I can’t believe we’ve made it through half of 2025 already — I feel like I blinked on New Year’s Day and now here we are. Anyone following this blog will know I’ve dedicated a large part of my listening time this year to looking backward at classic albums that came out before my time. To date I’ve listened to and recorded my thoughts on over 50 of them now, and youcanreadthemallhere.
But that isn’t to say I’ve been neglecting new stuff; in fact I’ve found a really nice sweet spot where I’m discovering all this older music and still making time for new stuff without being a full time slave to it. I like to use the midpoint of the year to reflect on the best songs of the last 6 months — saving any discussion of albums until December. So without further ado, here are 30 of the greatest tunes 2025 has offered us so far:
‘Call It Easy’ by Racing Mount Pleasant I don’t know what it is about the band (FKA Kingfisher) but they reach back into the music I listened to at university that really touched me. This is their first single since the name change and it’s a masterclass in soft/loud with two smooth alto saxophones duelling alongside a trumpet to undercut the singer’s heartfelt vocals. The second half of the song reaches a yearning instrumental crescendo that has me poised for anything and everything that the group do next.
‘A Is For Africa’ (prod. by Kwes Darko) by Isaiah Hull I don’t know that much about Isaiah Hull yet, but this single produced by slowthai’s main producer Kwes Darko made me into an immediate fan. Originally from Manchester, the rapper’s incendiary delivery is impossible to look away from; using the alphabet to bludgeon the listener over the head with his lived experiences (my favourite line: “E is for English, everybody’s evil / F is for the faith that I have in all my females”) As soon as the beat hits I max the volume every time.
‘come aliv3’ ft. Abi Flynn by RL Grime & Knock2 This one immediately caught my attention 1. because it’s RL Grime but also 2. and most importantly, Abi Flynn was someone I knew from my hometown growing up! This is a great feature from her and so great to see her credited properly for her vocals. The song really reminds me of discovering RL Grime through his remixes back in 2012 and just being blown away by the tenacity of the sounds he creates.
‘Pipeline’ by Logic & Oddisee I love how this one reminds me of J. Cole’s breathtaking ‘Be Free’ both thematically and musically. Logic (and to a much lesser degree Oddisee too) can be prone to corniness but this song is straightforward, powerful and undeniable in its protest for the subjugated and overlooked. Oddissee’s verse is the best I’ve heard him sound for a long time. They both absolute skim over the top of this unflashy, soulful beat backed by a gorgeous choir.
‘Statue In The Square’ by Kae Tempest This was an absolutely vital song in the year that the UK Supreme Court ruled transgender people, even those with Gender Recognition Certificates may not be legally recognised as their gender with regards to single-sex spaces. Tempest dropped a rallying-cry for this shameful moment in our collective history — “They never wanted people like me round here / But when I’m dead, they’ll put my statue in the square” It’s a triumphant protest that is unabashedly itself.
‘COCAINE NOSE’ by Playboi Carti From the moment you realise F1LTHY has flipped ‘Only U’ by Ashanti it becomes impossible to deny the greatness of this song as a rage-rap future classic. As with most of my favourite Carti moments; this one just sounds like driving a car into a wall at 100mph — all flashing lights, contorted metal, speed and terror. Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t completely drunk the Kool Aid (he has some of the worst fans in the business) but this one and a handful of other songs are complete white-knuckle rides.
‘Caramel’ by Sleep Token I placed Sleep Token’s 2022 album in my Top 15 of that year; so hopefully it shouldn’t be too much of a jump-scare to see them here. Yes, they may come across self-serious and hammy so call them a guilty pleasure if you must, but the sheer melodrama and earnestness just speaks to me. What can I say, something about the line “Too young to get bitter over it all / Too old to retaliate like before…I thought I got better / But maybe I didn’t” just really spoke to me and once I let it in I just kept coming back to the song. Fans of their heavier work hate this one but I keep coming back to the singer’s tone and lyrics.
‘2004’ ft. Buddy by YG YG is a lot of things but the victim of underage sexual abuse was not one I was aware of until now. This is a truly unflinching and heartbreaking admission of being taken advantage of as a teenager by a woman twice his age and as a result is one of the most daring hip hop songs this side of Mr Morale. The storytelling is gripping and you really feel like you’re the teenager in the same impossible position that he was. Past trauma doesn’t excuse adult behaviour as YG hopes it does here; but it’s so brave to speak out on and I can’t wait to follow his growth from here.
‘Sad Piano House’ by Daphni This new one does everything that Daphni/Caribou/Dan Snaith has always done so well. It has a pounding, driving beat which carries the eponymous ‘sad piano’ line in dizzying contrast. There’s a melancholy vocal sample chopped in there too. After 3 minutes a stuttering bass line joins the chaos and the whole thing threatens to fly off the rails entirely. But as ever, order is restored by the doctor of mathematics; delivering one of the year’s very best dance songs so far.
‘Rearrange My World’ / ‘There’s a Field (That’s Only Yours)’ by Daniel Caesar & Rex Orange County Cheating slightly here by squeezing a double A-side single into 1 placement but I just couldn’t pick between them. ‘Rearrange My World’ is a gorgeous love song lullaby capturing the simple sweetness of falling in love. ‘There’s a Field’ is led my delicately plucked acoustic guitar and the two singers harmonise like the best folk singers of the 60’s. They’re both at their thrilling pinnacles of their power right now and both songs feel like a precious gift that bring me so much joy.
‘Lemon’ by The Callous Daoboys These guys are comedians at heart and every one of their music videos shows it. Here, they try to decide what song to play for the ‘5th Annual Fulton County Poker Tournament’ and, at the suggestion of ‘Lemon’ their lead guitarist tells the singer “Dude you don’t even scream on that song, anyone who likes that one is gonna hate the rest of our songs” This is shocking self-awareness and pretty on-the-money too — ‘Lemon’ is the band’s most catchy and unconfrontational songs ever which may be why it’s so damn irresistible. The image of “Your mother saw me waiting tables and she asked if I was doing “the band thing…still” / I always finish what I start but I guess it’s been almost a decade of this” is so striking while sounding so catchy too. What a band.
‘1st Light’ by umru & Jacques Greene Yes, Jacques Greene and Nosaj Thing reunited this year for another electrifying single, but my favourite JG collaboration in 2025 so far has been with Estonian producer umru. Released on LuckyMe; this one has all the hallmarks of Greene’s nimble percussive beat-making but umru brings this grinding synth line that sounds like a motherboard creaking to breaking point. An absolute cheat code to soundtrack any kind of exercise this year. The producer has also put out work with the likes of Nikki Nair and underscores so definitely one to watch.
‘The Old Guard Is Dead’ by Ghais Guevara Clearly I wasn’t the only person crazy for the opening song on Ghais Guevara’s latest album; as Kendrick’s team picked it to open his 59th Superbowl Halftime Show. It’s the perfect choice; with its religious chants and a drop that completely incinerates the low-end this is the most motivating song of the year. As I write this Guevara has just dropped the follow-up to the album that this opens; making that 2 LPs in 6 months — a very exciting time to jump on the bandwagon if you haven’t yet.
‘Of The Sorrows’ by For Those I Love 4 long years since his incendiary debut album, Dublin’s David Balfe returns with a new statement. After introducing himself to the world with a full-length eulogy to his best friend who took his life; I wondered if he would ever put out more music. Blissfully, ‘Of The Sorrow’s is just as powerful as any of the rest of his work while managing to explore a new, less emotionally fraught subject. We join the poet wrestling with the complex feelings of wanting to leave the home you love for new horizons; and the battle with Stockholme Syndrome that we all feel. It climaxes with the repeated turmoil of “I have to leave / I’ll never leave / I have to leave / I’ll never leave” showing that, for Balfe this conflict never ends.
‘1:1[FKDUP.BEZEL]’ by Pink Siifu I’ve been a fan of Alabama’s Pink Siifu since his 2020 breakthrough project ‘NEGRO’ and have made sure to check for whatever he releases ever since. The new album BLACK’!ANTIQUE is a sprawling, 77 minute odyssey and ‘FKDUP.BEZEL’ might be the most accessible entry point. Which is not to say it’s straight forward! Woven into the beat is the refrain “Damn n***** my Bezel broke!” while the beat pounds like a headache. The final minute and a half are hijacked by favourite BbyMutha who completes engulfs the whole things. What a trip.
‘CHROMA 008 TANGZ’ ft. ELIZA by Bicep ELIZA’s 2022’s A Star Without Stars was one of my favourite albums that year; so it was a thrill to hear her join Bicep’s budding CHROMA project of collaborations. They kicked it off in January 2024 and it’s produced some of my favourite electronic music of the last 18 months. This one has a skittering beat with yawning pad sounds. ELIZA’s gorgeous vocals soar over the top like a sceptre in the club, edging the song possibly into my #1 spot from the project so far.
‘WRK’ by JID I’ve been a big fan of Atlanta’s JID for more than 8 years now and I’m STILL waiting for him to completely crossover. Anyone who knows modern hip hop is already aware that he is possibly the most gifted MC out right now but I’m hoping his forthcoming album will elevate him to Travis Scott levels of success (because he deserves it much more imo!) ‘WRK’ is great; a complete over-stimulation of a song with about 5 different things happening at any moment. These include, but are not limited to; chants of “WORK” that sounds like dogs barking, handclaps that could be cheeks slapping, schoolyard taunts of “I’ma spend in full, life’s been workin’ for y’all”, a booming, destructive instrumental and, as usual, JID rapping his ass off as ever.
‘The artist is absent (89 second rewrite)’ by Jenny Hval This one astounded me from the very first time it reached my ear drums. I’ve sort of been into Jenny Hval in the past but this grinding, motorik song really struck me as something special. Annoyingly, the original version of the song (and the one that appears on the album) is inexplicably only 83 seconds long, so this ‘rewrite’ more than doubles its length…and still feels criminally short! I have no idea why Hval decided her best song ever should also be her shortest but the juxtaposition of her siren-like voice against the gnashing instrumental is one of the most innovative pieces of music I’ve heard all year.
‘Rather Be Alone’ ft. Halle by Leon Thomas As much as it pains me; I am happy to admit when I’m late to an artist — hell I have a whole section dedicated to it in my end-of-year album wrap-up. Leon Thomas’ exceptional R’n’B future classic Mutt will make top billing this year after I discovered it a full 6 months after its initial release. But; as if throwing me a bone, Thomas released an expanded version Heel which contained 2 remixes and 7 new songs. ‘Rather Be Alone’ featuring Halle from Chloe x Halle (and Little Mermaid) fame. It’s a gorgeous lament to a relationship where the 2 singers appear as ying/yang for each other. I think this guy is going the distance.
‘Wifey Riddim’ ft. Jorja Smith & Sadboi by Shygirl This is an absolute masterclass in artistic chemistry. Shygirl is quickly becoming my favourite female artist in the UK — she just exudes cool and power in equal measure and I find it transfixing. What a thrill then to hear her alongside Toronto’s SadBoi rapping her ass off and the one and only Jorja Smith adding her gorgeous vocals. The music video shows the 3 of them on some wild night out which is just the cherry on top. Such an addictive beat too; I love seeing Shygirl’s star continue to rise.
‘Ace Trumpets’ by Clipse The Thornton brothers first reunited on Kanye’s Jesus Is King, 8 long years after older brother Malice was born again into Christianity and changed his name to No Malice. On the Ye song he rapped“A lot of damaged souls — I done damaged those” showing the weight of his conscience from their drug-dealing past. But the most important thing was that he was back with his brother as Clipse. We’d have to wait another 4 years for more collaborative music from the duo, appearing on Nigo’s album then on Pusha T’s It’s Almost Dry the same year. But finally in 2025 the Clipse comeback album was given an official release date and the first single was revealed as ‘Ace Trumpets’ I don’t really have the words for how powerful this is; but it’s in no small part thanks to Pharrell’s colossal instrumental; which the brothers soar over like spectres. Bring on Let God Sort Em Out.
‘Unbelievable’ ft. Ada by DJ Koze Mad that it’d been 7 full years since DJ Koze’s last solo album; but 2023’s collaboration LP with Róisín Murphy definitely helped tide us over. The new one is an absolute treasure trove that I’m still very much in the process of unpacking; but an immediate favourite was this gorgeous Ada-featuring track, which feels part love song, part lullaby being beamed down from outer space. If aliens slow dance together then this would be the perfect tune. It’s sweet and ethereal in equal measure.
‘stick’ by Jim Legxacy Lewisham’s Jim Legxacy is about to drop what I am convinced will be my album of the year (or close enough) He’s been teasing the follow-up to 2023’s insane homeless n*gga pop music for a while now but it looks like Black British Music is finally coming this month. ‘stick' is probably my favourite of the singles so far; anchored by the gorgeous sung hook “Ever since the rains came crashin' down on the water / my boat can't take on more water” and Legacy’s signature skittering production it’s the perfect statement of intent. It’s sad, it’s danceable and it’s unmistakably UK. Bring on the album.
‘EoO’ by Bad Bunny I heard ‘EoO’ in a DJ set (on YouTube) which was lucky because — nestled at the end of his January album — it had kind of missed me before. It shows the Puerto Rican return to his Reggaetón roots with a very punchy beat with menacing, drama-laced synths. The singer sounds absolutely colossal astride it all. The beat switch halfway is surprising but doesn’t derail the vibe of the song at all and stays true to the sound throughout. In spoken word in the outro he says (in Spanish) “You’re listening to Puerto Rican music, man — we grew up listening and singing this; in the projects, in the neighbourhoods.” It’s triumphant.
‘The Person You’d Like To Be’ by Barry Can’t Swim The first time I heard this incredible single from Barry; I immediately heard Vegyn’s work as Headache (my AOTY in 2023). It shows the Scottish producer experiment with spoken word to deliver a dystopian and surrealist diatribe on modern existence. The delivery and tone is pure Headache; but delivered by a real person (from Edinburgh no less) kind of gives it bonus points. The 2 lines that demonstrated the comparison best were “Don’t look into someone’s eyes if you love them for too long / They will see you as you are” and the end of the verse “Can you sit down with me for a moment please? Can you hold my hand? I am frightened” But I don’t want any of this to detract from the fact that this is one of the best song of the year but absolute miles — I can’t wait for the album.
‘Sweet Celine’ by Zelooperz & Real Bad Man I see Real Bad Man, I listen to the album. But then I’ve been a fan of Zelooperz for a long time too — since he debuted in 2013 with his feature on Danny Brown’s ‘Kush Koma’ This song was the lead single from the album Dear Psilocybin — the rapper’s farewell freak-out before getting clean. ‘Sweet Celine’ was particularly unexpected; sounding like a detective show soundtrack he creeps across the beat like a stalker; letting the psychedelic atmosphere mingle headily with his stream of consciousness. A cool change of tone from his usual mania.
‘Besos Robados’ ft. Isabella Lovestory by DJ Python I don’t know much about the producer known as DJ Python, other than he’s based in NYC. But I saw his new EP was coming out on XL Recordings so I gave it a try. ‘Besos Robados’ featuring Honduras singer Isabella Lovestory is an incredibly lithe and sexy cut which is designed more to make you nod your head on a hot day than to hit the dance floor. It’s at such a weird BPM that I found myself going back to it over and over again; almost hypnotised by its balearic cool. Check out the full 5 songs of the i was put on this earth EP if you can.
‘lost my mind’ ft. Yvnnis by Jeshi Sounding suspiciously like it samples a rendition of Erik Satie’s ‘Gymnopédie №1’ this bilingual team-up was a real surprise for me. I’ve been checking for Jeshi since the early EPs but this one excited me more than a lot of his more recent output. Teaming up with up and coming East Paris MC Yvnnis was a masterstroke; letting him rap his full verse in French was even better. People forget how huge hip hop is across the channel so I love anything that shines a light on it. What a strange, hard-to-define rap song for 2025; we need more of this.
‘It Gets Better (Forever Mix)’ by KETTAMA I first got into Galway’s KETTAMA through his incredible collaboration with Real Lies last year and have been following ever since. He was the perfect producer match up for the duo because — like them — his work is steeped in nostalgia for a more ectasty — led UK culture that has since disappeared. ‘It Gets Better’ really that 90’s trance feel to it; the euphoria of no-one existing in the world outside the people in the crowd listening to the music as one. “I need a drink… I wanna be the arms around our memory” sings (I think!) the producer himself. Pure elation.
‘Got To Have Love’ by Pulp OK hands up — I wasn’t that excited about the Pulp revival. I don’t know why; I’m always wary about legacy acts producing new music and to be honest; lead single ‘Spike Island’ didn’t do loads to change my mind. But then suddenly ‘Got To Have Love’ grabbed me by the collar and shook sense into me. Jarvis Cocker has that Robert Smith syndrome where his voice sounds literally exactly the same now in his 60s as it did when he was a young man. This is an urgent, Nick Cave-esque ballad complete with choral stabs and everything — I love it.
‘Falle Le Le Le’ by Falle Nioke It’s thank you once again to 6 Music for this find — Nioke’s gorgeous Guinean sound cascading from the office speakers like pure sunshine. Apparently it was produced by Mike Lindsay of LUMP (w/ Laura Marling) and Tunng fame which is cool. I also learned I had heard Nioke before on his collaborative work with none other than Joe Goddard, who I met when he DJ’d at a work event last month! (Yes, of course I got a pic) Anyway, this might be the goddam song of the summer this year — it has the free, creative energy that I want to emulate every day the skies are blue.
30 of the songs that have soundtracked the first half of my year. I’ll be back with the lists in December where — alongside the best albums — I’ll revisit some more of the best individual songs too. Happy listening!
