Song of the Year: 2025 Edition
I've been 'Loving' songs in my Last.fm account for years, including 2025, and I'd figure I'd go through this year's list and pick the 'winner' for Song Of The Year 2025!
Song of the Year
2025 Edition
⚠️ Big warning up front: These songs are not necessarily released in 2025. I've only marked them in this year.
This is the full list of 64 songs. You can also skip to the results.
| Artist | Song |
|---|---|
| getlost | Turned to Dust |
| Amherist! | Sins Of The Past, Truth Of The Future |
| fera | 999 |
| Post Heaven | Exit Wound |
| Hell Hotel | smile. |
| Showing Teeth | Labyrinth |
| Théa | CAVALE! CAVALE! |
| Kim Dracula | Make Me Famous |
| Kim Dracula | Drown |
| Devil Can't Cry | Cut Me Like You Want |
| The Lazy Boys | 90's |
| The Requiem | I’ll Be Late For My Funeral |
| Kamiyada+ | damage critical |
| Belmont | In The Sky |
| Sleeping With Sirens | Captain Tyin Knots vs. Mr. Walkway (No Way) |
| Blood Command | World Domination |
| Blood Command | Heaven's Hate |
| Blood Command | The Plague on Both Your Houses |
| Arm's Length | Object Permanence |
| Ankor | Darkbeat |
| STELLVRIS | Shatter & Bloom |
| Karen Dió | Sick Ride |
| Silverstein | Negative Space |
| Our Mirage | Black Hole |
| Bloom | Glen Street |
| DarkOut | DEAD SWITCH |
| Lilac Kings | Time to Dance |
| Boundaries | I'd Rather Not Say |
| Darko US | 5D |
| RØRY | DEGRADATION |
| Lower Definition | Godmode |
| World Divided | Entwined |
| Roman Candle | Fire In The Night Sky Forever |
| 6 Months to Live | change your name |
| From First to Last | REV |
| Bloom | Sink Into The Soil |
| Cut Canopy | The Tower |
| Ota Iku | Haneki |
| Taken By Tides | Back To Hell |
| We Came as Romans | BAD LUCK |
| Adept | You |
| True North | Disappear |
| One Step Closer | The Gate |
| Red Handed Denial | One More Night |
| LANDMVRKS | The Darkest Place I've Ever Been |
| Lost in Separation | Ember |
| Left Empty | Detached |
| Caskets | Falling Apart |
| Chidori | For Sure, Chauffeur! |
| Terminal Sleep | Shadows |
| Dogbite | INFECTED |
| Oni | Underneath My Skin |
| Hunt the Dinosaur | Baked |
| Blight Town | Frostilicus |
| Good Tiger | Salt of the Earth |
| Static Dress | crying |
| House of Protection | Pulling Teeth |
| Novelists | Okapi |
| Ocean Sleeper | Your Love I'll Never Need |
| Harper | Thorn In My Side |
| Mirrors | Vestige |
| Shyeye | Pretend |
| Adventurer | Telepathy Club |
| Played by Kings | Hollow |
This is the second iteration of my Song Of The Year blog post, you can see my 2024 SOTY post here.
I enjoyed doing that, so I knew I'd make one again. You have to re-listen to songs that you earmarked, enjoying them once again, and also you start by having no idea which song is going to win. It's a fun exercise!
Honorable mentions: Théa - CAVALE! CAVALE! (hyperpop / alternative from France), Devil Can't Cry - Cut Me Like You Want, Blood Command and their album World Domination, post-hardcore/punk/darkpop from Norway, found it's way to my ears. Silverstein - Negative Space (post-hardcore), as if they never left.. DarkOut - Dead Switch (alternative?), Ota Iku - Haneki (anime inspired, duo vocal, J-Rock/Alternative from Japan), Terminal Sleep (metallic hardcore from Australia), Shyeye - Pretend (post-hardcore).
Shortlist
Got the count down to 16 songs, then again to 7 (see bold songs).
- Post Heaven - Exit Wound
- Hell Hotel - smile.
- Showing Teeth - Labyrinth (note)
- The Lazy Boys - 90's
- STELLVRIS - Shatter & Bloom (note)
- Bloom - Glen Street (note)
- Adept - YOU
- Lilac Kings - Time to Dance
- World Divided - Entwined
- Roman Candle - Fire In The Night Sky Forever
- 6 Months To Live - change your name
- Cut Canopy - The Tower
- Taken By Tides - Back To Hell
- Chidori - For Sure, Chauffeur!
- Good Tiger - Salt of the Earth
- Mirrors - Vestige
It could have been Adept, it could have been 6 Months To Live, but in the end..
Winner: Showing Teeth - Labyrinth
I think I saw one of her reels, where she did a screaming cover of Boundaries, and not long after they dropped their 'visualizer' for Labyrinth.
The song starts by ripping you out of your reality, by cat-like screams, grooves to center you, followed by a unique heavy vocal. It's fresh, it's new and just when you think you are adjusted, an angelic chorus comes in and that's it. You love this band now.
The song continues between heavy and cleans, has a nice groovy bridge and ends with a nice growl; congratulations, you have traversed the Labyrinth.
The wild part is; this is Showing Teeth's first single, and they came out swinging. Snippets of a new song have been posted, and I'll definitely keep an eye on this band going into 2026.