🔥 Thermo's hot hits | EOY 2025 🔥

it's a merry Listmas y'all

throughout the month of Dancember I will be counting down the top songs of the past 12 months as based on my point system.

prior to the top 200 countdown we will also take a look at the Album of the Year and a handful of (songs you've actually heard of) mainstream splashes that didn't quite make the list.

before anything though, let's take a look at last year's top ten singles.

01 Ben Hemsley ~ Closer (feat. Chenai)

02 Maribou State ~ Blackoak

03 Worakls ~ Furia Electronica

04 Tinlicker ~ Nowhere To Go (feat. Brian Molko)

05 Hel:sløwed ~ If You Only Knew [feat. Amber Revival]

06 Nightwish ~ Perfume of the Timeless

07 Peggy Gou ~ 1+1=11

08 Fat Dog ~ Running

09 Kalandra ~ Bardaginn

10 NTO and Vitalic ~ Cœur Noir

it was the year of Ben Hemsley whose 'Closer' held the #1 spot for 12 weeks in the spring and quite convincingly topped the year-end chart with chart points of over 1.5 million. Maribou State had one of the all-time big sleeper hits in 'Blackoak' which peaked at #6 in 2023 and didn't spend a single week top 10 in 2024 however the longevity factor took it to the #2 spot. Worakls got his biggest hit yet taking #3 with what was eventually revealed as the lead single to this year's album release.

💦 Mainstream Splashes 💦

#271 - Chappell Roan - Pink Pony Club

good sang but will probably need a long while before I can actually listen to it and it sounds fresh again

#270 - Abor & Tynna - Baller

Eurovision... yay? let's ignore how much of a shitshow 2026 is going to be and appreciate this bop managing to be one of the UK faves of the night (shoutout to Zjerm and Ich Komme too which would be here if they were UK hits)

#253 - Sia - Snowman

yeah I'm late to this song, whatever. it's a lovely festive addition.

#250 - Levi Heron - The Glen

wonderfully random to get something so Scottish sounding be a hit albeit with added EDM thump

#240 sombr - Undressed

well written pop charting, well sometimes it happens. and we may see him again...

#234 Tame Impala - Dracula

Tame Impala actually getting a mainstream hit finally (although TLIKTB was a bigger hit in reality if not the charts) was impressive to see and with one of his catchier songs yay

#226 Raye - Where Is My Husband!

someone find her a shiny diamond ring! (and some more streaming payola in January so we don't just have more weeks of Taylor at #1)

#218 Olivia Dean - Man I Need

no complaints with this being a huge hit, her other stuff's not so much for me but can't fault this

#210 Sub Focus and Katy B - Push the Tempo

how I wish this actually could've broke the top 40 to give Katy B a belated late career hit but we'll allow top 75s here to make up the numbers

#205 Kaj - Bara Bada Bastu

SAUNA!

(I'm not too fond of actual saunas but the song's fun x)

and that concludes Mainstream Splashes. but of course a few more will appear in the main countdown...

Hi Dan!

Really like most of the songs on your Mainstream Splashes.

Can't wait for your list!
Hope you can see my list as well!

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Worakls - From one blink to another [Electronica/orchestral house]

Album tracklist:

1. Anges 4:59

2. 목소리 2:38

3. Lueur 5:35

4. Rome Is Burning 3:51

5. TAWA 3:52

6. Falling 2:45

7. No Boundaries 5:13

8. L'Amour, La Mer, Le Chaos 4:13

9. Furia Electronica 4:50

10. Morning Bliss 4:42

11. Red & Gold 4:27

ALBUM OF THE YEAR RUNNER-UP: anamē - Hopes & Fears [Melodic house]

Album tracklist:

1. Cloudwalking 5:53

2. Colder 2:56

3. It Can Be Better Now 3:11

4. Tennessee Bloom 3:48

5. Hero 4:04

6. Electric Lights 3:53

7. Happy To Be Alive 4:14

8. Astronauts 4:02

9. Break The Silence 4:38

10. Seraph 4:10

11. What About Me 5:35

12. Hopeful 4:33

ALBUM OF THE YEAR RUNNER-UP: ilan Bluestone - Ignite [Progressive trance]

Album tracklist:

1. 40 3:51

2. Tethered To The Flame 3:23

3. Paradise 4:20

4. Pause & Breathe 3:45

5. Africana 3:35

6. Slow Down 3:09

7. Ignite 4:40

8. This Town 4:05

9. Mewo Fie 4:07

10. Heaven Needed You More 3:33

11. The Waves 4:27

12. Move All Night (Italodisco) 3:44

13. Last Man Standing 4:02

14. Safe & Sound 4:42

15. Turiya 3:26

🔥 The Hottest 200 🔥

#200 Lovequest and Ultra Naté - Wrecking Crew

52-10-12-26-69-85-x [6 weeks]

camp house from the project of Jake Sheers & Shadow Child

#199 The Marías - Back To Me

88-61-69-57-68-58-64-64-66-57-85-x [11 weeks]

subdued indie girl music from a band we'll have another appearance from much later on...

#198 Billy Gillies - Crystallize (feat. Nu-La)

33-42-41-45-68-95-x [6 weeks]

remember him off 'DNA'? well he's still making decent pop-trance on occasion

#197 Tomike and Silva Bumpa - Runnin'

99-66-73-66-71-85-83-90-90-x [9 weeks]

fun house bop

#196 Shouse - Sunrise

8-11-27-34-50-81-x [6 weeks]

lush summery vibez

#195 Monocule and What Eva - Don't Let Go

 83-79-74-88-82-90-99-x [7 weeks]

Nicky Romero alias for slightly less generic music than what he normally does

#194 I. Jordan and Ashwarya - Without You

 23-27-34-51-71-90-x-93-x [7 weeks]

vibey house tune

#193 Jalen Ngonda - All About Me

 89-82-60-58-42-37-20-23-32-29-51-63... [12 weeks]

this song sounds like it's come straight out of the 70s in the best way

#192 Driftmoon - Number One

40-39-27-31-43-46-57-85-97-x [9 weeks]

I've been missing the big trance epics from Driftmoon, which this is not but a nice bit of progressive

#191 Lady Gaga - Disease

 {32-14-27-27-37-63-x}-66-55-71-75-73-33-44-x [7 weeks {14 total}]

decent lead single effort which just missed out last year's list so deserving of one this year, she'll have a few more better to come anyhow

#190 Maribou State - Otherside (feat. Holly Walker) [EOY #89, 2024]

{3-3-9-9-10-15-16-15-17-29-49}-92-92-33-35-39-45-42-70-98-62-x [10 weeks {21 total}]

lovely organic sounding dance

#189 Tensnake - Heat (feat. Moat)

 76-64-31-49-57-71-77-90-90-x [9 weeks]

classic disco house vibez

#188 Tourist - Outside

 65-61-52-42-46-67-76-x-97-92-x [9 weeks]

never rated Tourist before but now he's gone trancey which I'm here for

#187 Hi-Lo and Kasablanca - Inferno

 46-15-20-28-32-56-93-x [7 weeks]

Oli Heldens techno thumper

#186 Shouse and Cub Sport - Only You

 10-8-8-8-10-17-25-43-68-84-x [10 weeks]

and here's Shouse again, a more standard commercial dance-pop track than what we're used to but they did it well

From the mainstream ones, Bara Bada Bastu is definitely a tune! Agree about saunas, I think I've only ever been in one in my life and wouldn't go rushing back but I'll certainly sing about them in this song. Nice to see The Glen and Man I Need pop up as well!

From your top 200, I like seeing "Disease" so far.

Can't wait to see the rest!

#185 Ravyn Lenae - Love Me Not

66-77-x-89-57-73-67-83-82-85-x [9 weeks]

one of the better megasmashes of the year, was more of a sleeper success for me

#184 Sleep Token - Caramel

7-9-12-19-23-35-69-x [7 weeks]

was cool seeing a newish rock band get some big success this year, even if ultimately the album was a fair bit weaker than the singles

#183 Selena Faider - Bring That Body (feat. Ivy Chanel)

{32-30-36-31-31-30-36-62-80-x}-36-38-37-43-47-71-99-x [7 weeks {16 total}]

classic diva house vibez

#182 ilan Bluestone, Alpha 9 and H.E.A.R.T.S. - Paradise

 52-65-80-79-27-18-33-47-71-x [9 weeks]

first one here for one of my AOTY contenders ilan Bluestone!

#181 Amy Wiles and Angel City - Dream Away

 83-53-59-63-48-35-38-43-54-95-x [10 weeks]

yes, that Angel City. she's made a return to music recently. hopping on trance DJ Amy Wiles' tune.

#180 Sarah Kinsley - Fleeting

2-9-10-9-7-11-17... [7+ weeks]

the pop epic that could have won BJSC if only everyone and their dog wasn't after the song!

#179 Anamē - Break the Silence (feat. Bri Zoli)

 13-14-18-21-39-46-97-x [7 weeks]

another AOTY contender make their first appearance - this is great but ultimately got overshadowed by other songs when the album got released

#178 Fontaines D.C. - Starburster

 {80-x}-42-40-53-63-85-x-75-64-76-63-85-x [10 weeks {11 total}]

bit of a sleeper hit here after I gave it another chance when everyone was still raving about it. quite easily their best song for me.

#177 Draeden, Laura Brehm and Psyuri - Two Worlds

{11-6-2-4-4-8-24-24-15-18}-21-30-38-68-96-89-x [10 weeks {16 total}]

Laura Brehm's wonderful voice + dubstep, I'm in.

#176 Aaron Hibell and Felsmann + Tiley - Levitation (Icelandic Version) [EOY #42, 2024]

{1-1-2-3-5-6-18-22-26-28-32-39-38-32-40-63-64}-93-93-45-52-55-66-50-76-90-x [9 weeks {26 total}

one of my faves of 2024 and was a BJSC hit for me too of course, a big modern trance instrumental

"Back To Me" and "Love Me Not" are the stand-out songs of your places 200 - 176 for me, but I don't know all the songs.

Saw that you charted a lot of Anjunabeats - I like the early stuff of that label very much, but did not check what they are nowadays releasing.

Like seeing "Love Me Not" and "Starbuster" from your list!

#175 Deep Sea Diver - Shovel

 54-65-64-31-23-22-26-47-76-x [9 weeks]

cool random indie find - haven't peeped any their other material yet

#174 Sparkbird - November

 58-14-7-16-33-38-45-94-x [8 weeks]

and another one, though they have another song to appear much later on. rather interesting song although sadly the inspiration for it is the singer having been a victim of SA.

#173 Deep Sun - Worlds Collide

 10-5-17-29-34-57-45-61-50-83-90-... [11+ weeks]

I do like to find hidden rock gems throughout the year, here's one with a wonderfully operatic vocal

#172 Schrotthagen - Strom der Zeit

 8-8-14-28-42-76-90-100-x [8 weeks]

German techno stomper from one of the best upcomers in the genre. their big hit from last year is a carry-over so we'll hear from them again soon.

#171 Doechii - Nissan Altima

 81-71-50-47-60-47-54-72-77-91-x [10 weeks]

we got some good hits off Doechii this year. her biggest in 'Anxiety' not being one of them, this deserved a bit more.

#170 John Summit - Light Years (feat. Inéz)

 38-44-52-38-45-47-78-x [7 weeks]

A bit of a shameless rip off 'The Days' in the production soon after that getting big but it works.

#169 Matt Sassari and Hugel - It Feels So Good (feat. Sonique)

{70-35-35-52-60-74}-94-94-34-36-17-21-24-43-78-x [9 weeks {15 total}]

cool modern update of the Sonique classique, I thought this had hit potential but that never happened

#168 Maribou State - Blackoak [EOY #02, 2024]

{22-13-10-6-9-9-9-9-11-11-17-17-14-18-14-15-32-27-31-28-32-31-26-20-18-18-22-32-50-58-93-55-66-71-x-77-55-59-60-64-94-97-76-50-59-90-100-93-96-35-27-35-46-47-78-66-87-60-78-77}-77-77-28-31-44-58-49-69-97-74-x [10 weeks {69 total}]

one of the longest-running hits ever here and it managed a couple more weeks off the back of its year-end #2 finish. absolutely brilliant tune which was my introduction to this group!

#167 Calvin Harris and Jessie Reyez - Ocean

 4-6-7-13-26-52-86-x [7 weeks]

a bit of a flop for Calvin oops but he can always rebound from one. we'll see him again much, much later on...

#166 Solarstone - Seven Cities (Solarstone's Atlantis Mix)

 20-18-20-29-31-42-72-98-x [8 weeks]

an oldie classic trance hit - this was allowed a belated run here following its BJSC appearance

#165 Worakls - Red & Gold (feat. Ekaterina Shelehova)

 4-3-8-4-4-4-10-19-32-... [9+ weeks]

a big standout of the long-awaited album - it's another orchestral epic with a suitably grand vocal. the song was also sent into BJSC but unjustly didn't perform too well.

#164 Luuk Van Dijk - Everything

26-19-39-35-38-54-72-99-x [8 weeks]

smooth chill house with some piano made this a good NMF find from someone I'd never heard of

#163 Bingo Players - Take It Slow

 53-53-49-42-58-62-74-83-x [8 weeks]

Bingo Players can still make a fun generic dance bop from time to time, here's one.

#162 LP Giobbi - Galt

 28-23-27-28-37-56-73-x [7 weeks]

a more classical piano inspired house tune made this a standout of her recent material

#161 Ely Oaks - Running Around

 71-42-46-48-58-89-x [6 weeks]

an actual dance hit single now and this is quite a fun song though his follow-up material is just more of the same so doubt he'll be sticking around in the big-time for much longer

#160 Weiss - Promises (feat. Louise Marshall)

 100-85-65-41-57-63-72-68-87-97-x [10 weeks]

more classic-house from Weiss and with the vocalist who was uncredited for "Afraid To Feel"

#159 Atlxs - Passo Bem Solto

 91-51-52-62-93-89-88-73-58-78-x [10 weeks]

the year's token big phonk hit was quite the earworm

#158 Claptone - Put Your Love On Me (feat. Henry Camamile)

 37-37-45-83-96-70-67-65-62-69-85-x [11 weeks]

strong bit of dancepop!

#157 Schrotthagen - Blaue Blume

 73-96-93-90-15-13-29-44-66-91-x [10 weeks]

d'you ask for more German techno instrumentals?

#156 Worakls, Apashe and Wasiu - Rome is Burning

 7-2-2-10-18-22-31-40-72-x [9 weeks]

Worakls and Apashe collabing just makes perfect sense. another highlight of the album even with it being a bit of a departure from the typical Worakls style.

#155 Rossi and Jazzy - High On Me

 45-49-52-58-54-63-67-76-71-80-76-89-97-x [13 weeks]

Jazzy.AI delivering on this smooth house track which was a nice surprise of a UK hit.

#154 Ary - Running in a Dream

 87-39-18-19-22-23-26-38-71-x-18-... [10+ weeks]

A tense high energy dance-pop track, which was just submitted to BJSC which explains the very end of its chart run for the year!

#153 Kalandra - Ghosts

 {19-3-2-7}-12-12-12-16-42-57-x-24-27-27-40-57-... [11 weeks {15+ total}]

not so much a Christmas song as it is a winter song, it's a lovely ballad from Norwegian band Kalandra who appeared in my top 10 last year.

#152 Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing

 17-24-26-39-33-36-45-x [7 weeks]

this had a minor UK chart resurgence which was good an excuse as any to give this classic rock a good few spins. perhaps one of the best songs of the 70s altogether really.

#151 Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars - Die With A Smile [EOY #125, 2024]

 {67-86-x-74-61-71-49-49-44-44-63-68-89-x}-89-81-75-93-98-x-25-30-51-75-x [9 weeks {21 total}]

a real sleeper success here which eventually got a top 40 peak following the 'Mayhem' album release. rightfully going to be considered a classic of Gaga's catalogue.

🔥 The Hottest 200 | #151-200 RECAP 🔥

200 Lovequest and Ultra Naté - Wrecking Crew | 195,200

199 The Marías - Back To Me | 197,400

198 Billy Gillies - Crystallize (feat. Nu-La) | 198,200

197 Tomike and Silva Bumpa - Runnin' | 198,600

196 Shouse - Sunrise | 199,500

195 Monocule and What Eva - Don't Let Go | 201,200

194 I. Jordan and Ashwarya - Without You | 201,800

193 Jalen Ngonda - All About Me | 202,600

192 Driftmoon - Number One | 204,500

191 Lady Gaga - Disease | 209,000

190 Maribou State - Otherside (feat. Holly Walker) | 210,200

189 Tensnake - Heat (feat. Moat) | 210,400

188 Tourist - Outside | 211,100

187 Hi-Lo [Oliver Heldens] and Kasablanca - Inferno | 211,700

186 Shouse and Cub Sport - Only You | 212,900

185 Ravyn Lenae - Love Me Not | 213,000

184 Sleep Token - Caramel | 213,300

183 Selena Faider - Bring That Body (feat. Ivy Chanel) | 213,600

182 ilan Bluestone, Alpha 9 and H.E.A.R.T.S. - Paradise | 213,700

181 Amy Wiles and Angel City - Dream Away | 213,900

180 Sarah Kinsley - Fleeting | 214,200

179 Anamē - Break the Silence (feat. Bri Zoli) | 215,900

178 Fontaines D.C. - Starburster | 216,400

177 Draeden, Laura Brehm and Psyuri - Two Worlds | 218,700

176 Aaron Hibell and Felsmann + Tiley - Levitation (Icelandic Version) | 218,900

175 Deep Sea Diver - Shovel | 220,100

174 Sparkbird - November | 220,300

173 Deep Sun - Worlds Collide | 223,000

172 Schrotthagen - Strom der Zeit | 224,200

171 Doechii - Nissan Altima | 226,000

170 John Summit - Light Years (feat. Inéz) | 226,500

169 Matt Sassari and Hugel - It Feels So Good (feat. Sonique) | 226,800

168 Maribou State - Blackoak | 230,600

167 Calvin Harris and Jessie Reyez - Ocean | 231,300

166 Solarstone - Seven Cities (Solarstone's Atlantis Mix) | 231,500

165 Worakls - Red & Gold (feat. Ekaterina Shelehova) | 232,100

164 Luuk Van Dijk - Everything | 232,600

163 Bingo Players - Take It Slow | 233,400

162 LP Giobbi - Galt | 233,500

161 Ely Oaks - Running Around | 235,300

160 Weiss - Promises (feat. Louise Marshall) | 237,500

159 Atlxs - Passo Bem Solto | 237,500

158 Claptone - Put Your Love On Me (feat. Henry Camamile) | 239,500

157 Schrotthagen - Blaue Blume | 240,000

156 Worakls, Apashe and Wasiu - Rome is Burning | 240,500

155 Rossi and Jazzy - High On Me | 243,600

154 Ary - Running in a Dream | 244,900

153 Kalandra - Ghosts | 248,500

152 Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing | 248,700

151 Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars - Die With A Smile | 249,200