she did with Brighter Days Ahead. The core of this is twilight zone where Ariana sounds as glorious as she ever will. The backing vocals make this an absolutely dreamy record and one that gives more with every listen.

28) Jungle – Sugababes

The best song that the trio of Mutya, Keisha and Siobhan have ever released. I am stunned that we got a Sugababes song as killer as this in 2025.

27) 12 to 12 – sombr

The race to mediocrity by most of the new ‘pop boys’ has been difficult to witness, but the one that managed to stick around on my playlists this year was sombr, specifically this absolutely huge synth pop banger. Stacked with personality, emotion and a killer vocal, 12 to 12 is a mainstream sounding hit that feels completely deserving of getting played to death on Radio 1. Maybe there’s hope for the pop boys yet.

26) Fuck Me Eyes – Ethel Cain

I have so much respect for Ethel Cain who could very easily just release tracks that sound like Fuck Me Eyes, stacked with 80s synth magic. Instead her creativity and daring genreless records allow for moments like this to truly shine. The instrumentation on this song gives everything so much scale and allows for the song to expand in size as every minute goes by. The emotional centrepiece of the Willoughby Tucker album it’s a song that gives so much and yet still feels effortlessly simple.

25) Tonight – PinkPantheress

Every song on Fancy That sounds like a hit, but for me none hit as hard as Tonight. Our first tease of this new record and still the moment I can’t help but lose myself to. Tonight revels in PinkPantheress’ personality which is why it’s such a knockout pop record. A relentless danceable moment from a year of them from Pink.

24) Know Yourself – Kae Tempest

Kae Tempest trading bars with his younger self on a song of self discovery and self acceptance makes Know Yourself such a dynamic moment. Telling his story on his own terms, refusing to ignore the past but instead embracing it is such a powerful idea and gives such an infectious fiery and biting rap moment from Kae massive poignancy.

23) Down to be wrong – HAIM

There’s something that the HAIM sisters do to me with their music, a record like Down to be wrong seem so simple, a rock song taking on Danielle’s relationship; groundbreaking stuff from HAIM. Instead every moment of Down to be wrong feels alive, full of emotion and genuine life and experience in every cutting lyric, every bassline passage and every second of this almighty build of a song. The best HAIM songs leave you with so much more when they end than you started with and Down to be wrong does exactly that.

22) One of the Greats – Florence + the Machine

Florence Welch ruminating on her place as an artist for 6 minutes while she pointedly takes down the toxic masculine energy that gets praised as genius? Yes. Absolutely Yes.

21) Flood (Feat. Obongjayer & Moonchild Sanelly) – Little Simz

Little Simz knows how to make an entrance and Flood felt like her returning with every bit of fire inside of her. I love the way Simbi almost whispers her verses here, Flood sounds dangerous and each verse envelops you more. By the time Obongjayer and Moonchild Sanelly have star turns on the hook I’m completely transfixed. Flood was a statement of intent from one of rap music’s most direct voices.

20) Focus Is Power – Self Esteem

At the start of 2025 I was pretty lukewarm on the first song we heard from Self Esteem’s A Complicated Woman. On the surface it’s a little more straightforward than anything we heard on Prioritise Pleasure, but months on it’s hard to think of many songs that have grown within me like Focus Is Power. The wall of vocals that has become Self Esteem’s staple is at its most glorious on this, the repeated chant of ‘I deserve to be here’ is genuinely inspiring without ever feeling too much. A joyous record.

19) Man I Need – Olivia Dean

Songs as effortlessly joyous as Man I Need feel like they’ve always existed. Of course this is the year’s biggest breakthrough hit. Of course Olivia Dean is a global superstar. Of course Man I Need is one of the songs of the year.

18) Bloom Baby Bloom – Wolf Alice

I wasn’t quiet about my disappointment with Wolf Alice’s album The Clearing, but much of that stemmed from this absolute belter of a song being our first tease of it. One of Wolf Alice’s absolute best tracks, this is fiery, full of energy and might be Ellie’s best ever vocal performance. ‘I’m so sick and tired of trying to play it hard’ is electric and Bloom Baby Bloom feels like a band with such driving purpose.

17) Plastic Box – JADE

I never expected to reach the end of 2025 with Plastic Box as my favourite single from JADE’s incredible That’s Showbiz Baby album, but I sit here now and can’t imagine anything else being classed as her best. It’s hooky, but teases you emotionally bit by bit. JADE sounds SO GOOD on this record and that’s even before the belting final moments. Crying on the dancefloor bangers are a staple of my music library and Plastic Box is one of the best in years.

16) Parachute – Hayley Williams

Hayley Williams choosing to close the proper album version of Ego Death At A Bacherlorette Party with the best solo song of her career was pure genius. Parachute sums up everything that makes Hayley Williams one of best voices in music today. It’s a soaring hook, but dynamic and surprising at every turn, while her performance is stacked with emotion and is so thrilling to hear. Parachute is one of Hayley’s greatest singular tracks ever.

15) Drums of Death – FKA twigs & Koreless

The wildest song in my top 40 but from the most likely source. FKA twigs has always made music to move to. Music that moves you as a listener and makes you need to follow through with that physically. Drums of Death is clattering, thrilling and chaotic while also beautiful in a strange way. Every moment the song drops out under you it’s like a punch to the gut. Thudding bassline and dreamy vocals mould together into a track I spent so much time going back to in 2025. A killer moment from twigs.

14) What Was That – Lorde

Lorde found herself again in 2025 on Virgin and the first tease we heard of it back in April has remained the most dynamic and immediate single from her in years. Lorde has this amazing way of writing lyrics so specific, so matter of fact to her own very personal experience and yet craft a song around them that feels completely universal. What Was That is small and yet ridiculously huge in scale. A song I think will become engrained in the ‘lore’ of Lorde for years to come.

13) Victory Lap – Fred again.., Skepta & Platqueboymax (& Doechii)

For starters it’s an absolute crime that Doechii isn’t credited for the sample on this absolutely storming dance hit, she’s integral to this song. Victory Lap feels exactly like that. I honestly don’t think Skepta has sounded this in command since Konnichiwa and his verses on this are outstanding, while Fred again continues to make music that should never work on paper sound completely undeniable. I love this side of Fred again’s sound and nothing he released in 2025 came close to the dynamism of the original version of Victory Lap.

12) Midnight Sun – Zara Larsson

Zara Larsson has delivered enough earworm hooks throughout the last decade in pop to last a lifetime, but Midnight Sun feels different. It feels like the first time we’ve truly heard Zara’s personality being the exact reason why the song shines. Yes the vocals are obscenely good here; yes the hook is catchy as hell; yes it’s tiktok dance worthy. But all of that is nothing without us hearing Zara. You feel her as an artist and as a woman on Midnight Sun, undoubtedly my favourite Zara song to date.

11) Dopamine – Robyn

Robyn returning and missing out on my top 10 sounds RIDICULOUS, but she may as well be because once again the greatest pop artist of my life is creating records with more emotional weight than I can actually handle. My favourite Robyn songs manage to feel like they are becoming bigger and bigger by the second, even when they literally aren’t. There’s something about how she performs Dopamine that buries itself in you expanding bit by bit to allow for that almighty thudding bass moment to hit even harder. It has been 7 years since I experienced Robyn live and I’m praying this means she’s finally back again in 2026.

10) Abracadabra – Lady Gaga

Imagine waking up one day with absolutely no knowledge of Lady Gaga and then pressing play on Abracadabra. A song that is utterly wild, unhinged and yet is such a perfect distillation of the power of Gaga as an artist. It’s basically a song of choruses, every moment more catchy than the last and then even that’s before you hit the obscene operatic middle 8. Equal parts exhausting, engaging and exhilarating Abracadabra is massive.

9) The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station – CMAT

5 minutes of CMAT trying to explain exactly why Jamie Oliver’s face angers her so much at a petrol station is actually 5 minutes of CMAT completely unfurling as a person in front of us. I absolutely love how every second of this song grows and grows, envelops your ear as her vocal becomes wider and more soaring before completely losing herself in the final minute. It’s one of the year’s most overwhelming songs and to me the peak of CMAT’s career so far. As honest, chaotic and fun as CMAT herself it’s the finest distillation of her as an artist I’ve yet to hear.

8) Walk of Fame (feat. Brittany Howard) – Miley Cyrus

I very nearly didn’t include this as ‘technically’ it wasn’t a single. But given it had a vinyl release and a music video I had to relent for one of Miley’s best ever songs. I absolutely love the instrumentation on Walk of Fame, the guitars are huge and each build of synths bigger than the last. Miley and Bittany’s voices sound glorious together too. Two of my favourite singers in current music coming together for a moment that feels somehow bigger than the two of them. A towering moment in pop.

7) If Only I Could Wait (feat. Danielle Haim) – Bon Iver

Saying I love a song where Justin Vernon and Danielle Haim sing together is the most obvious thing I could possibly say. Two of the most important voices of my whole life as a music fan and here they just sound impossibly great together. The best Bon Iver songs manage to sound otherworldly, almost confusing lyrics with layered and complicated instrumentation, but the end result ends up feeling so poignant and so powerful. If Only I Could Wait is my favourite Bon Iver track in years because it hits me so hard every time I hear it. A stunning centrepiece to a stunning album.

6) Relationships – HAIM

I knew after one listen that Relationships would appear very high on this list, a song that has never once let me down when I hit play. The HAIM sisters are absolute leaders in songs that sound so effortless and breezy despite being stacked with lyrical and emotional depth. You can hear the wheels of confusion, desperation and contradiction going round Danielle Haim’s head as each way round that almighty hook changes ever so slightly. Relationships is a song that captures me so much more than an intimate self contained moment like this has any right to. HAIM with a knockout song from a brilliant album in one of the least shocking moments of the year.

5) Sympathy Magic – Florence + the Machine

There’s always one. Always a song on a new Florence + the Machine album that feels like it’s rewired my sense of self. Cosmic Love, Spectrum, Ship To Wreck, Hunger, Free and now Sympathy Magic capture the transcendent magic of Florence’s music so perfectly. Epic and impossible to comprehend in scale, but so personal and emotive too. The final third of Sympathy Magic is some of the most glorious and euphoric music of 2025, a bottled up emotion just exploding. Florence Welch captures me every time she sings and Sympathy Magic captures my soul too.

4) Berghain – ROSALIA, Bjork & Yves Tumor

It would be impossible to try and explain the genius of Berghain, a song that feels so far ahead of what my tiny music fan brain can comprehend and yet has had me absolutely stunned ever since the day I heard it. It’s rare that a song can actually leave me speechless but hearing that opening string orchestration and then ROSALIA’s operatic vocals is so immediate it would be obvious to focus on just that. But Berghain dives deeper with Bjork’s incredible theatrical appearance before Yves Tumor’s raw and powerful closing performance. Go read someone who can actually unpack this incredible composition without just saying ‘WOW’ for 4 minutes.

3) Statue In The Square – Kae Tempest

Statue In The Square might be the most important song of 2025, the first thing we heard from one of the year’s most vital albums. Musically bold, immediate and instant in a way I had never heard from Kae Tempest before, Statue In The Square is an overwhelming depiction of life as a trans person in 2025, devastating and empowering in equal measure. ‘You are not the sum of the things you do wrong in the eyes of someone who does not understand you’ feels universal though and every lyric feels pointed and expertly delivered by Kae. There’s a power to being this direct that seemed to unlock something in Kae Tempest this year and in me hearing this song all year long.

2) WHERE IS MY HUSBAND! – RAYE

I very nearly did the obscene thing of claiming that the same artist behind my #1 song of 2024 (Genesis) also released my #1 song of 2025. But WHAT A SONG. Every comparison levelled against RAYE goes completely out the window whenever I listen to Where Is My Husband, a song that not a single other person could have crafted in the way RAYE does. I can’t pick out small details because every second of this song is a small detail. The harmonies and layered vocals are impeccable. The orchestration of the strings makes the song feel alive and it’s so god damn fun. The intonation on ‘he kept me waiting…anticipating’ is lyrical genius. And as if every moment can’t be better than the last, ‘You’re husband is coming’ from RAYE’s grandma sends the song into the stratosphere for the finale. A perfect pop song from a true giant of music. RAYE has featured in my top 2 songs of the year three separate times now and at this point I have to say that she is the best musician we have right now.

1) If Not Now, It’s Soon – Self Esteem

In so many ways WHERE IS MY HUSBAND! is a perfect record, so why the hell isn’t it at number one? Every time I would listen back to the list and I’d listen to If Not Now, It’s Soon I felt different. I felt more.

No song in 2025 lifts me up like Self Esteem does on this. It’s hard to not feel completely despondent right now. Reaching the end of 2025 and seeing the worst people in the world continue to be given the biggest platforms, I don’t want to escape it, I just want to feel like it’s going to get better. Rebecca Lucy Taylor did that for me with If Not Now, It’s Soon, my favourite Self Esteem record so far. The almost drum and bass production surrounded by luscious strings brings so much life and pace to the song, while remaining powerful and poignant. Julie Hesmondhalgh’s spoken word passage inspires me every time I hear it, and leading to that final ‘Hold on’ from Self Esteem it’s uplifting and euphoric.

What’s funny is that it’s such a short track, there’s barely a verse and two choruses here and yet the impact this song has had on me in 2025 has been monumental in size. I believe it, every second of If Not Now, It’s Soon I believe. And I’m leaving 2025 hoping that it can. Sometimes the poignancy of a song is what resonates with me the most, and If Not Now, It’s Soon felt like a feeling I was reaching for and found through a song. 2026 will be better, because it has to.