The Best Songs of 2025

"The best songs of 2025 worked admirably toward the daunting task of attempting to describe what it feels like to be alive in the unpredictability matrix of the mid-'20s. Songwriters expressing pangs of grief for what once was held court with others fretting about undesirable futures and still others dreaming up cooler tomorrows. With cultural consensuses in disrepair and taste informed by an ever evolving spate of social media and streaming platforms, mainstream music trends were almost reliably fractious."

"But working with Stockholm Drain Gang veteran Bladee on the remix turns the song into a hyper-pop boss fight, with frenetic and bleating synths piling on the duo's vocals. The first version celebrated big beat and French house music, but this one reminds us that PinkPantheress emerged from an age of preoccupation with digital realms and video-game soundtracks."

"The wan and ephemeral Mind Loaded displays a few of the intersecting skills of its chief songwriter, Dev Hynes. His latest Blood Orange album, Essex Honey, reflects on growing up in East England, inspired by the death of his mother. The single is steeped in '90s folk and dance music, acting as a road map of his career, which veered from scrappy indie-rock jams to R&B and classical scores."

The best songs of 2025 captured the emotional and cultural disarray of the mid-'20s, balancing grief for the past with anxiety and hope about the future. Mainstream trends fractured as social media and streaming reshaped taste, while remixes reframed artists by linking contemporary work to older styles. PinkPantheress's Stateside remix with Bladee transforms the song into hyper-pop, emphasizing digital and video-game influences over original French house and big beat references. Dev Hynes's Mind Loaded and Essex Honey trace a career spanning '90s folk, dance, indie rock, R&B, and classical elements, with notable guest contributions.

Read at www.vulture.com