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Top Pop Songs of 2025 (So Far)

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Bias List Mid-Year Best OfTo round out my mid-year countdowns, I’ve got a spotlight on some of my favorite songs from music markets that aren’t Korea or Japan. To simplify things, I just call this category “pop.” It’s been a very strong year for pop music so far, though you might not know it if you’re only looking at the charts. We’re currently seeing a revolution of indie pop artists, offering a little something for everyone.

What were your favorite singles and albums during the first half of 2025?

TOP SINGLES

Barbara Bobak – Stan Na Dan

This is so new that I haven’t even had a chance to feature it in a global round-up yet, but Stan Na Dan does everything I love about Serbian dance-pop. The bombast of its chorus actually reminds me of Infinite’s The Chaser!

Comanavago – Say Less

There are at least four or five songs I prefer on their latest album, but this is the one that was promoted in 2025 so it makes my list because I just love their work so much. It’s a fantastic early-2010’s club track.

Erika Vikman – Ich Komme

It’s been gratifying to see Queen Erika Vikman break through outside of Finland this year with what might just be her best song. Ich Komme is wild and weird and fueled by pure, unadulterated star power.

Lady Gaga – Abracadabra / Shadow Of A Man / Vanish Into You

Obviously Abracadabra is one of the best songs of the year, but I’m also posting my two other favorite tracks from her great comeback album because in a perfect world there’d be like eight singles from this campaign.

Madison Rose – Daydreaming

She’s experimented a bit this year, but no sound fits Madison Rose better than this immense EDM pop. She knows how to write total anthems and this is another mega-hit.

Maria Jane Smith – I Hate San Francisco

Country music is in the middle of a huge resurgence. It’s not my favorite genre, but this Swedish take on the sound works wonders, buoyed by an explosive, emotional chorus.

Metteson – Hunger

Choral vocals collide with icy electronics for a dense, incredibly unique dance sound. There’s a sense of scope driving this track we don’t hear often in today’s pop climate.

Neea River – Nightmares

She’s been honing her skills for years and it all led up to this perfect, glistening Eurovision dance banger. The song is almost a case study of this particular style.

Nelli Matula – Hitaammin hautaan

Finland’s UMK competition absolutely killed it this year and this evocative, layered dance track was a major part of that. It’s simply gorgeous and builds toward a whopper of a climax.

Punchbag – Fuck It

A rambunctious burst of energy melding anthemic electro with clobbering punk energy, all tied to a sentiment most of us can probably get behind!

Rebecca Black – Twist The Knife

Rebecca Black of “Friday” fame on my mid-year list? I wouldn’t have believed it either, but her new EP is too good not to qualify. Twist The Knife does Gaga-esque pop just as well as the originator herself.

Sleigh Bells – This Summer

A quirky blend of electronic and rock, at times pensive but mostly in-your-face aggressive. Its melodies are so strong and fit the chant-along energy perfectly.

Tom Aspaul – That Girl

With so many artists continuing to mine the 80’s for inspiration, Tom Aspaul captures a specific soft-rock/dance sound rarely heard these days to forge a track with unique perspective.

TPCX – Sin.

The Parity Complex rebranded to TPCX and delivered one of their most intense songs yet. Sin simply explodes, offering pummeling catharsis in the best way possible.

9 thoughts on “Top Pop Songs of 2025 (So Far)”

  1. I’m ashamed to admit I completely forgot about Lady Gaga making a full return to form at the beginning of 2025, but I think that just speaks to how much I’ve been enjoying so many other pop efforts this year so far.

    Regarding my favourites, the chorus line to Maria Jane Smith’s I Hate San Francisco of “29 and I’m ready to die” has been hitting particularly hard all year for me as I rapidly approach turning 30 in August 🙃 very cathartic, and one of several songs that has given me pause and forced me to rethink what I’m doing with my life lol.

    The other song that’s got me making moves is The Knocks’ and Dragonette’s Revolution, the title track to their recently released collab album. I’ve talked about it a few times in your comments already but there’s a feeling of potential aching to burst out to the song that’s been driving me forward this year.

    Apart from sentimental songs, Snow Wife’s Sweat has seen a surprising amount of plays, as have TPCX’s sin. and Charlotte Sands’ Hush, all songs with very distinct personalities and rhythms to them.

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    • Your comment really stayed with me — especially what you said about that lyric (“29 and I’m ready to die”). It hit me differently after hearing how deeply it resonated with you. That sense of burnout, of questioning everything as a big milestone approaches — it’s heavy. And the line “in love with a lie” from that song made me think about the stories we hold onto just to keep going.
      Thanks for putting it into words so honestly 🤍

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      • It’s galvanizing to hear my feelings have resonated with someone! Thank you for expanding on what the song evokes for you as well, put into words a lot of what I’ve been thinking of when this song comes on.

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  3. i think i wanna post my top songs of the year now that we’ve approached the pop songs entry, there unfortunately hasn’t been much change to the top 10 since like april, with only one song from june getting in

    1. abracadabra – lady gaga (ofc)
    2. ich komme – erika vikman
    3. nightmares – neea river
    4. n.i.n (new is now) – nouera
    5. vvv – the boyz
    6. glory days – kis-my-ft2
    7. like you better – fromis_9
    8. impostor syndrome – shirobon & frankmusik
    9. hitaamin hautaan – nelli
    10. the stranger – onf

    honorable mentions:

    1. only you – the wind
    2. style – hearts2hearts
    3. it’s showtime – genic
    4. blue – zerobaseone
    5. countdown – tws

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  4. This is crazy when compared to last year because 2024 seemed to busy compared to this year! Anyway, I still think many notable albums and songs have been released this year. Seeing the list, I guess Nick and I don’t coincide much except for Gaga and Rebecca Black (I never returned to Salvation after the 1st listen but I thought it was good).

    For pop songs this year I think my highlights are:

    • The Weekend – Open Hearts: His latest album has notable pop bangers and some of the best songs in his career. This one takes the crown though, amazing production.
    • Ariana Grande – Warm: I think most people would take Twilight Zone from Ariana’s Eternal Sunshine Deluxe Edition, but I like this one better. It has this nostalgic sound that really gets me and the production and vocal layering is also great. I can really see Ariana moving forward with this style of synthpop for future albums.
    • FKA Twigs – Childlike Things: I think both this song and her album are the best experimental pop-artpop releases so far. Also, who would’ve ever thought North West would coook this hard on her verse?
    • Kali Uchis – Sunshine & Rain: This is such a beautiful song, and the same can be said about her album. I’m usually not the type to listen to this style of music (and to be honest I prefer her previous releases) but this won me over.
    • PinkPantheress – Stateside: I really do think that K-pop groups taking inspo from her for the Y2K UK Garage and dance-pop should have their producers studying this mixtape and her songs. They’re just so catchy, dynamic and the production is punchy and vibrant.
    • Lady Gaga – Shadow of a Man: I’m choosing this from Mayhem, because I can’t stop replaying. This one just hits different, it has such a strong energy and she sounds great. One thing I will say though is that the album does all the heavy-lifting in the first seven songs. Interestingly, Shadow of a Man is the most notable, and the song that saves, the second half of the album.
    • Playboi Carti, The Weekend – Rather Lie: The new Carti album was a little bit of a mess to me, but this one is a highlight. I think it’s a pop song with melodic rap, so I guess I’m including it?
    • Tate McRae – Revolving Door: Her album was a little bit bland, with rough songwriting but the production carried some songs. It’s also not completly devoid of good material, there are great tracks. It also signals that she has huge potential.
    • Drake, PARTYNEXTDOOR – Nokia: Not a fan of having Drake here, but at least I’m not writing about Morgan Wallen or Alex Warren lol. I’m not convinced about the album that houses this track, but as a stand-alone song, it hits a sweet spot for me.
    • Destin Conrad, Kehlani -Bad Bitches: If you’re craving y2k-inspired R&B-pop, this guy does it very tastefully.
    • Kehlani – Folded: This is esenttially a R&B track but I have always though Kehlani has been the one to incorporate the pop elements from the current R&B girls into her music the most.

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  5. Oh dear, I’d never think Serbian dance-pop of all things would find its place on The Bias List 😅

    Barbara Bobak is certainly one of our more… I wanna say authentic singers of the new generation, even though I think Tea Tairović might be the most popular.

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