FEATURE:
The Singles Club
IN THIS PHOTO: Olivia Dean
2025, and an Especially Strong Year for New Music
__________
ALTHOUGH the albums…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kae Tempest
released this year have been fantastic and among the best of the past decade, I think that the singles released have been particularly strong. I will look at some of the best albums of 2025 in a future feature. I will revisit singles later in the year but, as I think about the music that has been released so far in 2025, there have been some really incredible moments that have lingered in my mind and affected me. I will highlight ten singles that I would put among my favourite of this year. I will highlight HAIM’s Relationships, Doechii’s Anxiety, The Last Dinner Party’s This Is the Killer Speaking, Wolf Alice’s Just Two Girls, Sam Wills’ Amelia, Iraina Mancini’s Running for your life, Suede’s Dancing with the Europeans and CMAT’s Take a Sexy Picture of Me. I will also include Olivia Dean’s Nice to Each Other and Kae Tempest’s Diagnoses. These are just examples of songs that have particularly resonated with me. A lot of British (and Irish) talent. In years where I would normally favour releases from American artists, it is homegrown music that has struck a chord with me harder in 2025. I am not sure whether anyone has statistics, but it seems like this year has been especially prolific and eclectic. Maybe artists putting out more singles ahead of album releases. There have been some astonishing songs from rising artists. Those coming through and putting out these early cuts. I think a lot of articles highlight songs from bigger artists. To be fair, I will include a few of those. However, there are so many gems from newer artists which have struck my ear. Including Punishers from Die Spitz and Look Down on Us from Maruja. I have been drawn to albums, of course, but I have found my mind engaging more with singles. A spread of wonderful songs from established greats and newer artists. The singles market has never been stronger!
Although it is impossible to cover them all, I have found a few that have gone into my mind and are still very much there. I am going to start out with a sweeping and anthemic songs from a band who I have been following since the 1990s. Suede’s latest album is Antidepressants. They have said in an interview with NME how there are no bands of their generation making records and vital as them. That may seem boastful, but listening to their latest material, they may have a point! I have not always been committed to Suede. Maybe more attached to their earlier material. However, Dancing with the Europeans is a song that I really like. I have heard some it is not as engaging as recent Suede singles, though I think that Dancing with the Europeans is this stirring and standout song that is definitely one of my favourite songs of this year. DORK ran a feature where Suede’s lead discussed this emphatic and impassioned single:
“There’s a sense of optimism about this song,” Brett Anderson says of ‘Dancing With The Europeans’. “I remember specifically we were doing a gig in Spain during the time we were writing this album. I was going through a bad time and at a low, personally. But we played this brilliant gig. There was a great connection between me and the audience. I thought of the phrase, dancing with the Europeans. There’s something about that word, Europeans, that I really like. The phrase summed up the experience of looking for connection in a disconnected world. This sense of, where do we find those bonds with our fellow human beings? That show in Spain broke down those barriers”.
There are a couple of incredible singles from queens of music that rank alongside my standout choices from this year. I have mentioned CMAT more than a couple of times recently, and quite rightly! The Mercury Prize-nominated EURO-COUNTRY is among the best albums from 2025. It has more than its fair share of standout songs. Released in May, it is the combination of a catchy and beautiful chorus together with the distinct songwriting talents of CMAT that make this a tremendous single! In a hugely strong year, NME highlighted the single upon its release:
“CMAT has shared the empowering new single ‘Take A Sexy Picture Of Me’, which calls out those who have previously criticised her appearance.
The single marks the latest to be shared from the Irish singer-songwriter’s new album ‘EURO-COUNTRY’. Set to arrive on August 29, Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson announced the record back in March and also shared the first preview in the form of uplifting lead single ‘Running/Planning’.
Now, the latest track to be shared shows another side of the forthcoming record, and sees CMAT boldly stand up to those trying to knock others down with hateful comments.
“So you see/ I’ve been having a horrible time/ Of late, I get none of your sympathy/ But all of the pain hits and the fog lifts/ And then it’s too much for therapy,” she sings in the build-up to the chorus.
“With the internet, every woman is now in the public eye. And no matter who you are, or what you look like, somebody will take umbrage with the fact that you even exist, and there’s no escaping it,” CMAT explained. “‘Take a Sexy Picture of Me’ was born out of that, because I held back for so long; not out of frustration or sadness for myself, because I AM in the public eye, but I realised it’s actually like this for every woman.
“It’s all women, all the time. That song is me calling out anyone who criticised my weight or how I looked… and it’s one of the best songs I’ve ever made”.
I am going to move to HAIM and Relationships. I have been a fan of theirs for years now. Their new album, i quit, was released in June. I am bringing in words and reviews from others, not only to enforce my view of how strong the singles are. It is also worth bringing in some various takes. Part of this new chapter and fantastic album, it did gain a lot of positive press. Both classic HAIM but also a bit similar to music from their 2020 album, Women in Music Pt. III, it might be one of the best things they have released. Again, a bit of a classic from his year. A stunning single from a year that has offered a load of them. CLASH delivered their verdict on Relationships:
“Musically, it carries traces of DNA from the outstanding ‘Women In Music Pt. III’ released in 2020. The revisitation of vintage, analogue sounds and warped digital modernity teases a subtle extension rather than reinvention. Whether this turns out to be something of a red herring remains to be seen. The production, meanwhile, sounds crystalline as ever; Este’s bass glides, serene keyboards cast a melancholic shimmer, and the drum track provides something fabulously addictive and kinetic.
From a lyrical perspective, it appears to invert the sentiments displayed on the ‘Something To Tell You’ lead single ‘Want You Back’. Instead of a reversion to a past relationship that ended too soon, Danielle sings about one she can’t wait to exit from: “I hear a voice in my head / And it keeps asking, ‘Why am I in this relationship?’ / Baby, how can I explain / When an innocent mistake / Turns into seventeen days?” Of course, ‘The Wire’ dealt with similar tribulations, albeit in a much more playful manner. Perhaps the difference here is the slight but audible undertone of sadness, especially during the verses and it results in a more emotionally complex offering than a few cursory listens would indicate.
Almost 12 years on from ‘Days Are Gone’, Danielle, Este and Alana’s knack for crafting a marvellously glossy pop earworm shows no sign of diminishing. If HAIM are indeed entering their imperial phase, ‘Relationships’ is one hell of an introduction”.
The band market has been healthy this year. Although most singles released this year have been from solo artists, I do think that some group-made tracks rank alongside the best solo cuts. I shall highlight two singles from two of our best bands. The Last Dinner Party release their second studio album, From the Pyre, on 17th October. Alongside HAIM and Suede, The Last Dinner Party show that band music is in no danger of fading in quality. Because of its incredible lead vocal and a wonderfully interesting composition and set of lyrics, this is a single that has nestled in my mind. I have seen some say that the chorus is not as punchy and strong as their previous singles. However, This Is the Killer Speaking boasts a pretty memorable and fine chorus from a group that I really love. This is what The Indiependent said about This Is the Killer Speaking:
“The new record is described as being “the sound of a band having a lot of fun” rather than it being a reflection of them “feeling any innate pressure to follow-up on what was an explosively successful debut record. It’s also the sound of a young band developing and maturing their songwriting together”.
This is clear from the get go. It starts off slow, with a beat and tempo that resemble that of a 1950’s Nashville record, a trope that the pop music industry has seen a rise in over the past eighteen months, with the likes of Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter making country mainstream again.
The track speeds up around the one minute mark. The pre chorus’ oxymoronic lyrics “Good morning, good looking! This is the killer speaking / Good morning, handsome! This is the killer on the line”, being a fitting way to show off the track’s combination of genres. Their darkly humorous nature helps smooth the transition from raw country riffs into a mainstream indie-pop beat with ease.
Despite the catchy chorus showing similarities in style, tone and genre to their other hit singles ‘Nothing Matters’ and ‘The Feminine Urge’ this is an individual record in its own right. It returns to its slower, country-esque beat and temp after the chorus before picking the pop beat back up for one final run in moments that for me had glimpses of the work of Lady A and The Chicks.
Edgy lyrics in the final verse, such as “You look like a weeping saint / With your infected eye and “And I’m down so bad / Hope my television appearance drives you fucking mad!” paint the band in a more mature light whilst still allowing them to maintain their lyrical solidarity along with their almighty fierce yet somewhat camp presence.
So, whilst this track is a masterclass from The Last Dinner Party in genre-bending as well as lyrically maturing and evolving as a band, it also stays true to their indie roots and as long as they are still doing that, nothing (else) matters”.
Doechii is an artist I only discovered near the start of this year. I can see she is going to be a future Rap icon. I also want to see her live too. I thought that DENIAL IS A RIVER was my favourite song of hers. However, Anxiety might have topped that! Her mixtape, Alligator Bites Never Heal, was released last year. This is a new song. I am not sure if Anxiety will form part of a new E.P. or album. So inventive when it comes to her lyrics and compositions, I think Doechii is one the most talented and passionate rappers in the world. I am going to come back to CLASH and their review of Anxiety. It is not only the songs that hit hard. Doechii’s videos are incredible and always burst over with personality and passion. Someone who really wants the visuals to represent the song and come off as these mini masterpieces. Which they are! I can see Doechii appearing in some great films:
“Teased earlier this week, new single ‘Anxiety’ comes at a crucial time for the rapper. ‘Alligator Bites Never Heal’ has been clutched by fans, but she’s clearly ready to stretch a little, and see where she could go next.
As a result, ‘Anxiety’ crosses multiple lands. There’s a soul vocal, some revelatory lyricism, and hard-hitting flows, with a unique sample flip at the centre – yep, she’s re-tooled Gotye’s one-off 00s smash ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’ as an ultra-funky bedrock for introspection.
The lyrics find Doechii crushed by expectation, dealing with problems both external and internal. She rhymes: “Fightin’ with my demons and my demons is winnin’ / I feel like don’t nobody ever feel how I feel…”
Cross-referencing Jacques Cousteau and abolitionist campaigner Harriet Tubman, Doechii throws name upon name, attempting to come to grips with her situation.
Often, the bluntest lines shine out – the crippling “You keep the fame, I just wanna get paid” for example, displays the paradox at the centre of the hype.
It’s also a personal moment. ‘Anxiety’ finds Doechii working towards self-forgiveness, embracing a rounded maturity that can be lost amid the brash glare of the spotlight. At one point she rhymes: “Made mistakes, ain’t no way to rewind / But fuck it, we get over shit over time…”
Another crucial step forwards, ‘Anxiety’ finds one of American rap’s brightest natural talents magnifying her skills”.
I am going to end by exploring my favourite three singles of the year. I have not even mentioned essential examples from the likes of Lambrini Girls and Antony Szmierek. It just goes to show how strong this year has been! Most of the singles I have connected with have come via BBC Radio 6 Music. That is my stations of choice, so their picks and guidance is always influential. However, I have been listening to BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2. Their recommendations are pretty decent. However, with BBC Radio 6 Music, there are so many singles that are right up my street. Bands like Coach Party. Too many to mention. However, before I get to my favourite three, I want to mention Kae Tempest. His music is so powerful. One of the world’s great wordsmiths, Diagnoses is so moving because it seems his most personal song to date. Tempest is someone who I feel used to write in a more abstract or fantastical way. There were personal and really incredible songs that revealed so much soul and tenderness. However, there were character-driven tracks. His recent material gives us a deeper understanding and glimpse into his mind and heart. I am surprised Kae Tempest’s Self Titled album did not get nominated for the Mercury Prize. It seems like an oversight! Diagnoses is one of the standout singles from this year. The Line of Best Fit published news of Diagnoses back in June:
“Of the song, Kae Tempest says: "It’s a Summer banger about antipsychotics and HRT. And loving each other regardless of how mental we are.” The song is a dexterous exploration of neurodiversity, ‘me and you and our trauma flashbacks, relaxing at home with a Horlicks. Backpacks stuffed full of my dysphoria, your dyspraxia | off exploring | panic attacks to get the heart rate up.’
A sample from the godfather of modern psychology, Carl Jung, opens ‘Hyperdistillation’ – “it’s a reminder to look again,” explains Tempest, “we are all more alive than we give each other credit for."
Working with the Grammy-winning producer behind Adele and Stormzy for the first time on an album sparked a union that saw a flood of new ideas and unexpected directions. Fraser encouraged Kae to be both an active participant in production and guided him to write in the first person, to tell his own story. The result is a body of work that sees Kae Tempest reconnect with his Hip Hop roots while paying a gentle homage to contemporary pop”.
Prior to getting to the ‘big three’, it is worth highlighting an incredible single from Olivia Dean. Nice to Each Other was released in May. Dean released the Mercury Prize-nominated Messy in 2023. I cannot wait for her second album. She is a real gem of an artist. Such a captivating human! Someone whose voice melts the heart but also gets the blood running. So many aspects and emotions that perfectly fit with the lyrics. Someone that is going to go down as one of the greats. Aside from pretty much every review I am sourcing saying that these singles are ‘returns’ and ‘comebacks’ from artists, which f*cking pisses me off no end, their insights are valuable. It does seem you need to release new music every month or else you are deemed as gone or dormant! Olivia Dean is someone who has been working solidly for years and has not gone anywhere. The Honey Pop wrote how Nice to Each Other is a bit like David Bowie’s Modern Love wrapped in this soulful warmth:
“Olivia Dean Is The New Classic
From the very first line, “Here we are, back again, fighting what’s in front of me,” Olivia captures that push and pull we’ve all felt. Wanting someone, but not wanting to lose yourself. The relationship she sings about lives in that in-between space. There’s so much vulnerability tucked into the humor. Yes, we’re referencing lyrics like “I’ll probably crash your stupid car.” And there’s a refreshing dose of realism when she sings, “I don’t want a boyfriend.” ‘Nice To Each Other’ isn’t your typical love song; it’s an invitation to let love be softer, freer, and more honest.
One Take Masterpiece
The single comes with a stunning one-take music video directed by Jake Erland, where Olivia meanders through an ever-shifting world that follows her lead. It’s light, stylish, and powerful. The video carries that easy vibe she sings about in the song, and feels so wonderfully Olivia Dean, we absolutely adore it!
Rewriting What Relationships Mean
One lyric we simply have to talk about is: “You know I’ve done all the classic stuff, and it never works, you know it.” This line feels like the heartbreak of the whole song, in our opinion. Olivia clearly isn’t interested in playing by the rulebook anymore. No grand declarations, no forced labels. Instead, she suggests a quieter kind of connection. It’s about showing up as you are and letting the small things like late-night talks, patience, and playfulness do the heavy lifting.
A New Era: The Art of Loving
‘Nice To Each Other’ kicks off The Art of Loving era, Olivia’s highly anticipated second album, dropping on September 26th. We couldn’t be more excited to see what she has in store! It’s hard to believe this is only her second full-length project. She’s already carved out a unique sound and secured her spot in the industry. The Art of Loving promises to be a tender, thoughtful dive into love in all its forms, and honestly, we already know we’re going to love it.
Olivia Dean’s ‘Nice To Each Other’ feels like a song made for right now, but it could belong to any era. In a world full of chaos, ghosting, and situationships, Olivia reminds us to do one simple thing: just be a little nicer to each other. That’s what makes it a classic we’ll keep coming back to”.
Three more standout singles before I round things off. In third place is an artist whose debut album, Undo the Blue, was my favourite album of 2023. It is my favourite album of the 2020s. A new single from an as-yet-untitled second album arrived in February. Running for your life has elements of songs from Undo the Blue, though it is a step in a new sonic direction. Tantalising and a potential glimpse into what a second L.P. could offer, I raved about the single when it came out. Rather than quote my own review of Running for your life, I will instead bring in the review below. Iraina Mancini has had a busy year. She has performed in the U.K. and abroad. Performed at some incredible festivals like Glastonbury and Green Man. She has supported The Coral at gigs. A brilliant recent gig on London Bridge. This is someone who works tirelessly and is building her fanbase. I would love to see more journalists and radio stations interview her and play he music more. I do not often spend so long spotlighting a single artist. However, when it comes to Iraina Mancini, the hype and love is real and justified:
“Today is a really good day. Iraina Mancini is back with 'Running For Your Life', and if there was ever any doubt as to whether she could match that incredible run of singles from her first album, they've been blown clean out of the water by this phenomenal track. What kicks off as a dark and brooding number in her trademark retro Soho style, about the devil we all have whispering in our ear when things get too much, explodes into one of the most exhilarating, breakneck speed choruses I've heard in ages. A total rush from start to finish”.
A single from a recently Mercury-nominated album, Wolf Alice’s Just Two Girls is my second-favourite single of this year. Taken from The Clearing, even though I cannot find the single on Spotify, Wolf Alice released a video for this song last week. It co-stars Lucy Boynton. Some have recognised how The Clearing is a bit of a new sonic direction for Wolf Alice. Just Two Girls is a dreamy Pop song that sounds like something vintage. A track you could imagine coming out in the 1960s, maybe. A band perhaps known more for something harder and edgier, this is them simply bringing in new influence and sounds. Far Out Magazine provided their impassioned review of a song whose chorus is without doubt the best of the year. It is so indelible and gorgeous:
“Songs about friendship are nothing new. Sure, in the rock and indie worlds, it never quite suits the prevailing angst that often cuts through, and Wolf Alice have provided plenty of that. But out of all of the experiences and emotions they’ve put to tape, there is something special and deeply poignant about the way Ellie Rowsell captures friendship, specifically, female friendship.
Maybe it’s purely a tenderness towards watching her, one of our time’s finest singers, carve out not just space but total domination among the male-dominated indie landscape. Escaping the landfill that so many of her initial peers fell into, Rowsell is on top, and from that podium, she’s singing about hanging with the girls. For the girls in the crowd, that’s always going to be something special.
But it’s more specific than that. In her lyricism, as the topic of friendship routinely comes up, Rowsell handles it with just as much, if not even more, love as she does romance. On ‘Don’t Delete The Kisses’, the band’s ultimate love song, she nervously ponders a crush, wondering if it’s right, contemplating her moves. But on ‘Just Two Girls’, the love Rowsell writes of that she feels for her friends is steadfast. It’s assured, it’s unquestioned, it’s as pure and powerful as any girl knows her relationship with her bestie to be.
“When I undress my every thought / The way that you can’t pay for / We’re just two girls at the bar / Like two kids in the park,” Rowsell sings as the central lyric. Two girls who are both the therapist and the fun, the song dips between those role, from sipping palomas at a bar to the depth of a morning-after hangover debrief. From beauty tips to a heavy chat, she sings so adoringly and admiringly of her friend, “I like the way she chain-smokes incessantly / Tiny epiphanies when she’s drinking with me.”
‘Bros’ exists in the same world and that’s why I love that song too. Dipping between silly memories of bad haircuts and bus routes, there is also so much depth to the love in that song. In fact, really, if any song is the band’s ultimate love song, it’s that one – written by Rowsell for her best friend Sadie, which she reminds the crowd of near enough each time she plays it.
Love songs for best friends. Love songs for girls to sing about their girl, capturing the utter adoration you feel when you’re sitting there having some drinks with someone you feel completely understood by, who you can switch at lightning speed from fun to hard feelings. That’s friendship, that’s girlhood, and Ellie Rowsell is a poet of that particular experience”.
The final single I am diving into is one I only heard a few weeks/a month or so ago. Sam Wills releases his new album, Speak, on 3rd October. A massive highlight from the album is Amelia. It is my favourite single from the year and one I have heard perhaps a hundred times. One that I can play ten times in a row without getting bored of it! I initially compared it to Scritti Politti in terms of the vocal and sound. However, it has a bit of Tame Impala to it. However, comparisons take away from the individuality and personality of the song. This is a tremendous single from the Hastings-born artist. As much as I love other singles from this year, Amelia strikes me harder and deeper than anything else. There is not much written about it. However, I did find this from Indie Shuffle:
“I’ve started to notice a pattern with what I like to call “transitional songs”—tracks that bridge one season to the next while still holding onto the essence of the one before it. Summer carries a jubilant energy, while fall leans into a slower, winding-down mood. Sam Wills, a master of crafting atmospheres, taps into this phenomenon with his latest single, "Amelia."
The upbeat, infectious track follows a quest to win back a lost love. Wills cleverly invokes Amelia Earhart as a metaphor for searching across the world—or, in this case, being adrift on an emotional journey. It’s a smart blend of bright production and bittersweet storytelling”.
We still have a few months to go in terms of new albums and singles. There could be some that dethrone or rearrange my favourites. However, I wanted to publish this feature to celebrate the strength of music this year and some of the diverse and brilliant singles that have come out. You may have your own favourites or have a different take. However, the ten singles above have a very special place in my heart. In the time we have left until the year is through, it is exciting and intriguing to discover…
WHAT that could offer up.