hello all, as per usual this will be my top 100 songs of the year produced from a points-based system according to my weekly personal chart. 1 week at #1 = 40 points, 1 week at #40 = 1 point etc.

I'll aim to kick this off and catch up on other people's EOYs in the coming days.

Any thoughts / speculation welcome.

My previous EOY #1s:

2022 • Working Men's Club - Widow

2023 • Heartworms - Retributions of an Awful Life

2024 • Charli xcx - Sympathy is a knife

Should be interesting to follow this!

23 minutes ago, PeteFromLeeds said:

Should be interesting to follow this!

Thank you for the support in here each year, Pete! Much appreciated :)

Looking forward to your Year-End list!

16 minutes ago, Sergej said:

Looking forward to your Year-End list!

Thanks Sergej, that's very kind! I'm all up to date on yours now yay 🥳

I wasn't expecting to start this so soon but I got to finish work early and was in the mood to write while I have a couple of free hours so why not...

TOP 100 SONGS: 100-91

100. ARGO - Korku | 154 points

99. Wet Leg - catch these fists | 155 points

98. FKA twigs - Sushi | 156 points

97. ROSALÍA - Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti | 158 points

96. Cynthia Erivo - Defying Gravity (feat. Ariana Grande) | 159 points

95. KennyHoopla - NORTHERN LIGHTS// | 163 points (peak: #13)

94. Madison Beer - yes baby | 163 points (peak: #3)

93. Oklou & FKA twigs - viscus | 164 points

92. Confidence Man & JADE - gossip | 165 points (peak: #13)

91. Lemondaze - o(type) | 165 points (peak: #9)

The mysterious ARGO highlights the beauty of the BuzzJack Song Contest. @gooddelta's nation FSR Rontvia unleashed their song 'Korku' to the 177th edition back in September. Little is known about this Turkish rock act, with just 78 monthly listeners at the time of typing, but they were plucked from obscurity (courtesy of a New Music Friday playlist) and incredibly finished as high as 2nd in the contest. I helped out this entry as much as I could, with top marks, FSR Rontvia's third consecutive gold from my nation in an unprecedented hot streak. I cannot profess to know much Turkish (although understand the title of this song translates to 'Fear') but I was instantly hooked on the post-punk style drum loop, epic guitars and passionate vocals that become all the more intense as the song builds.

A top 40 single unfortunately continues to evade Wet Leg but sophomore album moisturizer was another #1 record for the band. This era was introduced by lead single 'catch these fists' back in April this year. I was pleasantly surprised to hear they'd chosen a dance-punk direction for the instrumental and noted that an idiosyncratic band name team-up of Wet Leg and Viagra Boys now seemed plausible. This refreshed sonic makeover is coupled with lyrics inspired by men who obnoxiously interrupt a girl who is having fun with her friendship circle on a night out, to try and pick her up. The words have bite but are also peppered with humorous Wet Leg wordplay such as "he don't get puss, he get the boot, I saw him sipping on Dark Fruit". What a takedown.

2025 was a prolific and slightly confusing year to follow in the world of FKA Twigs. She released her third studio album Eusexua in January to much acclaim and even a top 3 chart placing here! However, later in the year she put out an edited version of Eusexua which removed some of the original track list (justice for 'Girl Feels Good') and slotted in some new songs. In addition to this, she also dropped an entirely new album called Eusexua Afterglow which promised to "extend the high into the afters". Phew. 'Sushi' was an immediate highlight from this project for me. It is like an alt girl update on Craig David's '7 Days' as Twigs excitedly details what her week of dates will look like - of course going for sushi, but also karaoke (her song of choice is revealed as 'Gasolina' by Daddy Yankee) and even heading to Paris. Elsewhere, the line "no, I still can't drive" particularly speaks to me when I had to delay my test until 2026. There is also a callback to the earlier discography highlight 'Glass & Patron' (recently entered to the Bop Idol 5 song contest by @Josh!) with the line "now hold that pose for me". My ultimate highlight of this song is how it morphs into a ballroom breakdown towards the end, which samples a commentator named Precious. That transition is always a rush. I saw someone comparing this song to Beyoncé's 'PURE/HONEY' and can definitely see the vision. That album track was my favourite moment on Renaissance so it makes sense that I would also enjoy the structure of this song quite a bit.

This year it was a delight to witness one of my favourite artists ROSALÍA achieving notable commercial success, on top of her usual critical praise. I predicted that she would achieve her first top 40 album in 2025 but never in my wildest dreams did I expect LUX to land in the top 5, just incredible. She is always an ambitious artist but this project included the extra challenging layer of incorporating 14 different languages. I was intrigued to hear 'Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti' as Italian is one of my favourites. This song is about the spiritual union between two people that is not necessarily romantic, as it was inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Clare of Assisi, who had a strong, platonic bond. The songwriting is passionate and dramatic from the word go, with the opening lines translating to "you are the most beautiful hurricane that I have ever seen" in English. ROSALÍA plays with religious themes throughout and illustrates her thoughts with poetic imagery. The song opens with lowkey piano playing but evolves throughout, with added flourishes and intense strings in places. Her voice is to die for here, particularly the final note, which is my favourite vocal moment on the whole of LUX. The transition between the end of this song and 'Berghain' is the best segue on the album for me, also.

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande placed at #70 in my 2024 EOY list with 'Defying Gravity' and they're back once more, this time at the lower #96, thanks to its chart run extending into the start of this year. I won't bore you all by repeating my commentary from last time but might as well add that the sequel to this movie, Wicked: For Good, has since come out. Unfortunately, it did not quite live up to the strength of the first film for me, but 'For Good' was an impressive musical moment between the two again, just three spots out from making this year's countdown. Ariana Grande still has more to come thanks to the release of her eternal sunshine: brighter days deluxe album this year too, in another busy year for her career.

KennyHoopla is an American musician who was born exactly 1 day after me! I have stayed on top of his music pretty well as his releases are often pushed on my Release Radar playlist. I'm particularly grateful to have spotted and checked out 'NORTHERN LIGHTS//' this year. KennyHoopla, real name Kenneth La'ron Beasley, was inspired by '90s shoegaze and post-rock bands when creating this song, especially mentioning Ride and Sonic Youth as acts who saved his life during a difficult time. He was dealing with the loss of his mum and also becoming an independent artist. 'NORTHERN LIGHTS//' is about achieving what you can with what you have and not necessarily the path that was expected. The most standout lyric to me is "in outer heaven, weightless and hardcore" which illustrates feeling lost in a striking way. I love the psychedelic end result of his muffled vocals mixed with the loud, layered fuzzy guitars and driving percussion.

Madison Beer originally caught my attention when she featured on the Europa single 'All Day and Night' back in 2019, a #1 in my personal chart. Her career stretches a lot further back than that, with Justin Bieber endorsing her in 2013, but her own music as the main artist hadn't really grabbed me. However, Madison's dark dance-pop pivot in recent years has been a godsend. 'Make You Mine' was a bit of a slow burner but 'yes baby' immediately hit me. The electropop sound is catnip to my ears so I'm pleased if the Brat era is opening up more artists to experiment with this lane. On top of the pulsating synths, the sensual lyrics are good fun and confidently delivered, plus Madison exudes star quality in the video, even if the backing dancers seem to be doing most of the work! I'll let her off for running on the treadmill in heels. Here's hoping she gets a Sabrina Carpenter-esque break one day as she has all the makings of a big pop girl.

French singer, producer and DJ Oklou teamed up with FKA Twigs, back for a second appearance in this section, on a track for the deluxe version of her debut album choke enough. Both of these talented women provided two of my favourite albums of the year so I was unsurprisingly hyped for this team-up. 'viscus' originally existed as an unreleased solo song that had been performed live, but Oklou later called up FKA twigs to invite her on to it as a feature, allowing full creative freedom. I appreciate how vulnerable this collaboration is, alluding to themes like seasonal depression and even body dysmorphia on Twigs' verse, with lines such as "avoiding myself naked in the bath, just to touch my body in the dark" painting a heartbreaking picture. I feel Oklou has already carved out a particular electronic sound, so the main synth is reliably great, but I appreciate the texture of added ambience too. Twigs handing Oklou her much-loved flute in the music video was cinema, also.

Another collaboration that filled me with excitement was Confidence Man and JADE coming together! The two acts crossed paths thanks to the Rolling Stone U.K. awards (a magazine I subscribe to) and JADE later debuted the track live at Glastonbury, a month before its release. I'm a big fan of Basement Jaxx and their work appears to be a bit of a template here, which unsurprisingly gets a thumbs up from me. There is definitely a bit of 'Oh My Gosh' in there while the Mexican guitar provides some added drama similar to their highest charting song, 'Rendez-vu'. The acid house elements of the production appeal to me a lot too. The playful lyrics, an ode to the art of gossiping (if only Dot Cotton was still with us), are brimming with sass and get particularly cheeky when JADE drops a c-bomb during the bridge. This meeting of pop and electronic worlds thankfully delivered!

This section is book-ended with two songs that received my top marks in the BuzzJack Song Contest. The 179th edition was particularly special to me as I got the chance to host for the first time in 4 years, following victory for my nation Jadakissnia, in BJSC 178. I was suitably impressed by the quality of the entries and my favourite of the lot was 'o(type)' by Lemondaze, sent by @uhsting's nation Sovarasma. This song instantly blew me away with its gazing-at-shoes qualities while creating recap videos and remained my best-loved entry throughout the entirety of the contest. It experienced a slow start during the results but finished in a respectable 16th place by the end. The group are inspired by shoegaze royalty Slowdive but also the likes of Radiohead and Wolf Alice. The moody, droning production and muffled vocals during the verses perfectly contrast against the build-up of dramatic guitars, crashing drums and clear "you're still there" delivery in the chorus. The music video is a stunning watch, with its mix of emotive close-ups and outdoor shots in front of towering trees.

YOU'RE STILL THERE

2025 was defo the year of Twigs for me! She was my 3rd most played artist of the year and also my favourite gig that I went to this year. Liam & I couldn’t resist tickets for the O2 show next year for that reason!

You’re so right when you say justice for ‘Girls Feels Good’ though. That or Striptease are probably the two best tracks on the album so why get rid?!? At least we have both versions still on streaming, lol. 

I’m glad you enjoyed Glass & Patron as much as I do! 

I've been out of BJSC this year so missed o(type), so just giving it a listen given you provided the link - not surprised that this is something coming from uhsting, seems very much the sort of thing that would be up their street! The vocals are really nice amidst everything else going on with the instrumentation in the song.

3 hours ago, uhsting said:

YOU'RE STILL THERE

ready for more Sovarasma faves in 2026!

3 hours ago, Josh! said:

2025 was defo the year of Twigs for me! She was my 3rd most played artist of the year and also my favourite gig that I went to this year. Liam & I couldn’t resist tickets for the O2 show next year for that reason!

You’re so right when you say justice for ‘Girls Feels Good’ though. That or Striptease are probably the two best tracks on the album so why get rid?!? At least we have both versions still on streaming, lol. 

I’m glad you enjoyed Glass & Patron as much as I do! 

Glad you enjoyed your live experience and I hope you have the best time at the O2 as well just checked my own stats and she was 9th for me this year!

Oh yes the (OG) 'Striptease' erasure is also a massive WTF moment!! Less gutted about 'Childlike Things'

Thank you for reminding me of it <3 I think I first discovered it on plug.dj before I'd properly got into her!

2 hours ago, PeteFromLeeds said:

I've been out of BJSC this year so missed o(type), so just giving it a listen given you provided the link - not surprised that this is something coming from uhsting, seems very much the sort of thing that would be up their street! The vocals are really nice amidst everything else going on with the instrumentation in the song.

.

Agreed that the vocals are lovely <3 a nice tonic to all the chaos that went into hosting that contest (but loveable chaos )

Thank you all for the comments - Happy New Year ❤️ xx