It's the most wonderful time of the year! Yes, it's the holiday season, but I also love the month of December because it's list season.
Best of lists! Spotify Wrapped! As a consumer of a plethora of music and visual media, I thoroughly enjoy seeing everyone's top songs and favorite TV shows, comparing against my own and discovering new gems, of course!
And let's face it. The world is a mess right now, so music is such an escape. As in past years, I've compiled 50 selections of my favorites. Not necessarily a "best of" but truly some of the songs I've had on repeat over the past few months, all released in 2025.
This year included standout performances from the likes of Bon Iver, Clipse (Malice and Pusha T), Del Water Gap, Doechii, Djo (Joe Keery of Stranger Things), HAIM, Jon Bellion, Justin Bieber, Kehlani, Mack Keane, Miley Cyrus, Olivia Dean, sombr, The Beaches, Turnstile and Whitney, as well as some gems from rising artists such as doggone, Ken Yates, HAFFWAY, little image, Sekou, tendai and WHATMORE.
There were also some stunning covers from the likes of Jack Hawitt (covering "Torn" by Ednaswap, or better known as Natalie Imbruglia's own 1997 cover), an ethereal rendition of Billie Eilish's "When the Party's Over" by SYML and a Medium Build and Sydney Rose's "Sympathy Is a Knife," which sounds so completely unlike Charli XCX's original.
If you have an eclectic taste in music like I do, perhaps you'll enjoy. Have a listen! And here's to another great year of music in 2026!
Complete List (in alphabetical order):
Amber Mark — Let Me Love You
Bon Iver — There's A Rhythmn
Brent Faiyaz — have to.
Cassandra Coleman — Bite My Tongue
Chance the Rapper — The Highs & The Lows (feat. Joey BadA$$)
Claire Rosinkranz — Lucy
Clipse — The Birds Don't Sing (feat. John Legend & Voices of Fire)
Del Water Gap — How To Live
Dijon — HIGHER!
Djo — Delete Ya
Doechii — Anxiety
doggone — Unforgiven
Drake — NOKIA
ELHAE — Touch (feat. GoldLink)
Elujay — Circles
HAFFWAY — Better If Worse
HAIM — Tie you down (feat. Bon Iver)
Harrison Storm — Someone Else (feat. Winona Oak)
Jack Hawitt — Torn (Ednaswap cover)
JayDon — Separated
Jean Dawson — White Lighter
JID — Glory
Johan Lenox — When Morning Comes
Jon Bellion — HOROSCOPE (feat. Pharrell Williams)
Justin Bieber — DAISIES
Kehlani — Folded
Ken Yates — Under the Cover of Light
Leon Thomas — Just How You Are
little image — KILL THE GHOST
Little Simz — Lotus (feat. Michael Kiwanuka & Yussef Dayes)
Lola Young — One Thing
Mack Keane — Candycrush
Medium Build & Sydney Rose — Sympathy Is a Knife (Charli XCX cover)
Miley Cyrus — End of the World
Olivia Dean — Man I Need
Perfume Genius — Clean Heart
Saba & No ID — head.rap (feat. Madison McFerrin, Ogi & Jordan Ward)
Sekou — About Last Night
sombr — 12 to 12
SYML — When the Party's Over (Billie Eilish cover)
Tems — What You Need
tendai — SMN
The Beaches — Takes One To Know One
The Brummies — ILWY
The Temper Trap — Lucky Dimes
Turnstile — NEVER ENOUGH
Vancouver Sleep Clinic — avalanche
Weston Estate — GO!
WHATMORE — put it on hearts
Whitney — Evangeline (feat. Madison Cunningham)
