(Some of) My Favorite Songs of 2025

2026 is here, and I wanted to give a shoutout to a few songs that never left my rotation throughout the year. Hopefully I can give this sort of thing more attention going forward. If you were wondering what’s playing in my earbuds on the train to work, now you don’t have to.

Songs from 2025

food house – everybody’s eyes

No surprise that something from food house ends up on here. I really enjoy the duo’s work, and the album released this year delivered for me. “everybody’s eyes” stuck out the most for me because it’s high-speed, vulnerable, and hopeful. Frax sings about her relationship with her fans and performing, and how the mutual love was missing from other parts of her life. gupi’s squelchy lead synths really drive it home for me. This song is easily my favorite from the album, though the honorable mentions are close behind.

Honorable mention from this album: computerpunk, la la la, nono, credit card knife

glaive – Foreigner

I stumbled into glaive’s music earlier this year while getting caught up on ericdoa’s work. I had liked what I heard when “cloak n dagger” came on, and then I found recently-released Y’all. The first few tracks were interesting, but not enough to completely pull me in. “Appalachia” caught my interest and convinced me to listen through. “We Don’t Leave the House” was a smooth, moody, and catchy dance track that teed me up to be completely floored by the edge of “Foreigner.” I was in awe when the track wrapped up. I loved its grit, its anger, and the sound production was unreal. It’s a very interesting situation where I feel like the track excels when placed in the context of the album. I like it on its own, but I’m not sure it would have had the same impact.

Honorable mentions from this album: Appalachia, Weird, We Don’t Leave the House

underscores – Music

Anytime something new comes from underscores, I will be there to listen. “Music” came out and I enjoyed it right away. I appreciated her return to some of the EDM influences she strayed away from with Wallsocket, despite loving that album as much as I did. The accompanying music video and Stepmania Chart made this single that much more special. I can’t wait to see what else she’s cooking.

jasmine.4.t – Guy Fawkes Tesco Dissociation

This was a last minute addition, I had not heard of jasmine.4.t until later in the year. When I put You are the Morning on, “Guy Fawkes Tesco Dissociation” left the biggest impression. It took me a few listens for me to really like it, but then I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I think that’s the mark of an impactful work of art.

passengerprincess – PUPPY 4EVER

“4K CARPET” introduced the world to passengerprincess, a track that seemed carefully crafted to check some viral song boxes. I do like the song, but other tracks on their debut album had a bit more substance to me. I found “PUPPY 4EVER” to be surprisingly heartwarming and relatable. I hum the chorus to myself pretty frequently. I wouldn’t mind being your puppy forever and ever, to be honest.

Honorable mentions from this album: TUMMY, 4K CARPET

Older Songs

The Beths – Little Death

Some algorithm somewhere put this song in front of me at some point this year, and I am very thankful. Something about its sound captured me immediately, and I was listening to it on repeat for a few days. I love the vocal delivery and upbeat drums. I will be paying more attention to The Beths from this point.

ericdoa – dancinwithsomebawdy

My ericdoa binge lead me to glaive, but I also picked up some new favorite tracks from him on that journey. This one seems to have become a success, and I completely see why. I find it incredibly fun to dance and sing along with. It’s a very satisfying mix where the driving bass is always reminding you that it’s there, but in a way that feels welcome.

Wavves – King of the Beach

Completely driven by the release of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4, this song from the soundtrack defined a lot of my summer months. It captures the essence of a summer song so well, and this summer I found myself longing for the water, and the beach more specifically. “Let the sun burn my eyes, let it burn my back” was a popular refrain of mine when the sun seemed determined to beat down on us. It’s a fun and memorable track.

AJR – Inertia

This one surprised me. I never really listened to this group, but the song crept into my autoplay one day and it left a big impact. I know many people deal with this feeling of being stuck and unable to snap out of it, but it came across during an evening when I was really stuck in those feelings. I had to shout it out because it was there for me at a time when I needed something to help me feel heard.