It’s said that music helps keep us sane in insane times, and that theory has really been put to the test in this miserable 2025. So as we hit the half-way point of the year, we’re rounding up the new and notable singles that have helped distract from the chaos and provide a little bit of levity during our days. True to form, the bangers we’re feeling the most this year span a spectrum of genres, from SpiritWorld’s hellacious acres of death metal and Americana to Wet Leg getting their Britpop on to Fontaines D.C. further cementing their place as one of Ireland’s greatest exports. For Vanyaland’s first-ever Half-Year in ReView — because who knows what tomorrow truly brings — here are 10 tracks that have helped shape the soundtrack of 2025, and all have provided a needed respite from our daily screen scream.
The Beaches, ‘Last Girls at the Party’
We’ve been so busy blaming our ex over the past year or so that we totally slept on The Beaches coming back to the scene with delectable new jams. But the white-hot Toronto band isn’t worried about any of that, as the unfuckwithable guitar-pop unit is purely concerned with what’s up next, and fast on the agenda is a night out soundtracked by boisterous April bop “Last Girls at the Party.” This firecracker retains the playful intensity of 2023’s Blame My Ex — a wildly re-listenable and whipsmart record that’ll stand proud as one of the decade’s best. “We’re four crazy girls who like to have fun together, and are literally always the last to leave,” frontperson and bassist Jordan Miller says about the new single. It sets a tone for the new Beaches album, August’s No Hard Feelings, and our only gripe is that the record hits a little earlier in the summer, as the gals’ breezy and infectious sound is just pitch-perfect for the casual season, but hey, we’ll just blame our ex for that, too.
Big Thief, ‘Incomprehensible’
Back in the fall of 2019, when Big Thief released their fourth album Two Hands, it seemed like a lot of folx brought the generation-defining “Not” with them back home for Thanksgiving, using the song to soundtrack whatever it was we were all facing with our families as our former lives crossed with the current. June single “Incomprehensible,” the first offering from September’s Double Infinity, emerges with a similar feeling of emotional heaviness, the type of track that stays with us long after the first listen, and seems poised to hold a place of importance as we collectively teeter on the brink of whatever it is we’re on the brink of. As percussion swirls and a feeling of hopeful nostalgia permeates through this stunning composition, an immediate contender for SOTY and eventually to be placed amongst Big Thief’s finest efforts of a pretty remarkable career, Adrianne Lenker’s soul-stirring lyrical wordplay dances in and out of our headspace with ease. What gorgeous wonder from a truly generational band.
Boy Deluxe, ‘Feedback’
Darker days demand darker beats, and Boy Deluxe have answered the call to beam down from the shadow of heaven and crack a strobe-light whip on our faded mental blackout. The Los Angeles electronic music project of Ever So Android members True Murra and Hope S continue to seduce with year-defining EP From Black Sheep to Icon, which makes us feel the same way we felt when we first heard ADULT. some 25 years ago. The record is an intoxicating head trip of EBM, darkwave, and electroclash, a potent dose of sinister post-wave death rave led by “Feedback,” the type of mutant disco we danced to at the turn of the millennium when not a single shit was given. We’ll follow Boy Deluxe straight off the catwalk cliff and into a deeper realm of lust and trust, and the army will only grow stronger as this electro-punk banger can be heard on The CW’s All American and the latest Chevrolet Equinox EV “Unplug and Unlock” commercial. Close your eyes until it hurts; this may not be a hazy daydream after all. If we had a roundup for the best EPs of the year, this would reside at the top like a queen in black neon holding court over our devilish souls.
Charlotte OC, ‘God, We Tried’
Around these parts, we simply love a good O’Connor comeback story. So we’re excited and intrigued by the return of Charlotte OC, the English singer-songwriter who in March resurfaced with an elegantly dramatic new single in “God, We Tried,” which already feels like one of 2025’s best. Ms. OC also revealed some personal setbacks that allow proper view to this enchanting new release. “God, We Tried” is described as a poignant and raw reflection on love, loss, and grief, and we’ll let the artist take it from here: “This song is deeply personal to me, I started writing it after my dad passed away. In my grief, I ended up in a relationship that probably wasn’t the healthiest choice for me, and I wasn’t truly allowing myself to heal. If I think about it, all I wanted was a male figure in my life, to fill a void… ‘God, We Tried’ reflects the end of that relationship and the emotional complexity of trying to make something work when it really wasn’t right. It’s about love, loss, and the struggle to move forward while still processing deep grief.” Sounds about right for 2025.
Fontaines D.C., ‘It’s Amazing To Be Young’
Can a band or artist deliver a SOTY contender right after dropping the AOTY? Chappell Roan did it in 2023 into 2024 with The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess into “Good Luck, Babe,” and so it makes perfect sense that bridging last year’s vibe with the fresh sound of now is Fontaines D.C., the Irish standouts who in February followed the era-defining ROMANCE album with an elegantly dramatic new single called “It’s Amazing To Be Young.” And it’s just fucking massive. “’It’s Amazing To Be Young’ is a song that was written in the presence of a newborn child — Carlos’ child,” says bassist Conor Deegan III, citing guitarist Carlos O’Connell. “It sounded more like a lullaby or a music box then, but with the same lyric — ‘it’s amazing to be young’. The feeling of hope a child can give is profound and moving, especially for young men like us. That sense of wanting to create a world for them to grow up in happily. It’s a feeling that fights against the cynicism that can often overtake us in the modern world.” A lucid daydream of a single, this went onto our Best of 2025 list upon first listen.
MØ, ‘Keep Møving’
A famous 20th-century Englishman once said something to the effect of “When you’re going through hell, keep going.” And that’s the vibe of MØ’s emphatic and euphoric March single “Keep Møving,” where the Danish alt-pop artist drops a crunchy electro-punk beat on all the stresses of modern life. Instantly alluring, Keep Møving” has a bit of a throwback mood to Gwen Stefani’s “What You Waiting For?” and “Two of Hearts” by Stacey Q, and it’s a certified banger. “’Keep Møving’ is an ironic take on my endless to-do list,” says MØ. “It’s about the feeling of unraveling under the weight of everybody’s expectations (including my own) whilst also secretly dreaming of being set free from this constantly shifting, absolutely mental Western world. …I have never enjoyed recording ad-libs as much as I did screaming ‘BUAH!’ in the chorus – definitely my favorite ad-libs ever. The lyrics come from a place of real frustration, but writing and performing this one heals me too.” Another for the ’25 books.
Sabrina Carpenter, ‘Manchild’
When Sabrina Carpenter gets her Chappell Roan on, amazing things happen. But it’s kinda crazy that the week Elon and the president had a public falling out, our girl dropped this feathery alt-pop bop about the dudes that drive us mad. Score another certified hit for songwriting queen, Maine native, and Vanyaland fave Amy Allen, who here teams up with Carpenter and Jack Antonoff for the first primer from the forthcoming Man’s Best Friend album. “I wrote ‘Manchild’ on a random Tuesday with Amy and Jack not too long after finishing Short n’ Sweet and it ended up being the best random Tuesday of my life,” Carpenter writes. “Not only was it so fun to write, but this song became to me something I can look back on that will score the mental montage to the very confusing and fun young adult years of life. It sounds like the song embodiment of a loving eye roll and it feels like a never ending road trip in the summer ! hence why i wanted to give it to you now — so you can stick your head out the car window and scream it all summer long!”
SpiritWorld, ‘Abilene Grime’
No album has captivated in 2025 quite like SpiritWorld’s third record Helldorado, where death metal and Americana collide in such brutally wonderful ways. If we had a section for AOTY, these death-western Vegas dudes would hit the jackpot, as Helldorado is a wild ride through metallic hardcore and alt-country genre-fusion that has pissed off the purists on both sides of the aisle. But holy mother of fuck what a record, and it’s kickstarted by a lethal dose of metal twang in “Abilene Grime,” where the groove thrust of country and a feisty honky-tonk shuffle is met dead-on by some heavy Slayer riffage and noise brutality. It somehow crushes with seduction. “When I wrote the demo for ‘Abilene Grime,’ it felt like the album really found its identity and materialized out of the ether,” says frontman Stu Folsom. “It twangs, it bangs and it has a sick video, directed by our dear friend Todd Hailstone, which we filmed in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. Enjoy, everybody!” We sure will.
Sunflower Bean, ‘Nothing Romantic’
As American highways deliver Sunflower Bean to venues across the country this year and beyond, supporting April album Mortal Primetime, the New York trio will have a certified banger in each night’s setlist courtesy of a soaring reflection on that rock and roll life dubbed “Nothing Romantic,” a supercharged ’70-kissed glam anthem that sounds electric out of the speakers. “‘Nothing Romantic’ is about rejecting the myth of the tortured artist — realizing that the joys of creativity don’t have to come from the lows of misery,” declare the ‘Bean. “The video mirrors this journey, capturing our lives as touring musicians in between nightmarish performances. From green rooms to lost highways, we travel from town to town, feeling alive only in the escape of our show. There’s tension between the connection and solitude; on stage, we’re together, sharing our music with others but later isolation and the price of our sacrifices creep in.” As we said in March, put this right on the Best of 2025 list — what a fucking tune.
Wet Leg, ‘catch these fists’
Wet Leg doesn’t want your love — they just wanna fight. The whipsmart English band roared back with a new single on April Fool’s Day, a noisy number dubbed “catch these fists” that’s sure to cause a ruckus. The punchy track is perhaps the greatest Britpop anthem of the past 25 years, and if Elastica delivered this on The Menace, Justine and the crew would probably still be playing Glastonbury. The first taste of Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers’ sophomore album moisturizer, set for release this month via Domino, sets a provocative tone as the band fend off unwanted advances from a belligerent bloke as their new-age dance-punk sways, struts, and somersaults in every direction. Everyone’s gonna love this one, yeah, and it should sound dope live (including when they finally get back to Boston this fall). Says Teasdale on the album’s writing process: “We focussed on: Is this going to be fun to play live?” We know the answer, we hear the answer. C’mon and catch these lists!