The 50 Best Songs of 2025 So Far (Staff Picks)

Perfume Genius, “It’s a Mirror”

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Even when Mike Hadreas commits to a more swaggering rock sound — and surrounds himself with motorcycles and drenches himself in gasoline in the accompanying video — his emotional vulnerability still shines through. On the first song from his latest album, Glory, the guitars strut and snarl while Hadreas snakes through them, dropping lines about isolation, memories he can’t shake and the fear of what’s beyond his front door. But urgent, percussive swells on the chorus bust through those walls, showing that nothing can hold him back on “It’s a Mirror,” not even the paralysis of self-reflection.  — CHRISTINE WERTHMAN

Esau Ortiz, “Triple Lavada”

It doesn’t sound like anything else in 2025 música mexicana, or anything else really: a rap en español single over bass line so thick and post-disco beat so patient it feels like there’s no way it’s not sampled from something released in 1982 at the latest. But it’s that uncharacteristically intoxicating groove, combined with Esau Ortiz’s casually flexing vocals, that made “Triple Lavada” an irresistible viral hit, and which encouraged so many of Mexico’s current brightest hitmakers to jump on the delectably overstuffed remix, to see if they could have as much fun spitting over it as Ortiz seemed like he was having. — ANDREW UNTERBERGER

Treaty Oak Revival, “Bad State of Mind”

Country returned to the top of the Hot 100 in a big way last year, and now it’s time for the genre’s bands to get some love, too. Odessa, TX country-rock outfit Treaty Oak Revival has amassed something of a cult following since the turn of the decade, and “Bad State of Mind” explains why: Streaked with a Midwest emo riff and feel, “Bad State” finds the band delivering a classic stuck-in-a-rut anthem that never forsakes its twang — no matter how brash those guitars get. — KYLE DENIS

Tate McRae, “Sports Car”

Tate opens her biggest So Close to What single by admitting she doesn’t want to choose — but there’s a sports car involved. Fueled by the thrill of a potential new romance, she presents her partner with a series of daring and adventurous possibilities, yet continually circles back to the allure of the sports car. Whether it’s the excitement of speeding down an open road or using the rush to heighten the intensity of a passionate connection, McRae leans into the impulsive energy of living in the moment. — KRISTEN WISNESKI

2Hollis, “Flash”

As Green Velvet said on a similarly thrilling, punishing dance song 30 years ago: cameras ready, prepare to flash. Not much can really prepare you for the onslaught of “Flash,” though, a poorly mastered anxiety attack of a dance song that also somehow sounds intimate and sensual, right through the BPMs getting cranked up and the drum machine starting to spray pulses like a fire hose that’s been left unmanned. You’re not sure what the cameras are even capturing by the end, but you know it’s something both terrifying and beautiful. — A.U.

Sombr, “Undressed”

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How can a 19-year-old channel the ghost of ‘90s alternative rock when he wasn’t even around to experience it? With “Undressed,” Sombr — a major fan of Radiohead, as well as more contemporary rock-playlist staples like The 1975 and Phoebe Bridgers — effectively reanimates an era in which bands could combine guitar lines and pop hooks for maximum radio play (i.e., hundreds of millions of streams in 2025), and, along with his other hit single “Back to Friends,” immediately establishes himself as one of the more exciting new voices in the mainstream. — JASON LIPSHUTZ

Cerrone & Christine and the Queens, “Catching Feelings”

What happens when you put a legend of the French dance scene together with one of the country’s most beloved modern performers? You get a song as instantly lovable as “Catching Feelings,” a track that manages to sound like it was trapped in amber circa 1977 while also fitting right into place among the disco pop bangers of today. Cerrone’s bass-heavy disco production remains as slick as ever, while Christine’s voice expertly slides into the pounding chorus with ease on this ecstatic new track. — STEPHEN DAW

Jane Remover, “JRJRJR”

A highlight from Revengeseekerz — one of two brilliant albums already released by Jane Remover in 2025 along with the more rock-oriented Ghostholding released under her Venturing alias, no big deal — “JRJRJR” is as invigoratingly anthemic as a superhero theme and as startlingly intimate as a confessional. Lyrics like “And I do whatever the f–k ’cause I’ve been whatever the f–k/ I might pull out a new face, change my name, then my city” will be recognizable to anyone who’s ever endured identity struggles, but few among us have the ability to wail “Should I change my name again?/ JR JR JR JR JR JR….” with the power and urgency of someone who you’d want to follow anywhere, as anyone. — A.U.

Miley Cyrus, “End of the World”

Given that “Flowers” — the lead single from Cyrus’ prior album, Endless Summer Vacation — netted the pop star her first Grammy wins and one of the biggest songs of 2023, “End of the World” had big shoes to fill when introducing Something Beautiful. The immediate thing that draws in the listener in is its jubilant, retro dance-pop chorus, which explodes out of verses where Cyrus outlines how to live when it feels like the end is nigh. As it turns out, having a road map for such times could really come in handy these days. — JOSH GLICKSMAN

Central Cee feat. 21 Savage, “GBP”

Between last year’s Ice Spice collab “Did It First” and Lil Baby collab “BAND4BAND,” we have pretty good reason by this point to have high expectations when it comes to U.K. hip-hop star Central Cee teaming up with a big-name American MC. OK, maybe 21 Savage is also British by birth himself, but the sounds of his menacing drawl and Cee’s elastic flow still make for a brilliant combination on “GBP.” Hearing them comparing exchange rates on their asking prices is exciting enough, but it’s a much more rewarding cultural exchange when 21 Savage spits about soccer (“Up on the opps, seven to nil, Premier League/ I’m in the field”) or Central Cee raps about Paid in Full film fantasies (“If I lived in Harlem, I would’ve been Mitch/ Them man would’ve been like Ace and snitched.”) — A.U.

Japanese Breakfast, “Picture Window”

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In a fan newsletter, Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner explained how “Picture Window” is about her being plagued by “intrusive thoughts of loved ones dying horrible deaths,” which has “only [been] exacerbated by my experience of many real deaths.” But while the trembling chord that opens the song tips to a sense of unease, “Picture Window” quickly morphs into a pleasant alt-country trot evocative of early Wilco. If Zauner wasn’t singing “all of my ghosts are real” on the chorus, you could easily picture this soundtracking a backyard summer BBQ. — JOE LYNCH

Qing Madi, “Ali Bomaye”

One of the most intriguing new singers from Africa in the last few years, Qing Madi — still just 18 — broke out over the past year with a series of R&B/Afrosoul-inspired singles, but it was “Ali Bomaye” that really captured the imagination. From her debut album I Am the Blueprint, the song’s infectious melody, bright musicality and Afrobeats drums put her alongside some of her contemporaries who have broken through in the States, like Tems and Tyla, with plenty of room to continue growing. — DAN RYS

Megan Moroney, “Am I Okay?”

On the title track to her 2024 album, Moroney makes a pivot from scorned to cautiously optimistic, with this wide-eyed revelation that she’s feeling the thrill of new, healthy romance. She melds bright country-pop production with her sharp songwriting and textured, emotionally rich vocal to earn one of her biggest hits to date. “Am I Okay?” reached No. 2 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart in June, and also reached a new peak of No. 34 on the Hot 100 the same month. — JESSICA NICHOLSON

Fuerza Regida & Grupo Frontera, “Me Jalo”

Last December, Fuerza Regida and Grupo Frontera surprised fans with a joint EP called Mala Mía. Its opening single, “Me Jalo,” ingeniously and playfully laced Regida’s urban sierreño sound with Frontera’s Norteño and Tejano fusions, not only becoming a viral sensation on social media, but also skyrocketing to the Billboard charts. The song, about a guy who will move mountains to see the girl he likes, reached No. 1 on both Latin Airplay and Regional Mexican Airplay charts this April. — JESSICA ROIZ

Julien Baker & Torres, “Sugar in the Tank”

Whether the title is sexual code or a metaphor for catching a fast-moving crush — or both — “Sugar in the Tank” is a gorgeous confection of old-school country that, at its essence, is about loving someone “all the way,” as the song goes. Three minutes and 42 seconds of rich acoustic guitar, twangy pedal steel and the sweet, romantic interplay of Baker’s crystalline soprano and Torres’ earthier contralto wash away years of bro country drivel about pick-ups, cutoffs and Yeti coolers. — FRANK DIGIACOMO

kwn feat. Kehlani, “Worst Behaviour” (Remix)

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Enigmatic U.K. R&B singer-songwriter-producer kwn has been on quite the run lately, and the major inflection point was Kehlani’s sultry remix of her late 2024 single, “Worst Behaviour.” Accompanied by a one-take music video featuring one particularly steamy (and lengthy) makeout session, “Worst Behaviour” reimagines the chilly sensuality of mid-late-10s alternative and electro-R&B through the lens of kwn’s love for ‘90s harmonies and vocal stacks. In this merging of eras, kwn emerges with a song that somehow feels distinctly of its time – both in its ode to queerness and her own behind-the-boards talent as a woman producer. — K.D.

Lil Tecca, “Dark Thoughts”

A rapper with a hit song called “Dark Thoughts” is nothing new or novel in the post-SoundCloud rap era — but the really inspired thing about Lil Tecca’s re-breakthrough hit is how he uses that title as a red herring for one of the most buoyant pop-rap singles of the decade so far. Regardless, Tecca’s more interested in braying about how bad his b–ch is than in staring into the void; “I get dark thoughts,” he acknowledges, “But I keep ’em.” Of course, dancing to ’00s Neptunes-worthy clanging synth-funk beats is a pretty time-tested way to keep those at bay anyway. — A.U.

Ravyn Lenae, “Love Me Not”

Chicago R&B singer-songwriter Ravyn Lenae finally landed a breakthrough hit in the delightfully pouty, guitar-driven “Love Me Not,” but don’t let the mainstream’s embrace of the track obfuscate just how cleverly crafted it is as a pop song. Soundtracked by Dahi’s jaunty guitar strums, Ravyn delivers a resoundingly charismatic vocal performance that cradles the built-in melodrama of the tension between her desire for love and her penchant for independence. When she questions her own mental state in the bridge (“At the end of the story, you’re holdin’ me tight/ I don’t need to worry, am I out of my mind?”), Ravyn’s songwriting takes a delicious turn for the introspective that momentarily disarms her audience and their own understanding of love songs. — K.D.

Role Model, “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out”

Shortly after finding his sound with 2024 album Kansas Anymore, Role Model finally secured a breakthrough hit with the deluxe LP’s “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out” — a vulnerable ode to getting back out there post-heartbreak disguised as a lighthearted indie-pop anthem. Though a fun listen all the way through, the best part of the song has to be its bridge, during which the singer-songwriter switches up the pacing with a danceable breakdown that he performs every night on the road accompanied by a new guest “Sally” — either an audience member or famous friend – spawning numerous viral moments that have helped the track soar on streaming and on Billboard’s charts. — HANNAH DAILEY

BigXthaPlug feat. Bailey Zimmerman, “All the Way”

Dallas native BigXthaPlug has always repped for the South, but he went full country on this crooning breakout ballad that finds the rapper and country radio fixture Bailey Zimmerman begging a girl to just rip the Band-Aid off and end things instead of keeping them on the hook. “Sent a text, it turned green, why the f— it ain’t blue?” BigX pleads – proving it’s not just the trap beat backing up his verses that signals this is a modern-day love (or, more accurately, anti-love) story. – KATIE ATKINSON

Blondshell, “T&A”

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“T&A” is another slice of the sharp, ’90s-channelling alt-rock that audiences have come to expect from Sabrina Teitelbaum, better known as Blondshell. And like forebears such as Liz Phair and Courtney Love, Teitelbaum’s wry humor elevates “T&A” – along with much of her best work – beyond the powerful immediacy of its riffs: “I said, ‘If you stop drinking, maybe I could find you attractive,'” she sings, recalling an encounter with an objectifying love interest. — ERIC RENNER BROWN

Bad Bunny, “Nuevayol”

“¡Nuevaaaa Yolllllllllll!!” Bad Bunny begins the opening track on his Debí Tirar Más Fotos blockbuster, before launching into a ’70s salsa rhythm (lifted from El Gran Combo’s “Un Verano en New York”) that unexpectedly gives way to a much more modern dembow bounce. And with that, the tone for Fotos is set, with its pitch-perfect blend of the classic and the contemporary, and of sounds exported from his Puerto Rican home land to the rest of the world — with loads of unpredictable twists (and fake endings) along the way. “How’s Bad Bunny gonna be the king of pop with dembow and reggaetón?” he asks in Spanish to begin the second verse. It’s a rhetorical question, but the rest of the song answers it anyway. — A.U.

Aminé, “Arc de Triomphe”

If Aminé comparing his dream girl’s arch to Paris’ iconic Arc de Triomphe over a sample of The Streets’ 2001 hit “Has It Come to This?” doesn’t get you moving this summer, maybe sit this one out. For the second single and penultimate track from his new 13 Months of Sunshine LP, the Portland MC builds on the danceable introspection of his 2023 Kaytranada-assisted joint album, pairing his signature witty bars and puckish flow with Lido’s shimmering synths. — K.D.

SZA feat. Kendrick Lamar, “30 for 30”

On this, the eighth song they have recorded together, SZA and Lamar continue to demonstrate that they are one of the greatest R&B/hip-hop pairings in history. The soulful spoken opening is lifted from Switch’s “I Call Your Name,” a top 10 hit in 1979 on what was then called Hot Soul Singles. Coming on the heels of songs that sampled Al Green, Teddy Pendergrass and Luther Vandross & Cheryl Lynn, the lush “30 for 30” shows that Lamar is intent on schooling young fans in classic R&B. — PAUL GREIN

GELO, “Tweaker”

As a viral phenomenon, “Tweaker” burned fast and bright: the debut rap single from former basketball prospect LiAngelo Ball was a curiosity upon its January release, then a quick-spreading sensation co-signed by several athletes and artists, then a top 40 Hot 100 hit, and finally a pop culture novelty of sorts, contained to the first quarter of 2025. Yet weeks after it departed the chart, “Tweaker” still sounds as buoyant as the day that GELO’s slow (excuse us, slow-oh-whoa)-roll delivery started soundtracking TikTok clips, recalling the glory days of turn-of-the-century Southern hip-hop even before Lil Wayne hopped on its remix. — J. Lipshutz

Mariah the Scientist, “Burning Blue”

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Mariah the Scientist fanned the flame of the tender “Burning Blue” to the highest-charting Billboard Hot 100 entry of her career to date (No. 25 peak). Discovering a raw version of the Jetski Purp beat on YouTube, which was titled “Blue Flame,” set the theme of the sultry tune. Mariah’s infectious vocals rinse through the thumping drums and bass here, for a malleable hit that doubles as a radio staple and Prince-esque ballad that could soundtrack a wedding slow dance. — MICHAEL SAPONARA

Eslabon Armado & Macario Martinez, “Esa Noche”

Eslabón Armado could have easily remained the young regional Mexican group of melodic norteño/sierreño fare. Instead, the trio — made up of siblings Pedro and Brian Tovar, along with friend Damian Pacheco — has boldly expanded  the boundaries of its genre. The outcome is the gorgeous “Esa Noche,” from the group’s 2025 hit album Vibras de Noche II. A collab with Macario Martínez, a 23-year old Mexican street sweeper who went viral on TikTok last year, the song of lost love is a wash of sierreño guitars with a slight huapango beat under a plaintive, melancholy melody, courtesy of Pedro Tovar, who writes all Eslabón’s songs. It’s moody, but edgy — reminiscent of psychedelic rock, with a Mexican kick — and a shining example of what happens when tradition and youth collide. — LEILA COBO

Zach Top, “I Never Lie”

Zach Top made his Billboard Hot 100 debut (reaching No. 24) with “I Never Lie,” a standout from debut LP Cold Beer & Country Music. Anchored by acoustic guitar and pedal steel, the track pairs vintage country charm with Top’s sly wit. He claims he’s unfazed by a breakup — “I sleep like a baby,” he sings — but the final line reveals his denial is merely performative. A clever twist and Top’s clean, twangy voice prove classic country storytelling still resonates. The song also reached No. 2 on Country Airplay, bringing a more traditional sound back to the genre’s airwaves. — J.N.

Doechii, “Anxiety”

Doechii’s “Anxiety” remains one of 2025’s most adventurous pop songs. The song — which samples Gotye and Kimbra’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” (which in turn lifts Luiz Bonfa’s “Seville” instrumental) — crosses multiple lands, from rap to pop to classical and back again. “Anxiety” was technically created in 2019, but has since served as the cherry on top of the Alligator Bites Never Heal sundae, bringing her to the Hot 100’s top 10 for the first time. It encapsulates everything Doechii is a master at: slick pop melodies, fiery bars, and bringing oodles and oodles of charisma to the microphone. — MACKENZIE CUMMINGS-GRADY

Cameron Winter, “Love Takes Miles”

It’s all about the voice. Winter’s quavery warble, which can go from growl to falsetto, is a sonic unicorn — and not one showcased on the albums he has recorded with his band Geese. Clothed in the song’s washed-out production — distant piano, muddy bass and buzzy electronica — those vocals land impactfully. So, when Winter sings of love as something that “will take you by your pants and/ Swing you over its head and kick you back and forth,” he sounds like someone who has endured that carnival ride. — F.D.

PinkPantheress, “Tonight”

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PinkPantheress is ready to leave it all on the dancefloor (and take someone home with her) on “Tonight,” the hit single from her sophomore mixtape Fancy That. She chucks her charming innocence and cuts to the chase in the chorus: “Come talk to me, come on/ You want sex with me?” The thumping bassline and frenetic synths raise the stakes and emphasize that she’s willing to risk it all, like letting him ruin her makeup and potentially her life, because of the thrill the dalliance brings her – and she makes it sound equally exhilarating for us. — HERAN MAMO

MOLIY, Silent Addy, Skillibeng & Shenseea, “Shake It to the Max (FLY) (Remix)”

Can something released in February still be in the running for Song of the Summer? That’s a question we’ll reckon with when this track gets new life as the weather in the Northeast and Midwest starts to finally break. The “Shake It to the Max (FLY)” remix is a genre-bending smash hit with elements of Afrobeats and dancehall, with a viral dance craze that we still come across months after the song took off — making it a worthy contender as any to be played outside at very high volumes for the next three months, preferably in residential areas and the beach. — ANGEL DIAZ 

Alex G, “Afterlife”

The prolific indie-rock singer-songwriter may now be on a major label, but if “Afterlife” is any indication, the transition hasn’t quashed his eccentric, existential spirit. The rootsy first single from Alex’s forthcoming RCA debut, Headlights, picks up where his last album, 2022’s God Save The Animals, left off, as mandolin and acoustic guitar underscore his elliptical philosophizing about life and death. But it’s the tension and release on “Afterlife,” where anxious verses give way to jubilant Zydeco-tinged choruses, that make the earworm one of the best Alex has ever written. — E.R.B.

Ariana Grande, “Twilight Zone”

A shade over a year after Eternal Sunshine arrived, Grande returned with its deluxe edition, complete with five new tracks. The spotlight from the added crop focused on “Twilight Zone,” a synth-forward, dreamy haze of a pop hit that gives center stage to her ever-impressive songwriting abilities. (“Why do I still protect you?/ Pretend these songs aren’t about you?/ Hope this might be the last one, ‘cause I’m not fooling anyone.”) As is so often the case with her pen, it’s a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. — J.G.

Playboi Carti, “Evil J0rdan”

While “Evil J0rdan” landed at No. 4 on Playboi Carti’s MUSIC track list, it felt like the true opener to the loaded 30-song album, following a few previews. Fans are transported to the eerie prelude of an outer space mission before being launched into the chaos of “Evil J0rdan,” with Carti at the controls. The Opium frontman rules over the empire with his signature throaty, deep-voiced flow: “My life is out of control, I’m tellin’ you, nobody safe.” Championed as an early fan-favorite, the Cardo-produced hit debuted at No. 2 on the Hot 100. — M.S.

Lorde, “What Was That”

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“What was that?” is the implicit question in nearly all post-breakup songs, as they look back at bygone relationships and either can’t work out the reasoning behind the ending or can’t remember why any of it even happened in the first place. Lorde takes it a step further in her first single from the upcoming Virgin album by questioning her emotional memory of the entire experience, as everything from beginning to end blurs together in a haze of drugs, cigarettes, kisses and feelings — all too overwhelming to process the meaning behind any of it. Yet for all its emotional disorientation, “What Was That?” still works brilliantly as a relatively straightforward dance-pop song, just one whose catharsis comes in the shared truth that the only real reaction to have to a longtime relationship falling apart is girl, so confusing. — A.U.

Bon Iver, “Everything Is Peaceful Love”

Have fans embraced Bon Iver’s “Everything Is Peaceful Love” precisely because we live in a moment which is everything but?  Fittingly released on Valentine’s Day, the track heralded Sable,Fable, the fifth album from Bon Iver, the nom de disque of singer/songwriter Justin Vernon, and the first full-length release since 2019 from the sonorous-voiced artist. Amid programmed drums, multi-tracked vocals, pedal steel guitar and a hint of strings, Vernon sings here of ambivalence in the face of love, but ultimately declares: “I’ll just go ahead away!” — THOM DUFFY

HAIM, “Relationships”

Just another day at the Rostam Batmanglij and Ariel Rechtshaid pop-rock hit factory: The breezy lead single from HAIM’s fourth album, I Quit, deploys the hip-hop-inflected drums and funky basslines that made the trio’s 2020 album, Women In Music Pt. III, such a triumph. And as the soulful instrumental glides along, Danielle Haim delivers a nuanced, career-best vocal performance, wistfully chronicling the challenges that accompany keeping love’s flame alive. — E.R.B.

Morgan Wallen, “Just in Case”

Wallen is no stranger to heartbreak songs, but he strikes an especially vulnerable chord on this poignant mid-tempo ballad from his Billboard 200-topping fourth album, I’m The Problem. His body has moved on after a break-up as he falls into various beds, but his heart is still hedging its bets by refusing to fall in love again “just in case” his ex changes her mind and realizes she’s missing him as much as he is missing her. Wallen’s wounded vocals carry just the right amount of pathos as he quietly pines away one night stand at a time. — MELINDA NEWMAN

Tyla, “Push 2 Start”

To make “Push 2 Start,” Tyla reconvened with Sammy Soso, who also co-wrote and co-produced her breakout hit “Water.” He crafted another coy, propulsive beat, built around a slithering guitar figure, leaving plenty of room for Tyla’s swirls of vocals, which call back to the R&B great Aaliyah, curling upwards like smoke from a cigarette. It’s tough to follow a song like “Water,” a viral phenomenon which cracked the top 10 on the Hot 100. But with “Push 2 Start,” Tyla notched her second entry on the chart, and (appropriately enough) proved she was just getting going as hitmaker. — ELIAS LEIGHT

Turnstile, “Never Enough”

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The first taste and title track of Turnstile’s latest album finds the hardcore innovators melding dreamy synthesizers and soaring guitars, setting the stage for another boundary-busting LP. It also serves as a preview for more lyrically vulnerable songs, as frontman Brandon Yates sings about someone who can’t let their guard down, even when things are looking good. “It’s never enough,” he bellows, “Never enough!” The words are just vague enough to apply to anyone on the verge of crashing out, as Turnstile gives listeners a space to vent their feelings on the chorus and then provides an ambient piano balm on the outro. If you need to explode and recover in under five minutes, this one’s for you. — C.W.

Drake, “Nokia”

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Could the answer to Drake asking “Who’s calling my phone?” have ended up being “nobody in particular”? That was the question pre-“Nokia,” as a vanquished Aubrey Graham attempted to recover from a devastating barrage of career blows in the wake of his 2024 feud with a perpetually victory-lapping Kendrick Lamar. Drake had always escaped backlash with hits, but he’d need a big one this time — and he got one with “Nokia,” a song so hooky that it sounded like it was already in the midst of three different choruses from its starting seconds, and just kept piling on the mini-earworms from there until your brain was totally infested. It was the kind of unshakeable pop confection Drake originally built his crossover stardom on, and like two of the very best of those — “Best I Ever Had” and “Hotline Bling” — it peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100, reminding fans why The Boy’s line will likely never go totally quiet. — A.U.

Addison Rae, “Headphones On’

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Now that the entirety of Addison has been released, it’s easy to re-contextualize the pre-album single “Headphones On” as the skeleton key of the project, as well as of Addison Rae’s entire pop aesthetic. Whereas “Diet Pepsi” was a Lana-inspired alt-pop hit and “Aquamarine” was a plinking-synth dance excursion, “Headphones On” exists as an amalgam of wistful feelings and instinctive movement, as Rae sings, “Guess I gotta accept the pain/ Need a cigarette to make me feel better” over sweet downtempo production where nothing burbles more loudly than the bass. The song has drawn comparisons to mid-‘90s eras from Madonna and Björk, but “Headphones On” evokes a thoroughly modern moodiness — and encapsulates Rae’s dramatic foray into pop stardom. — J. Lipshutz

Lola Young, “Messy”

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Are we supposed to always know exactly who we are, or is life one continuous journey of trying to figure that out? That’s part of the core message of Young’s breakout hit, reaching the Hot 100’s top 15 this February, which wraps that constant contradiction into a relationship setting, pitting the protagonist’s whipsaw emotions and actions against the expectations — and own issues — of their partner. Do any of us know who we’re supposed to be, whether on our own or in a relationship? Life, emotions, mental headspace, the day-to-day grind — it can get messy, and hard to figure out. Lola Young finds a way to express that with angst, anxiety and rawness that few have been able to touch in recent years. — D.R.

Chappell Roan, “The Giver”

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Demanded by fans ever since Chappell Roan debuted it with her November 2024 SNL performance, “The Giver” finally arrived in March in all of its turn-of-the-century crossover-country glory. With a stomping beat, wailing fiddle and rollicking banjo, “The Giver” ably supports Roan as she delivers her traveling-woman come-ons, sounding like a superhero (or at least like Shania) as she promises, “Other boys may need a map/ But I can close my eyes/ And have you wrapped around my fingers like that.” The standalone single (for now) didn’t quite match the commercial endurance of the biggest Midwest Princess hits, but it debuted at No. 5 on the Hot 100 and proved its maker at home in just about any musical terrain — like Roan herself, it got the job done. — A.U.

Sabrina Carpenter, “Manchild”

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After a (very) short n’ sweet break, Sabrina Carpenter materialized this month with an instant Song of the Summer contender that continues to ponder one of the pop star’s main queries: Are men OK? (Her answer in the twangy, Jack Antonoff-produced “Manchild”: Not really!) While this feels like a sonic sequel to her first Hot 100 No. 1 “Please Please Please,” this time around, Carpenter is no longer holding out hope that her love interest won’t embarrass her in the long run. “Oh I like my boys playing hard to get/ And I like my men all incompetent,” she sings, resigning herself to a life of carrying these “stupid,” “slow” and “useless” men along for the ride. While Sabrina’s love life sounds a little spotty, her track record for soundtracking the summer months is looking stronger than ever with this latest sunshiny entry. – K.A.

Lady Gaga, “Abracadabra”

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There have been plenty of indicators in 2025’s musical trends that “recession pop” was back. But no 2025 song captured the energy of “dancing while the world burns” quite like Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra,” the chaotic, maximalist pop masterpiece that helped hard-launch the star’s Mayhem era. The grinding, industrial post-chorus keeps ratcheting up the sonic tension, while Gaga’s elegant vocal immediately provides relief, only to start the cycle over again from the beginning. Those nonsensical words on the single’s power-pop chorus might actually be a magic spell, considering how transfixed Little Monsters everywhere became by Gaga’s return to form with “Abracadabra.” — S.D.

Bad Bunny, “DtMF”

Image Credit: Eric Rojas

Plenty of folks are placing “DT” and “MF” side-by-side these days, but the title of Bad Bunny’s No. 2-peaking Hot 100 single is an acronym for the title of his latest album, the four-week Billboard 200 topper Debí Tirar Más Fotos. Roughly translated as “I Should’ve Taken More Photos,” “DtMF” finds the Puerto Rican star on the flip side of Luddites who tell you to put down the phone and live in the moment, with Benito wishing he had captured more photos of moments in his life that have irrevocably passed. With organic percussion and a sing-song call-and-response, “DtMF” is a meditative slice of plena (a Puerto Rican folk genre that traditionally carried news and social messages) with an effortless reggaetón rhythm – for a song about moments that slip away, the melodic, melancholic “DtMF” sure is hard to shake. — J. Lynch

Doechii, “Denial Is a River”

Image Credit: Courtesy Photo

Kendrick Lamar & SZA, “Luther”

Image Credit: pgLang