As we reach the end of 2025's first quarter, the year's musical character is still coming into focus. The year's chart-defining hits are carryovers from 2024 ("Die with a Smile," "Luther," "APT."), and it's too early to know what the 2025 version of Brat Summer will be.
But three full months has been more than enough time for our ongoing "Best of 2025" playlists to become packed with personal favourites, including songs that will continue to define the year.
To mark the end of Q1 2025, Exclaim! staffers rounded up our favourite songs of the year so far — including the inescapable TikTok anthem we're still not sick of, the horny comedy song that actually works as a legit electroclash banger, and plenty of Canadian indie upstarts.
After
"300 dreams"
(Ultraworld)
If Frutiger Aero were a band, it'd be After. The Los Angeles "trip-pop" duo are on the cusp of releasing their first EP, and "300 dreams" is their latest injection of nostalgic Y2K teen pop with bass-heavy drums. It twinkles like a Limewire-downloaded ringtone and sticks like a drugstore lipgloss.
Sydney Brasil
Arooj Aftab
"raat ki rani (Khruangbin Remix)"
(Verve Records)
Former Exclaim! cover stars Khruangbin inject their signature psych-funk sound into singer-songwriter Arooj Aftab's "raat ki rani," reimagining the Grammy-nominated track as a sultry, dubby jam. The Houston-based trio offers a groove-driven backdrop — with Laura Lee's bassline leading the charge — that dynamically complements Aftab's transcendent Urdu vocals, tickling a part of my brain that fiends for shapeshifting sounds.
Kinza Zafar
Car Seat Headrest
"Gethsemane"
(Matador Records)
"Gethsemane" abounds with vibrant, complex and vivid textures, as scholars Rosa and Behemoth converse back and forth in the three-part, 11-minute-long epic, giving listeners an exhilarating taste of Car Seat Headrest's upcoming rock opera. Cue the dance break.
Karlie Rogers
Cheekface
"Living Lo-Fi"
(Independent)
Cheekface are back to their old shenanigans again with "Living Lo-Fi," an energetic, quirky mix of irony and sincerity that America's local band have mastered to a tee. Vocalist Greg Katz addresses "every man, woman and child / And those who do not identify as a man or a woman or a child" to look at the seemingly well-adjusted person next to them and consider that they also don't have their shit together — a sentiment that's comforting, vulnerable and honest.
Karlie Rogers
Rachel Chinouriri
"Can we talk about Isaac?"
(Parlophone Records)
"Can we talk about Isaac" sweetly captures the electric, nervous energy that is inherent to falling in love. Rachel Chinouriri tracks her feelings of inadequacy and tendency to self-sabotage, but eventually allows herself to be swept up in her new romance; her pure, endearing excitement is infectious.
Karlie Rogers
Marie Davidson
"Fun Times"
(DEEWEE)
Maybe it's because I'm a childless adult that "Fun Times" resonates with me, as Marie Davidson celebrates living for the moment and declares, "You make babies, I'm having fun." But in truth, the reason I connect with "Fun Times" is its urgent thump, which rises to a feverish intensity in the final chorus build-up, as Davidson leads by example and makes the most of life while time melts away with each "tick tock."
Alex Hudson
Jordan Firstman
"I Wanna See My Friends Dicks"
(Universal)
I'm not typically one for comedy music, but there's something very earnest about "I Wanna See My Friends Dicks." That said, it's still a song about asking the homies to fluff it up for you, so you have to have a stomach for what's basically just hypersexual, electroclash-infused Cake. But if you do, you might just have found the song of the summer.
Sydney Brasil
John Glacier
"Emotions"
(Young)
Effervescent rave track "Emotions" ties the bow on British alternative rapper John Glacier's latest offering, Like a Ribbon. A standout, radiant moment on the project, the track crystallizes Glacier's mesmerizing ability to blend sonic exuberance with the vulnerability that lingers at the edges, pulling inspiration from the likes of Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland.
Kinza Zafar
Great Grandpa
"Ladybug"
(Run for Cover)
Great Grandpa are shaping up to be AOTY contenders thanks to new album Patience, Moonbeam, with its songs comprising the quintet's extensive influences and alt-country core, first introduced with the excellent "Junior." While that lead single was itself an all-timer, the Alex G-indebted "Ladybug" showcases the band's even more intriguing experimental side, employing summery synths, sitar-like banjo licks, gang vocals and crescendoing lyrics with pop culture references so gleefully twee it feels like mainlining sunshine.
Allie Gregory
Saya Gray
"LIE DOWN.."
(Dirty Hit)
There's something about the scintillating guitar tone on the closing track from SAYA that feels revelatory. "I hit my head, falling circumstance," Gray sings in a signature winking abstraction atop a chugging bass descent, as she wonders if someone will let her name fade to grey (pun fully intended). Everything is intentional — and truly unforgettable.
Megan LaPierre
Cassia Hardy
"Empress"
(Mint Records)
On its surface, "Empress" is a tender tribute to Edmonton's Empress Ale House, a beloved bar that shuttered back in 2020. But at its emotional core, it captures a more universal sentiment: a wistful reminder that we often don't celebrate life's best moments until they're already gone, conveyed through sweetly disheveled electro-rock and misty-eyed string synths à la "Just Like Heaven."
Alex Hudson
Jenny Hval
"To be a rose"
(4AD)
It begins with a noir fever dream straight out of Twin Peaks: cigarette smoke mingles with whiffs of rose, and a stage falls apart as Jenny Hval reminisces about her mom against a minimal backdrop of percussion loops and echoing, brassy textures. But the flower blooms in the chorus: gorgeously melodic buds sprout and then never stop growing, reaching jungle-like lushness by the overwhelming final passage.
Alex Hudson
Jonathan Personne
"Les jours heureux"
(Bonsound)
There's something about "Les jours heureux" that feels like driving around an unfamiliar city when you're on vacation. Corridor's Jonathan Personne has a knack for making guitar riffs sound like yearning, and he taps into that on his solo work with less sonic tidbits and more straightforward songwriting.
Sydney Brasil
Chappell Roan
"The Giver"
(UMG)
Dan Nigro and Chappell Roan are back at their winning formula, mixing up the pop star drag with a just touch of country (so as to not feel too gimmicky) on our first preview of LP2. Every time I open TikTok, it's guaranteed to be one of three songs playing (you know the ones) and, unlike the others, I'm genuinely never going to get sick of hearing this one. Here's hoping "The Giver" portends Roan's vanquishing of the sophomore slump, and we get even more catchy songs about topping.
Allie Gregory
Shiv and the Carvers
"Danger Girl"
(Twin Fang)
Maybe you already heard me go on about this song earlier this year, but I can assure you "Danger Girl" still fucking rips. Super fun and just the right amount of horny, put this on repeat ahead of a first date for a confidence boost or, if you're too sheepish IRL, DM it to your crush for a subtle way to tell her you wanna suck her gun.
Allie Gregory
Shygirl
"Wifey Riddim" (feat. Jorja Smith, SadBoi)
(Because Music)
Who says you can't find your wife in the clerb? On Club Shy Room 2, chart-topping rave princess Shygirl unites UK it-girl Jorja Smith and Toronto's own SadBoi for an intoxicating Jersey-club-meets-bubblegum-pop anthem with a Caribbean flair. "Wifey Riddim" could very well be the genesis of a clubby, Destiny's Child-esque girl group primed to infiltrate dance floors worldwide.
Kinza Zafar
Spiritbox
"Fata Morgana"
(Pale Chord Music / Rise Records)
I'll die a sucker for opening tracks, and the first chapter of Tsunami Sea offers no exception. Vocalist Courtney LaPlante flits back and forth across the album between melodic and screamed vocals, and "Fata Morgana" is a fitting prologue, her growls as relentless in their delivery as her lilting siren call. Instrumentally, each move is bigger than the last, paving adequate paths for LaPlante to deal blow after emotional blow.
Allie Gregory