Top 100 Favourite Songs of 2025 (honourable mentions)

When I started this blog back in 2020 (wow it’s been 5 years already), my music taste and playlists essentially consisted of only K-pop with a few J-pop songs sprinkled in. And between 2020 and mid 2022 that remained mostly the same—though with a notable increase in the number of J-pop songs as a result of my J-pop coverage on this blog. However, following a few life events and just general changing of the tides, the latter half of 2022 saw my music tastes slowly start to shift away from K-pop. Now for those of you reading who were followers of the blog all the way back then (if you still even exist given my posting schedule), this might have been somewhat evident by the gradual change in my posting frequency and style. I began posting much less frequently and uncharacteristically delay seasonal posts. Most notably I just straight up didn’t do any countdown posts for 2023. Not for mid-year. Not for end of year. Not for J-pop. Nothing.

I still listened to K-pop pretty regularly at the time and even drafted a year-end list on Spotify. But for some reason, I just wasn’t inclined to write about anything back then. My tastes had shifted much more towards modern pop sensibilities, jazz, indie rock and other genre’s that just felt so much more alive to me than a lot of the music that was coming out of Korea. And while 2024 renewed my interest with some genuinely incredible singles, the past year has once again reminded me that my music taste has fractured too far to enjoy K-pop the same way I did a few years ago. Now don’t get me wrong, I still love me a good song and there were many K-pop songs this year that I loved. But after some reflection I decided that this year I would make a change to my countdown. Rather than just focus on my favourite K-pop songs of the year, I wanted to highlight the songs that made my year across everything. All genres, countries, sounds, everything. This also includes album tracks and b-sides without music videos so it really is an all encompassing countdown. And while yes I know this is a K-pop blog (it’s literally in the name), I feel as though this more comprehensive countdown works as a much more complete recount of my year musically. And If I’m going to be honest, results in a list that stands much more firmly in regard to pure musical quality.

But before we get into the main list, I would like to highlight some honourable mentions. Each of these tracks were part of the top 100 at some point during the construction of this list but *just* missed out for one reason or another. Maybe if I were to make this list a week or two from now some of these would make it in. But for now, I wanted to highlight these 11 (and one special mention) tracks.

If you want to check out my rankings for other years:

The only rules and guidelines for this countdown:

This is all just my opinion. There is much bias to be found and if you’re unhappy with any of the placements, just remember that this is not meant to be a purely objective list.

Songs must released between the 1st of January to 20th of December 2025.

So without further ado, let’s begin.

Special Mention: Taylor Swift – CANCELLED!

“The Life of a Showgirl” arrived as one of the year’s more unfortunate releases but time—as usual—unveiled a few little delights in an otherwise jarring collection of tracks. Of these, the dramatic (and admittedly cringe inducing) CANCELLED! stands as my biggest guilty pleasure. I know this song will probably end up high on many peoples “worst songs of the year” lists but I just cant help but be drawn to it. Is it cringe? Yes. Are the lyrics horrible? Most definitely. Is it just Yellow Flicker Beat in a different albeit smaller font? Oh yeah. But you know what, for some reason, I kind of like it. As objectively bad as it may be.

111. Jennie – start a war

Riffing a classic yet bulletproof chord progression results in Jennie’s strongest song yet. Sometimes all you need to do is slow the tempo and focus on the melody.

110. ENHYPEN – Bad Desire (With or Without You) (review)

Though marred by some questionable mixing, Bad Desire is home to one of Enhypen’s most instant hooks, recalling mid 2000’s Justin Timberlake style RnB in the best way.

109. Taylor Swift – The Fate of Ophelia

The undisputed shining light in an otherwise mess of an album, The Fate of Ophelia presents a shiny pop package with a buoyant, incredibly hooky extended centrepiece. It’s classic Swift and alongside Opalite (low-key a Christmas banger) stands as the only convincing pop “moment” off the album. I just wish the production felt a little less hollow.

108. Hwasa – Good Goodbye

A mega hit in Korea right now and my favourite Hwasa song in ages, Good Goodbye generates a gorgeous sense of lift during its majestic chorus that has you coming back for more after every listen. In many ways it reminds me of a personal favourite—charli xcx’s generational White Mercedes.

107. Charli xcx – Chains of Love

Speaking of Charli, this song for the upcoming Wuthering Heights adaptation (yikes btw) saw her return to a more melodic pop-ballad sound following the immense electronic pulse of Brat. It isn’t quite her best but almost anything she touches right now is gold.

106 – Couch – On The Wire

A funky pop track that’s just so much fun, On The Wire put Couch on my radar. And while I am yet to dive deeper into their discography, I hope the rest of their stuff is just as good. The vocal performance and nimble melodies on this one are such a treat.

105. ONF – The Stranger

I’m a guy who couldn’t care less about artists reheating their own nacho’s if the nacho’s are good. And few nacho’s are as flavourful as ONF brand ones. And while I must admit they were a little stale this time around and didn’t fare well after storage, that initial burst of flavour was just as potent as it always was.

104. Tate McRae – TIT FOR TAT

As someone who was pretty indifferent to Tate McRae in the past, I was pretty surprised by just how much her 2025 output worked for me. TIT FOR TAT isn’t the most original of songs but that cyclical hook is just so damn addictive. I was so tempted to put this higher.

103. Joey Valence & Brae – SEE U DANCE (feat. Rebecca Black)

I love almost everything about this. I think Joey Valence & Brae perfectly skirt the line between novelty and quality while Rebecca Black’s reinvention has cemented her as one of my favourite current artists. They complement each other incredibly in the rambunctious SEE U DANCE which melds aggressive, dynamic verses with a soaring melodic hook. For the longest time this was in the top 100 but the somewhat weak ending unfortunately knocks it down to the honourable mentions.

102. Aminé – Arc de Triomphe

I love songs that feel as though they have a “pulse” and the persistent percussive bounce of Arc de Triomphe ensures the track has a real heartbeat. Aminé riffs expertly off the freewheeling production, delivering some genuinely great bars without ever overpowering or falling victim to the production.

101. The Weeknd – Wake Me Up (feat. Justice)

While “Hurry Up Tomorrow” didn’t quite hit me as hard or last as long as I expected, the operatic electronic fervour of Wake Me Up gave us a real standout moment early on in the year. As with most of the album, I don’t think it has much replay value but god damn does the transition at 1:45 hit hard every time.