The worst part about limiting your year-end lists is what ends up getting left off. The strays you keep telling yourself, “I’ll find a spot for this,” and suddenly there are no more spots remaining. Whoops. You put together an initial list. Then you re-write the list a bunch more times. Some songs fall off and are replaced. Others move down or up in placement, mostly because you listened to the song again and it was better or slightly worse than you remember. What’s ended up here is a best effort proposition. If I listen back to these 100 songs in a year or five years, will I still want to rank them the same way? Probably not. Time and distance can play funny tricks with your memory, along with where you are in life at the time.

What I will say is that the top 10 songs on this list have been the same since the very first iteration. None of these have moved or changed position since I started this process in early December. That’s as great of an endorsement I can give to them. They impressed, inspired, and gave me goosebumps from the first time I heard them all the way through today. Before we dive in, let me explain some of the peculiarities of the list-making process. First and foremost, every artist on this list only appears once, though guest features do not count towards that total. I think only Earl Sweatshirt hits that exception this year. The goal is to spread the love around to as many artists as possible, so I tried my best to pick the one song from an album (or standalone single) that was both the strongest and most culturally impactful. Secondly, in order to qualify for this list, the song must have been officially released at some point in 2025. Apologies to Cameron Winter, whose album Heavy Metal and incredible single “Love Takes Miles” both came out in December 2024 and won’t be included here. I should make an exception since I was too buried in last year’s “best of” listmaking to give Winter’s record the attention it deserved, but rules are rules. Lastly, while these songs are ranked, the subjective nature of this list really means that about anything after #25 could be considered fluid. It might benefit you to listen through these songs on one of the playlists linked below, and even better if you hit the shuffle button just to see where that gets you. Everything on here is great, so you can’t go wrong!

My #1 song of 2025 might not be “big” or “anthemic” in a traditional sense, but it moves and speaks at a pace that feels right for this moment in time. You could turn it on and hit repeat for hours and it would feel like the most natural thing in the world. It’s a horny song about being horny, yet it also doesn’t feel very sexy or sexual, if that makes sense. In my mind, it’s the musical equivalent of going to a high school dance with somebody you like but don’t know extremely well, and it’s awkward even though your hormones are raging out of control. How does that earn the title of “Song of the Year”. Sometimes magic defies an easy explanation.

Okay, I think that about covers everything I wanted to say. Please enjoy these songs, especially if you haven’t heard them before! I hope you get introduced to a new favorite, because that’s pretty much the whole reason I make these lists in the first place. A Spotify playlist featuring all 100 songs is embedded at the very bottom of the list. You can also use the following links to listen via Spotify or YouTube. What am I missing? Let me know on social media! All the best to you and yours heading into 2026!

Listen to these songs on: Spotify OR YouTube

100. Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist – Feeling (ft. Larry June)
99. Sharp Pins – Every Time I Hear
98. Rapsody – Daddy’s Girl (ft. Madlib)
97. Fine – I could
96. My Morning Jacket – Squid Ink
95. Yung Lean – Forever Yung
94. Horsegirl – Switch Over
93. Teyana Taylor – Bed of Roses
92. Magdalena Bay – Second Sleep
91. Lily Allen – Pussy Palace
90. yeule – Evangelic Girl Is A Gun
89. dexter in the newsagent – Special
88. Deafheaven – Magnolia
87. Drugdealer – Real Thing (ft. Weyes Blood)
86. Greet Death – Motherfucker
85. Packaging – Water’s Edge
84. Ethel Cain – Vacillator
83. The Belair Lip Bombs – Hey You
82. Yaya Bey – spin cycle
81. skaiwater – pop
80. Robyn – Dopamine
79. Sorry – Candle
78. Amber Mark – Sweet Serotonin
77. Stereolab – Transmuted Matter
76. Olivia Dean – Let Alone the One You Love
75. Just Mustard – WE WERE JUST HERE
74. OsamaSon – Made Sum Plans
73. Panda Bear – Ends Meet
72. feeble little horse – This Is Real
71. Jenny Hval – To be a rose
70. Scowl – Not Hell, Not Heaven
69. Kali Uchis – Sunshine & Rain…
68. Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke – Back in the Game
67. 2hollis – flash
66. No Joy – Bugland
65. Benjamin Booker – SLOW DANCE IN A GAY BAR
64. Erika de Casier – Delusional
63. Lifeguard – Under Your Reach
62. Rosalia – La Perla (ft. Yahritza y su Esencia)
61. billy woods – Misery (ft. Kenny Segal)
60. Maria Somerville – Garden
59. YHWH Nailgun – Sickle Walk
58. Fcukers – Play Me
57. MIKE & Tony Seltzer – Jumanji (ft. Earl Sweatshirt)
56. Neko Case – Wreck
55. Blondshell – T&A
54. Squid – Building 650
53. Darkside – S.N.C.
52. Little Simz – Free
51. Circuit des Yeux – Canopy of Eden
50. Nine Inch Nails – As Alive As You Need Me to Be
49. Big Thief – Double Infinity
48. Gelli Haha – Normalize
47. Sudan Archives – MY TYPE
46. Wolf Alice – White Horses
45. Turnstile – BIRDS
44. Earl Sweatshirt – Live
43. Deftones – infinite source
42. McKinley Dixon – Sugar Water (ft. Quelle Chris and Anjimile)
41. Barker – Reframing
40. Pulp – Spike Island
39. Jane Remover – JRJRJR
38. spill tab – Assis
37. Dove Ellis – Pale Song
36. Rochelle Jordan – Ladida
35. Sabrina Carpenter – Tears
34. Momma – I Want You (Fever)
33. Snocaps – Coast
32. Clipse – Ace Trumpets
31. Chappell Roan – The Giver
30. Viagra Boys – Dirty Boyz
29. Playboi Carti – OPM BABI
28. Florence + the Machine – One of the Greats
27. Automatic – Mercury
26. caroline – Total Euphoria
25. Tate McRae – Sports car
24. Perfume Genius – It’s A Mirror
23. Tyler the Creator – Sugar On My Tongue
22. Ninajirachi – Fuck My Computer
21. Haim – Relationships
20. Lady Gaga – Abracadabra
19. CMAT – The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station
18. Alex G – Afterlife
17. Bad Bunny – DtMF
16. Oklou – blade bird
15. Nourished by Time – 9 2 5
14. Model/Actriz – Cinderella
13. Amaarae – S.M.O.
12. aya – off to the ESSO
11. PinkPantheress – Illegal
10. Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band – New Threats From The Soul
9. FKA twigs – Girl Feels Good
8. james K – Play
7. Addison Rae – Headphones On
6. Wednesday – Townies
5. Dijon – Yamaha
4. Wet Leg – pokemon
3. Water From Your Eyes – Playing Classics
2. Geese – Taxes
1. Smerz – You got time and I got money