2025 Wrapped

Jan 13

A few of our journalists gathered together to share some of their favorite songs of 2025.

Rowyn - Swim Between Trees by Flipturn

Swim Between Trees is a song off of Flipturn’s latest studio album, "Burnout Days” released on Jan 24. This song was, initially, nobody's favorite! The rave over this album started with Rodeo Clown and the titled track, until someone made this song into a TikTok trend where the person in the video is just sitting and lip syncing to the words. No dance, nothing complicated. It's essentially a call into the void with minimal response, which is what I love about it.

The trend of this song revolves around people's obsession with the poetic lyrics. As much as I also adore the lyrics, what made me fall in love with it was the introduction. The instrumentation, the use of the constant motor underneath of everything and how rhythmic the entire song becomes based on this introductory guitar line.

I was lucky enough to see Flipturn live twice in 2025, and hear this song at both shows. It truly brings entire venues together, creating the sense of yearning and love that the song is all about. Whenever I hear it, I also feel it, and that’s what music is supposed to do.

Ollie - Circles by Pierce the Veil

It’s not a phase, mom!

In the year 2025, I found myself a new love for an old band. As it turns out, Pierce the Veil has always been lurking in the shadows, waiting for me to get near enough to them to sink their claws into me and drag me away into the depths of musicianship and lyricism that only they can muster.

Released originally as a single, Circles was the first song the band pushed out a music video for after their fourth studio album, Misadventures came onto the scene in 2016. With a portrayal of a creepy and overly obsessed hotel manager played by Matt Pinfield, the video took on a nice Scooby Doo feeling of- well, running in circles, as it were.

While it’s been criticized for being overly popular or overplayed by some fans, however others - myself included - don’t really care all that much. Misadventures in and of itself is a rather misunderstood record as it is. A stand out from all of their previous works, this album pushed Pierce the Veil into a new one. Less screaming angst, and more ‘mainstream’ melodies.

Regardless of the court of public opinions, Circles was a highlight of my year. Somewhere between watching a pair of friends at the band’s concert in Austin, Texas back in June of 2025 spinning around in circles during the song, and putting the track on repeat as my best friends and I looped repeatedly around an airport in Dallas waiting to pick up another cohort for a weekend of adventures, I fell in love.

There will never be anything in life that can truly compare to a song that makes you fall in love. So for all the naysayers in the comments sections of social media platforms everywhere, I say to you: have you ever tried going outside and spinning around in circles until you fall into the grass laughing? If not, I highly recommend giving it a try.

TJ - Shadows by Zeta

2025 was a difficult year politically for every human last year. Zeta, originally from Venezuela, felt the brunt of a fascist takeover of the American government. In 2016, the band fled to America during the oppressive regime of Maduro. Settling into this country, making a name for themselves, and working to build one of the most incredible communities in the underground music scene. When our lovely dictator came to power, Dani, one of the founding members, was informed his and his wife’s visas wouldn’t be renewed.

2025 was supposed to be the year of Zeta, the year they released their first album fully in English, the year of unforgettable tours, and the year they took over the alternative music scene, fresh off of tours with Fall of Troy and Hail The Sun in late 2024. Due to the devastating news, Dani and his wife made the decision to leave America, finding refuge in South America. This meant the band had to figure out something brand new for the tours they had planned, figuring out how to make a three-piece sound full, amidst the absence of Dani.

I have seen Zeta live more times than I have phalanges and every single show has been a different experience in so many different ways. The last show with Dani and the first show without him were beyond emotional, however the beautiful family and community they have built made them both extremely special and supportive and full of love. The raw emotions and the rage of unnecessary loss were palpable during the live shows they put on in the latter half of 2025.

Their song, Shadows, is a true representation of that rage. Their whole album, Was It Medicine To You? touches on so many topics that attribute to the rage, but Shadows truly highlights the loss. The song starts out with a rage of drums that quiet to hear Juanchi Yilo, the main singer and guitarist, one of the founding members, stating that “No human is truly free until everyone, men, women, and non-binary people are equal.” The emotions build throughout the song, bringing us to the chorus of “Lights, shine brighter, in the darkness.” One of my favorite lines of all time, as it serves a reminder that even though things are hard and scary, being a light of love and hope can help make everything better and people feel safe. Zeta does that for me. The music scene does that for me. My people, third space, my friends and family: they are my light. These lights help me shine bright and we all help each other.

Alex - Gap Tooth Smile by Djo

Gap Tooth Smile was released in April as part of Djo’s third studio album, The Crux, and it quickly became my favorite song of the year. At its core, it’s a love song. An ode to being completely head over heels for a woman with a gap-toothed smile. There’s an undeniable joy running through the track, the kind that sneaks up on you and suddenly has you dancing around your kitchen without realizing it. I caught myself doing exactly that more times than I can count.

The entire album carries a warm, nostalgic glow, but Gap Tooth Smile stands out in particular, channeling unmistakable ’70s influences reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac or Bruce Springsteen. It’s breezy yet heartfelt, playful without ever feeling disposable. The production feels lived-in and effortless, like a song that’s always existed and just happened to find its way to you at the right moment.

I had the chance to see Djo three times in 2025, and with each show, this song took on a life of its own. What started as a standout track became a full-blown crowd moment, especially during the bridge, when the entire audience eagerly helped him count to 29 in unison. Those moments transformed the song from a personal favorite into a shared experience, the kind that lingers long after the lights come up.

Jade - The Great Curve by The Talking Heads

“The Great Curve” is a song from Talking Heads’ fourth album, Remain in Light, which was released in 1980. Although it features many of the same production techniques Brian Eno and the band used throughout the album, it stands apart from the other tracks because it is the most upbeat and densely-arranged.

Being adapted in part from a demo titled “Fela’s Riff,” named after Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, “The Great Curve” also demonstrates the influence the band had taken from that genre. Several pieces of hand percussion dance around the drum kit, keyboardist Jerry Harrison adds synth-horn stabs, and a chorus of vocalists including the entire band, Eno, and guest Nona Hendryx weave in and out of each other, each singing their own melody.

The backing rhythm, played by David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, and Chris Frantz on guitar, bass, and drums is simple in contrast; the guitar strums intermittently, the lower bass part is repetitive, and the upper bass part fills the empty space left by the guitar with a staccato melody. As the song progresses, Harrison also adds a funky clavinet part that accents the off-beats. All the while, the drum pattern holds the disparate elements together and invites the listener to dance.
Other defining elements of “The Great Curve” include a sparing use of 3-against-4 polyrhythm heard during the “she’s gonna hold it, move it…” refrain and two extended guitar solos by Frank Zappa/David Bowie alum Adrian Belew. Belew’s liberal use of feedback when soloing and heavily-effected tone lends the track a psychedelic tinge that, in my opinion, is its “X factor” - it would feel incomplete without his playing.
Although “The Great Curve” was not initially my favorite song from Remain in Light - in fact, it was several years before I really “got it” - I have since grown to appreciate it much more as a production and arrangement tour-de-force. More recently, dissecting the surround sound mix from the 2005 Brick box set has allowed me to better appreciate the individual parts that make up the whole. Overall, while “The Great Curve” was not my #1 song from 2025 - instead ranking at #7 - I chose to write about it because it continues to be a subject of fascination for me… and it’s just really fun

Geena - I Didn't Use To by the Wrecks

I Didn’t Use To comes from the Wrecks’ newest EP, Inside: released in April of 2025. The new era of the band brings comforting vibes, and plenty of exciting songs and relatable lyrics, though none are more relatable to me than the opening track.

Anderson sings about his doubt of himself and grows throughout the song to come to acceptance of how he was “made wrong”. The first time I listened to this EP the night it dropped, I had to restart the song and pull up the lyrics to make sure I was paying enough attention like the song deserves. The authenticity and rawness in the words makes it easy to sing along to. The list of affirmations reminds you that you have to accept the little wins in your life, that you have to celebrate your capabilities.

Seeing the Wrecks perform this live this year gave the pre-chorus of his list of wants all the more emotion. “I am doing my best,” the lyrics go. It’s all anyone can do, their best, and singing that out loud in the concert venue just connected everyone there. It unites, it heals, it’s solace that you’re not alone. You don’t have to feel shame in being “made wrong”.

Shannon - RAWFEAR by Twentyone Pilots

With its dizzyingly catchy chorus, a bridge with a bright piano, and a toddler scream during the intro, RAWFEAR strays a bit from the typical Twenty One Pilots sound. However, RAWFEAR offers instant relatability to anyone who’s living life right now and an even stronger message: life will not slow down for you.

The opening lyrics are especially moving. “Raw fear moves me” immediately packs a punch. Fear is universal, and it moves us all. Fear of monsters. Fear of death. Fear of height. We’re all scared of something. Sonically, this track is upbeat and peppy, but the lyrics bring you back down to reality with a brutal realness. “Learning all that really matters is a slow and painful lesson / It is not pass or fail but a poisonous progression.” Life is a cruel system. Life gets harder as we age, which is why we have to live.

What’s also great about this one is the intentional increase in tempo over the lyrics, “never slowing down” in the bridge. There’s juxtaposition in every aspect of this track. Each time you listen, you find something new. This track, along with the album it was released on, Breach, is filled with smart, creative choices and surprises that keep me coming back to listen again nearly four months after the album dropped in September.

If this track doesn’t move you—listen again.

Liam - I Hope This Email Kills Us Both by Orange Blossom Trail

There’s so much to be said about this absolute banger of a track. Extremely catchy, fantastic production, even better performance on the record, it’s my 2025 Single of the Year for good reason. Orange Blossom Trail’s late release sets them up with high expectations for them in 2026, and I’m not even remotely expecting them to do anything outside exceed those already lofty expectations. I encourage you to check out this track on Spotify (or wherever you stream music) and give this a listen as soon as you can. You might just find your new favorite band.

Liam’s full review of I Hope This Email Kills us both will be available later this week.