The Medley 008
Featuring: your best/favorite/top music of 2025
2025 is coming to a close, but it seems like it was just yesterday that I made the official live directory announcement. December marked a full year of curating this platform, and I’m grateful for everyone I’ve crossed paths with since then. I hope to connect with more of you in the new year.
Announcements & Housekeeping
I’m co-hosting a virtual community gathering for the new year with Nielly! Refresh & Renewal will take place on January 10th—I invite you to join us for 2 hours of goal-setting, mindfulness, and music! Please visit our event page on Ko-fi to learn more and register.
January will be for directory maintenance, such as checking links, widgets, and (in)activity. If your publication/description has changed, this is a great time to request an update via the maintenance request form.
The general directory submission form will remain open, so you can still send your info to be listed in any of the featured categories.
Please note that the directory submission form above is for sending in your newsletters/websites—if you would like to share music or other material for me to review, kindly send me an email or DM instead.
Memos from the chat
Many thanks to Gabbie for being December’s featured guest! If you haven’t already, check out our interview and collaborative playlist centered around EOY music curation.
Curation over Criticism with Gabbie
This year’s interview series concludes with the one and only Gabbie! As the writer behind New Bands for Old Heads, she inspires many music lovers of all ages to keep up with current sounds. She possesses a vast music vocabulary and a keen curiosity to perpetually explore new music, which shines through her precise recommendations and astute commentary.
Gabbie also provided us with a community chat prompt, which is as follows: What new song(s) did you hear this year that made you feel nostalgic? What did they make you feel nostalgic for?
I could choose many songs from 2025 that made me feel nostalgic, but my 1st thought was “Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party” by Hayley Williams. This title track is my favorite from her most recent album, and it made me feel nostalgic for video countdown shows, especially the way that Williams interpolated lyrics from “Waterfalls” by TLC (and borrowed their dance moves for her video).
Cecilia Gigliotti picked the title track from spill tab’s album ANGIE (a 2025 favorite of mine as well). “It (& the album on the whole) hits the same spot as the variety of music I played in my college dorm rooms while writing papers or curating my LinkedIn, comforting but juuuuuust keeping me on my toes...,” she said.
Kristin DeMarr selected “It’s Amazing to be Young” by Fontaines D.C. because “it sounded a lot like the Psychedelic Furs from the 80s.” She also linked to Joyce Manor’s “All My Friends Are So Depressed” because it reminded her of The Smiths.
Your Best/Favorite/Top Music of 2025
And now: here is a curated list of submissions, featuring the community’s favorite music of 2025!
I hope you explore these lists and find some new music to enjoy into the new year! If you have your own year-end list, but didn’t get a chance to submit for this post, kindly share it with us in the comments!
In memory of…
A moment of silence for the music folks who departed the earth this year. To honor those we lost in 2025, I recommend checking out Shatter the Standards’ tribute section, as well as NPR’s In Memoriam feature.
Before we go, I’ve updated the directory and admin account’s profile picture to reflect my most-played albums of 2025.
Saya Gray — SAYA
Yves Jarvis — All Cylinders
Hildegard — Jour 15961
Dijon — Baby
Silas Short — LUSHLAND
keiyaA — hooke’s Law
Yukimi — For You
Flwr Chyld — InsydeOut
Kokoroko — Tuff Times Never Last
I’ll leave you with a few songs that made 2025 special. Happy new year, everyone!
An album released in the previous year usually sneaks its way onto the current list.
ty for including me and shoutout to all the other writers! going through the list now to try and read everybody’s!
Thank you for including me here! Shout out to the Gelli Haha "Bounce House" vid at the bottom 🤝