In 2025, I actually started relatively consistently buying music on iTunes again for the first time in maybe a decade. Individual songs are still a bit tough to justify for purchase sometimes, but honestly older albums are a super good deal. Ironically, despite committing to purchasing music I constantly listen to, I’ve also upped my use of discovery features on Spotify too. I ended up with more new songs on this list than prior years, with only one roll-over this time around. This year’s list also features more songs that actually released in the year I’m reviewing, with five total! Enjoy!
1. People Watching, Sam Fender
Pair one of the most Springsteen-y songs in recent years (sorry Bleachers) with an incredible music video, and you have yourself a winner. People Watching might be in my top 10 songs of all time now, which is kind of crazy to say about a song that just released!
Favorite Blaring Instrument: Tenor Saxaphone
2. Rubber Band Man, Mumford & Sons w/Hozier
Is it crazy to suggest this is Mumford and Sons’ best song ever? Maybe! But I’ll still make the suggestion… especially for the live recoded version linked abve.
Favorite Media about a Soccer Coach Over His Head: Kicking and Screaming (Ted Lasso #2)
3. Center Mass, 21 Pilots
To round out the top three, I have another song that could be in my top songs of all time. Center Mass has an incredible build and one of the most cathartic song endings of all time. It’s difficult to overstate how good the song is, and how awesome it would be to hear live. It reads like a poem and sounds incredible.
Favorite Lyric:
Found out what I’m worth, I run to you
I hope you understand this run-on sentence
The tattoos only hurt when meaning fades
I think my skin got worse with good intentions
I don’t wanna say what happened, I just wanna let it go
Nothing was the same right after, I went to the funeral
I miss you so, so much, take what you want
Take what you want from me
Took you for granted
4. Day One, Bon Iver
I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for a compilation style music video. Move Me by Half Alive and Window in the Skies by U2 scratch a similar itch. However, I think this song is also one of Bon Iver’s best, with a great chorus and some superb mixing and sound design.
Favorite Rhyming Album: Sable, Fable
5. The Louvre, Lorde
Apparently I’ve been sleeping on the album Melodrama for a few too many years, because it might be a no-skip record. Although Hard Feelings might be my favorite song from it now, I listened to The Louvre so much in 2025 that it nearly topped my Spotify wrapped. It has gerat varied sections and good lyrics.
Favorite Painting: Liberty Leading the People
6. Isla, Beluga Lagoon
Sometimes you just need a good old fashioned Scottish Rock Folk tune to jam out to! Nothing more needs be said.
Least Favorite Neighbor Growing Up: The guy who lived near us who played bagpipes at random hours of the day.
7. Pain is Cold Water (Live @ Fenway), Noah Kahan
We may never get a recorded version of this song an album, and maybe that’s OK. The live version from the Fenway album is extremely good, and is a fun short snippet about a melancholy period of life in the greater Boston area. It hits close to home for sure.
Favorite Line: “Oh they’re fighting like dogs in the town cross the river, over a brand new crosswalk that won’t matter come winter”
8. That’s so True, Gracie Abrams
I don’t know if it’s necessarily the best song of all time, but man do I enjoy listening to it, so maybe it doesn’t matter!
True or False? True.
9. Post Humorous, Gus Dapperton
The only repeat from 2024! It landed high in my Spotify Wrapped and is just a great song.
Favorite Bone: Clavicle
10. Melody of Moominvalley, Oda Tilset
This game made its way to Switch last year, and I listened to the soundtrack and some of Oda Tilsets’ other soundtracks on repeat. Given how much I enjoy the relatively simple music and how much I listened to it throughout the year, it had to make it’s way onto the list. Also the Moomins are great— why did I not know about them until just a few years ago when my wife introduced them to me.
Favorite Moomin Character: Snufkin (the anarchist)
On to 2026!