{"id":1046604,"date":"2025-12-12T11:34:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T08:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1046604"},"modified":"2025-12-12T11:34:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T08:34:00","slug":"the-20-best-tracks-of-2025-ranked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1046604","title":{"rendered":"The 20 best tracks of 2025, ranked"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<h1><span>20. MODEL\/ACTRIZ, \u201cCINDERELLA\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"37ptdYkJ1d0\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen frameborder height=\"900\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/37ptdYkJ1d0\" webkitallowfullscreen width=\"1600\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>\u201c<em>When I was 5, I remember clearly my want to have a Cinderella birthday party<\/em>.\u201d This fairytale track from Brooklyn-based rock band Model\/Actriz sees frontman Cole Haden confess his queer childhood dream of a princess birthday party to a first date. A standout from their album <\/span><em><span>Pirouette,<\/span><\/em><span> the track is breathless, a little frantic, and a raw introduction to the band\u2019s distinct visceral sound. <\/span><em><span>(\u2122)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h1><span>19. R!R!RIOT, \u201cRUN RIOT RUN FEAT. ATM HANSON\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"SF7k1tH96d0\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>This one\u2019s certified platinum on WeChat; you\u2019re late. It\u2019s a pluggnb collaboration between producer ATM Hanson \u2013 the so-called \u2018Metro Boomin of China\u2019 \u2013 and vocalist R!R!Riot, who sounds like if Avril Lavigne and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/playboi-carti\">Playboi Carti<\/a> had a baby, and that baby was a bilingual English-Mandarin speaker. \u201cRun Riot Run\u201d is also somewhat of a title track for R!R!Riot herself, whose name is a portmanteau of her birthname, Riya, and the word \u2018riot\u2019, lifted from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/raf-simons\">Raf Simons<\/a>\u2019 \u201cRiot! Riot! Riot!\u201d 2001 Autumn\/Winter menswear collection. <\/span><em><span>(SPM)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h1><span>18. ROBYN, \u201cDOPAMINE\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"vitil9qMN6A\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Finally, the sovereign of sad-happy songs has returned with another cathartic club anthem. Back with her first solo release in seven years, last month, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/robyn\">Robyn<\/a> dropped \u201cDopamine\u201d \u2013 adding to her list of songs engineered for the 4am closing set. Following in the footsteps of its predecessors, \u201cDancing On My Own\u201d, \u201cWith Every Heartbeat\u201d and \u201cBe Mine\u201d, \u201cDopamine\u201d is sonically uplifting, yet carries emotional weight, with anxiety lying beneath the excitement. It includes all the magic ingredients that made us fall in love with Robyn in the first place: namely, the desire to thrash about in the rain (\u00e0 la<\/span><em><span> Flashdance<\/span><\/em><span>), exactly like the Swedish singer does in the music video. (See also: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Ok2HZegdGvo\">the Jamie xx remix of this track<\/a>).<\/span><span>\u00a0<\/span><em><span>(IVD)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h1><span>17. AYA, \u201cOFF TO THE ESSO\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"-vgDl8Asle0\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><em><span>hexed!<\/span><\/em><span>, the 2025 album by Huddersfield-raised musician and producer aya, is not for the faint of heart. The cover \u2013 which shows the artist herself, with a mouth full of worms \u2013 pretty much sums it up: slightly repulsive, anxiety-inducing, and somehow very compelling, all at the same time. Track two, \u201cOff to the Esso\u201d, bundles all of this up in a frantic three-and-a-half minutes, beginning with a thumping bass heard through paper-thin walls, and culminating with a ruckus of aggressive synths. Do I know precisely what aya means when she says: \u201c<\/span><em><span>a blizzard when the lizard den got pickled then \/ I\u2019m sizzled, sozzled, hen<\/span><\/em><span>\u201d? No. Do I absolutely need to? I don\u2019t think so? <\/span><em><span>(TW)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h1><span>16. KIMJ, SEBII, THE DEEP, EFFIE, \u201cMY UNNIES\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"0E1cd5zbwAk\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Over the past year, across East Asia, a number of young artists have been rewriting the rules of pop music, and, in many ways, \u201cMy Unnies\u201d featuring South Korean vocalists The Deep and Effie, Korean-American producer Kimj, and Chinese-American producer-vocalist Sebii, is the culmination of this movement. It\u2019s K-pop in its expansiveness: some catchy melody lines, a hint of rap, and a kaleidoscopic electronic beat that opens up into an explosive, almost tear-out dubstep bassline; but it\u2019s told with the DIY language of today\u2019s musical outsiders. Much like the track\u2019s music video, which sees the cohort link up on the beaches of Thailand, \u201cMy Unnies\u201d is a mission statement: having honed their talents in various cities across East Asia, they are now ready to take over the world. <\/span><em><span>(SPM)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h1><span>15. PINKPANTHERESS, \u201cILLEGAL\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"TFWXqLSr4ZM\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>\u201c<\/span><em><span>Is this illegal? \/ (Hehe) It feels illegal.<\/span><\/em><span>\u201d<\/span><span>If you managed to avoid this cheeky snippet from <\/span><em><span>Fancy That<\/span><\/em><span> this summer: congratulations, you\u2019re obviously not on TikTok. Opening the latest album (sorry, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/69115\/1\/mixtapification-why-is-everything-a-mixtape-now-doechii-drake-ceebo\"><span>mixtape<\/span><\/a><span>) from PinkPantheress, the song soundtracked many a confessional video this summer, overlaid with text about adventurous and\/or disastrous life choices. Maybe this viral spread is a reductive way to measure the track\u2019s success, but it surely wouldn\u2019t have travelled so far and so wide if it didn\u2019t speak to a very real feeling of uncertainty. This vulnerability comes through via Pink\u2019s pithy songwriting and intimate vocal delivery, and is backed up by the frosty, nostalgic drum and bass we\u2019ve come to love. <\/span><em><span>(TW)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h1><span>14. MECHATOK, \u201cMAKKA FEAT. FAKEMINK AND ECCO2K\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"jC0pjkRpC6s\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>\u201cMakka\u201d is lightning in a bottle. Originating in a chance meeting between new-gen pop producer Mechatok and Fakemink in the corridor of a studio complex they both happened to be recording in, with the music video being shot outside on the same day, it\u2019s all about spontaneity. Who cares if the same Fakemink verses also appear on \u201cSnow White\u201d? After all, running throughout the entire track is an adlib layer of Fakemink mumbling what appears to be absolute nonsense. Add Mechatok\u2019s plodding lead guitar riff and Ecco2k\u2019s breathless chorus built around a slang word for cough syrup to the mix and you get a pretty wild ride, but, somehow, it all works together beautifully. <\/span><em><span>(SPM)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h1><span>13. JT, \u201cGIRLS GONE WILD\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"gzaJfoiMVAE\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>There\u2019s so many quotables on this one, yet very few I feel comfortable uttering from my own mouth \u2014 \u201c<\/span><em><span>Bad bitch Bar Mitzvah<\/span><\/em><span>\u201d is about as PC as it gets here. From its triple-X-rated lyrics to its bombastic, body-popping production, \u201cGirls Gone Wild\u201d is a Detroit ghettotech track through and through, but it\u2019s destined for dancefloors all over the world.\u00a0<\/span><em><span>(SPM)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h1><span>12. ZARA LARSSON, \u201cMIDNIGHT SUN\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"uvY8fdgezLQ\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>As 2025 comes to a close, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/69262\/1\/you-have-to-speak-out-zara-larsson-weighs-in-on-the-eurovision-boycott\"><span>the Zara Larssonaissance<\/span><\/a><span> is in full swing \u2013 but things looked a little different earlier in the year. Sad. Broke. \u201cLush Life\u201d money running out \u2013 then \u201cMidnight Sun\u201d dropped and the world would never be the same again. Propelled by an insatiable TikTok dance, gay men\u2019s Instagram stories and \u2013 most importantly \u2013 its own fiercely catchy melody, \u201cMidnight Sun\u201d became the viral sleeper hit of 2025. Like diligent chemists in a Swedish lab, Larsson, MNEK and their band of collaborators somehow managed to distil the purest essence of pop vitality into a three-minute song, and undeniably shift the singer\u2019s career in the process. With <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DOT_hesjw6l\/\"><span>Doechii bopping to the song on TikTok<\/span><\/a><span>, PinkPantheress crowning it \u201cprogressive pop\u201d, Muni Long hopping on the bouncy remix \u2013 plus the not-so-small feat of a Grammy nomination \u2013 \u201cMidnight Sun\u201d has well and truly given the girls what they needed. <\/span>Summer isn\u2019t over yet!\u00a0<em>(EH)<\/em><\/p>\n<h1><span>11. SOPHIA STEL, \u201cI\u2019LL TAKE IT\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"L-14HNoSrV4\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>YouTube comments posted under the \u201cI\u2019ll Take It\u201d music video are littered with \u201chere before this blows up\u201d and \u201cwhy is this not more viral,\u201d as the Canadian alt-pop musician runs around a hotel gym with her wired headphones spilling the adrenaline-building beat. And while the synth-heavy electronic track did eventually go viral on TikTok, Stel\u2019s success lies in making exactly what she wants, writing and producing her own tracks that feel as instinctive as this one. <\/span><em><span>(TM)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h1><span>10. BLADEE, YUNG LEAN, \u201cINFERNO\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"EOPNV4oD9ho\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>With<\/span><em><span> Jonatan,<\/span><\/em><span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/yung-lean\"> Yung Lean<\/a> embraced guitar music, from caustic post-punk to stadium-ready power ballads, and sounded more like a rock star than ever before. It\u2019s a great album, but after much deliberation, we decided that \u201cInferno\u201d \u2013 a swaggering collaboration with Bladee \u2013 deserved to make this list. It\u2019s a back-to-basics affair compared to either<\/span><em><span> Jonatan <\/span><\/em><span>or<\/span><em><span> Psykos<\/span><\/em><span>, the pair\u2019s more experimental 2024 album, but it\u2019s not just a retread of early Drain Gang.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Drawing influence from the emerging genre of rage rap, \u201cInferno\u201d is electrifying and pulsing with energy. The lyrics may not be reinventing the wheel, but there\u2019s something deeply satisfying about Bladee\u2019s delivery of the lines \u201c<em>just another day in the life I guess<\/em>\u201d or \u201c<em>it\u2019s a crazy world, L-O-L, I\u2019m dead<\/em>\u201d \u2013 I have to force myself not to shout along when I\u2019m listening to it in public. \u201cInferno\u201d also features a sample from 2020 documentary <\/span><em><span>Yung Lean: In My Head,<\/span><\/em><span> in which the father of their late friend Stephen Machat describes them as \u201cnot good boys.\u201d Maybe an insensitive thing to include in a song about success, but it\u2019s undeniably potent. <\/span><em><span>(JG)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h1><span>9. BASSVICTIM, \u201c27A PITFIELD STREET\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"baP0EACGGXI\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>This brooding electroclash track from the chaotic duo\u2019s <\/span><em><span>Forever <\/span><\/em><span>album is an ode to the Shoreditch house now slated for demolition. In the track, gentle vocals from Maria Manow and production from Ike Clateman spiral into chaos as they reminisce over lines like \u201c<\/span><em><span>Smokey little flat, always full where we all hanged out<\/span><\/em><span>,\u201d recalling the space where the duo and friends partied and produced much of their debut album. Long live \u201c27a Pitfield St\u201d! <\/span><em><span>(\u2122)\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h1><span>8. LORDE, \u201cSHAPESHIFTER\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"Bkv-Qn1XM7o\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>The standout track from <\/span><em><span>Virgin<\/span><\/em><span>, \u201cShapeshifter\u201d circles the feigned indifference that comes with shifting through different identities, both personal and romantic. The track collapses the highs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/lorde\">Lorde<\/a> chases elsewhere on the album \u2013 oxytocin from a lover, dopamine from a pill, any late-night rush \u2013 into a single longing: a will to give up all control, as she refrains, \u201c<em>tonight I just wanna fall.<\/em>\u201d That falling plunges the listener into a track that lands Lorde bruised and ruminative on Jim-E Stack\u2019s bass\u2011heavy production. <\/span><em><span>(TM)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h1><span>7. 2HOLLIS, \u201cFLASH\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"CjnFzPhM72I\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Anyone who\u2019s seen the memes about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/2hollis\">2hollis<\/a> performing \u201cjeans\u201d seven times in a row in Toronto earlier this year knows the visceral reactions that his music can produce. While the younger 2hollis (and preceding alias Drippysoup) was described as a trap artist, 2025 was the year that he became a pop star through and through \u2013 and \u201cflash\u201d is the perfect example. In its pulsing electroclash beat, relentless percussion and soaring vocals, all building into an explosive crescendo, \u201cflash\u201d speaks far more to the charts of the future than the heydays of Chicago and Atlanta rap music. \u201c<\/span><em><span>Holli wanna be a star<\/span><\/em><span>,\u201d 2hollis sings on the track, and it seems he has already become one.\u00a0<\/span><em><span>(SPM)\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h1><span>6. ADDISON RAE, \u201cTIMES LIKE THESE\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"beNFK2cdnKU\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>It seems like most end-of-year lists have opted for \u201cHeadphones On\u201d as Addison Rae\u2019s finest song of 2025 \u2013 and, with respect, they are mistaken. It\u2019s \u201cTimes Like These\u201d which best embodies the spirit and sonic landscape of her debut album: dreamy, sun-drenched, exquisitely produced and wearing its influences on its sleeve (trip-hop, 90s Madonna, early 00\u2019s chill-out) while still sounding like something new, rather than a mere regurgitation. The lyrics are unexpectedly angsty, riven with doubt and self-criticism (<em>\u201cam I too young to be this mad? Am I too old to hate my dad? It\u2019s so confusing<\/em>\u201d), but the song is a burst of transcendence, an ode to Zen-like acceptance which hits just as hard in the depths of a wet, dreary winter. In times like these, it really do be how it has to be\u2026 <\/span><em><span>(JG)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h1><span>5. JIM LEGXACY, \u201cFATHER\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"klPD-stNou0\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>It\u2019s no secret that Jim Legxacy\u2019s music comprises a diverse range of influences, and, in less than two minutes, \u201cfather\u201d manages to manifest all of these simultaneously. There\u2019s the chipmunk vocal sample harking back to that strange time in UK music where grime artists \u2018went pop\u2019, lyrical allusions to alt-pop trailblazer Mitski, and the jerk percussion patterns central to the UK underground today. Thematically, \u201cfather\u201d is equally impressive, chronicling both a childhood lost to absent male role models, as well as a salvation found in music. The lead single from his <\/span><em><span>Black British Music <\/span><\/em><span>mixtape (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/69115\/1\/mixtapification-why-is-everything-a-mixtape-now-doechii-drake-ceebo\"><span>read: album<\/span><\/a><span>), \u201cfather\u201d is exactly the kind of song that makes Jim Legxacy a national treasure. <\/span><em><span>(SPM)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h1><span>4. FKA TWIGS, OKLOU \u201cVISCUS\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"BKdigb7GasY\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><em><span>\u201cThe body is a temple \/ Am I worshipping too hard?\u201d<\/span><\/em><span>, sings Oklou, on \u201cViscus ft. FKA twigs\u201d. When I first listened to this song, I couldn\u2019t (and still can\u2019t) get that line out of my head. In a year when we have seen self-optimisation, specifically relating to the body, in full force, it is a line marked by sharp self-awareness that we do not treat our bodies as bodies at all. In an interview between the pair with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.highsnobiety.com\/p\/oklou-fka-twigs-interview\/\"><em><span>Highsnobiety<\/span><\/em><\/a><span>, Oklou remarks that the song was inspired by her relationship with her body: \u201cI have had tummy aches since I was a child. I kind of go through all of these sources of anxiety and talk about my body as a conflicting relationship,\u201d she states. The otherworldly textures of \u201cViscus\u201d \u2013 from the feather-light percussion to the orchestral swells \u2013 leave you wanting more as the pair create a world of inquisition that you find yourself reluctant to escape from. <\/span><em><span>(HJ)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h1><span>3. SMERZ, \u201cYOU GOT TIME AND I GOT MONEY\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"LzEzE3cpuvg\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>From Shakespeare and Goethe to <\/span><em><span>Euphoria<\/span><\/em><span> and <\/span><em><span>The Fourth Wing<\/span><\/em><span>,<\/span><span>great love has typically been portrayed as torturous and all-consuming. \u201cYou got time and I got no money\u201d instead depicts a quieter, easier and more serene form of passion \u2013\u00a0 as Catherina Stoltenberg, one of half of the Norwegian duo, put it in a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vogue.com\/article\/smerz-big-city-life-interview\"><span><em>Vogue<\/em> interview,<\/span><\/a><span> it captures \u201cthat sensation of floating almost [\u2026] when you\u2019re very just comfortable with someone\u201d. The song serves as a reminder that love doesn\u2019t require being driven to the brink of madness, and that suffering is not the ultimate proof of depth of feeling. The mundane hyper-specificity of its lyrics &#8211; \u201c<em>I like your shoes, I like these clean t-shirts on you \/ I like your brother and your sister too, I like the restaurants that you choose<\/em>\u201d \u2013 makes it all the more romantic. With its swooning strings, sultry baseline and Stoltenberg\u2019s sweet, cooing vocals, \u201cYou got time and I got money\u201d feels like an instant classic, the best love song released not just this year but in quite some time. <\/span><em><span>(JG)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h1><span>2. ETHEL CAIN, \u201cNETTLES\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"sP0us82q1ck\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>There aren\u2019t many artists who can get away with long songs in the age of dwindling attention spans \u2013 but Ethel Cain is one of them. In June, she released \u201cNettles\u201d, an eight-minute, three-second epic and the lead single from her upcoming second studio album, <em data-start=\"413\" data-end=\"454\">Willoughby Tucker, I\u2019ll Always Love You<\/em>. Inspired by <em data-start=\"468\" data-end=\"480\">Twin Peaks<\/em>, the track introduces the tortured relationship between Ethel and her childhood sweetheart Willoughby. Cain has described it as \u201ca dream of losing the one you love, asking them to reassure you that it won\u2019t come true and to dream, instead, of all the time you\u2019ll have together as you grow old side by side.\u201d After a melancholic, 90-second instrumental opening, she delivers a heart-wrenching portrait of love in slow decline. Both lyrically and sonically, it\u2019s Ethel at her best \u2013 but it\u2019s her voice on the line \u201c<em>to love me is to suffe<\/em>r\u201d that somehow manages to break my heart every time. <\/span><em><span>(HD)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h1><span>1. ESDEEKID, FAKEMINK, RICO ACE, \u201cLV SANDALS\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"src-youtube video-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-youtube\" data-id=\"K6QjQeKfmUs\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Call us \u2018newgens\u2019 if you want, the fact is that \u201cLV Sandals\u201d singlehandedly changed both Fakemink and EsDeeKid\u2019s careers for a reason: it\u2019s a banger. It\u2019s a union of distinct styles, from Fakemink\u2019s left-field \u2018dirty luxury\u2019 sound, to EsDeeKid\u2019s explosive Scouse fricatives, to Rico Ace\u2019s more traditional UK rap approach. But particular credit needs to be given Wraith 9 and DJ Ess\u2019 production, with their central backwards loop and burst 808s creating an eerie, liminal space in which all of the aforementioned styles can mesh together. What\u2019s particularly special about this track is that, given the astronomic success that both EsDeeKid and Fakemink have enjoyed since, it is the sort of breakthrough moment that can only ever happen once. <\/span><em><span>(SPM)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-series header article-series tags\"><span class=\"heading\">More on these topics:<\/span><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\">Music<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/dazed-review-2025\">Dazed Review 2025<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/feature\">Feature<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/lists\">Lists<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/2hollis\">2hollis<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/fakemink\">Fakemink<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/esdeekid\">EsDeeKid<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/mechatok\">Mechatok<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/addison-rae\">Addison Rae<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/lorde\">Lorde<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/jim-legxacy\">Jim Legxacy<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/fka-twigs\">FKA Twigs<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/ethel-cain\">Ethel Cain<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> Source URL: https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/music\/article\/69273\/1\/20-best-tracks-of-2025-ranked-ethel-cain-smerz-esdeekid-fakemink<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>20. MODEL\/ACTRIZ, \u201cCINDERELLA\u201d \u201cWhen I was 5, I remember clearly my want to have a Cinderella birthday party.\u201d This fairytale track from Brooklyn-based rock band Model\/Actriz sees frontman Cole Haden confess his queer childhood dream of a princess birthday party to a first date. A standout from their album Pirouette, the track is breathless, a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[76],"class_list":["post-1046604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1046604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1046604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1046604\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1046604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1046604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1046604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}