Some years, a handful of songs dominate our playlists, festival stages and social media trends. In others, the playing field feels a lot more level, greatness more evenly distributed. The last 12 months fall under the latter category. 2025’s output was varied and vital, whether coming in the form of CMAT’s empowering take on country, Lorde’s explorations of gender, the return of Steve Lacy or the excellence of Jim Legxacy. Here are the songs that made 2025 another mega year of music.
Rhian Daly, Music Editor
Words by: Alex Flood, Alex Rigotti, Ben Jolley, Andrew Trendell, Damian Jones, Daniel Peters, Gary Ryan, Georgia Evans, Hannah Mylrea, Hollie Geraghty, Ivana E. Morales, Jordan Bassett, Karen Gwee, Kayleigh Watson, Kyann-Sian Williams, Laura Molloy, Liberty Dunworth, Nick Levine, Poppy Burton, Rhian Daly, Rishi Shah, Tom Morgan and Ziwei Puah
