Well, that happened. 2025 was definitely a year, a whole 12-month rollout of the most absurd political and economic developments in recent memory. (A presidential administration accidentally texting out military strike plans? Kim Kardashian hawking faux-hair thongs? The tsunami of AI slop rapidly overtaking the equally-vapid Internet ragebait made by actual humans? How can a loving god permit such lunacy?) But the end of the year is always ripe for counting blessings, and as 2025 comes to a close, we’re shouting out the songs we clung to for sanity during this unique unraveling of modern society.
We held hip-hop “protest bops” near and dear; we stared down the abyss with dusky alt-rock; we bonded over slimy real estate figures through the power of post-punk. And yeah, maybe we pulled a muscle dancing to juicy ’90s-style R&B. Without further ado, here are the homegrown tunes, fresh out of the Boston music scene, we count among the highlights of 2025.
Billy Dean Thomas, ‘Minding My Business’
Good things come to those who stay unbothered. Billy Dean Thomas’ July single “Minding My Business” is a dual image of managing your hustle and your manners, released as part of the non-binary Boston emcee’s October LP MX. On the tune, Thomas plots their future and drops a few bars about being seen as a “villain,” threading the two themes into a self-proclaimed “protest bop.”
““This song is a commentary on feeling villainized by the very systems and people that have caused you harm,” Thomas told Vanyaland over the summer. “No matter how much you try to stay focused and out of the way, people like me are treated like a problem simply because we are Black, queer, and don’t conform to the status quo.”
“Minding My Business” turns the bigotry on its head and flags the real problem — disrespect — over a beat worth counting fat paychecks to.
Chainlacing, ‘Parasol’
New England didn’t invent drowning in gloom — some blokes in “old” England did circa the late 1970s — but the artists here did elevate it to a season-specific art form. “Parasol,” by New Hampshire outfit Chainlacing, may have arrived in July, but its swaths of heady, droning rock have earned it a coveted spot alongside other go-tos for soundtracking fall’s decay: Old Moon, Opera, House of Harm, and Boy Harsher, to name a few. To live in this region is to be miserable, at least occasionally; to make art here is to flip that misery into something as grimly beautiful as “Parasol.”
Cut The Kids In Half, ‘Song of Two Humans’
When Cut The Kids In Half vocalist Jack Silver sings “I ain’t worth the sleep you’re losin'” on “Song of Two Humans,” it’s not as self-deprecating as it sounds. If anything, it’s a generous offer to cut the cord — and he’s hoping the other party takes him up on it. “Song of Two Humans” is about as catchy as a dirge can get, layering acerbic alt-rock and a matter-of-fact delivery to hammer the final nail into a relationship’s coffin. The tune and its needling message wound up on the Boston-via-New Jersey band’s album What We Became this past January.
“I wrote the first lines after a strained conversation with an old friend, and somewhere along the way it became about a relationship,” explains Silver. “It’s about what it’s like when you discover everything about someone, and one day you realize you don’t like what you’ve found. One day you’re together, the next you’re in each other’s way.”
Evan Greer and Ryan Ryan Cassata, ‘Protect Trans Kids (WTFIWWY)’
It’s a beautiful thing, standing up for trans youth and asking a bigot what the hell their problem is, all in one fell swoop. And Evan Greer and Ryan Cassata’s song “Protect Trans Kids (WTFIWWY)” — released in March on Transgender Day of Visibility — is an exemplary model of such efficiency. The pair’s song rallies for the safety of transgender youth with simple-stated common sense; “Let ’em play sports / Let ’em have fun / Let ’em go to school,” the punk tune proclaims. Is letting kids be kids — and themselves — really such an ordeal? Moreover, can anyone object to those demands without cranking out a mini thesis paper? Probably not. Because explaining love is simple, and explaining hate is a chore.
“I really just want this to be a song that trans youth can scream along to in the car or sneak into the office and blast over the PA at their high school,” Greer told Vanyaland. “Transphobes have gotten more sophisticated in their hateful messaging, and we’ve seen alarming backsliding from allegedly progressive politicians who are happy to throw trans people under the bus in exchange for political capital. They like to say things like ‘it’s complicated’ or ‘I support trans people but…’ The goal of this song is to remind people that it’s actually pretty fucking simple: Let kids be kids. Stop bullying them. Just leave them alone.”
FELIX! and Buddy, ‘MARGIELA MADMAN!’
You can stop playing “Vogue” during photoshoots now, FELIX! has delivered an adequate replacement for the old Madonna tune. The Brockton rapper never utters the words “strike a pose” on “MARGIELA MADMAN!,” but he doesn’t need to. Strutting, swiveling, and casting a scathing “blue steel” glance at the camera is all but implied on his July single, which moves with the gazelle-like finesse of a runway model. FELIX’s flow is just as lithe, and with Compton rapper Buddy by his side, “MARGIELA MADMAN!” is further confirmation that FELIX! is a high-end hip-hop star.
Gymshorts, ‘PMDD’
Look, we understand that discussing any topic with the word “menstrual” involved might make some people uncomfortable. Do you know what’s also uncomfortable? Living with years of fatigue, body dysmorphia, “debilitating” lower back pain, and mood swings, all because of a misdiagnosis. So maybe take one for the team and turn up “PMDD,” Gymshorts’ punk ripper about enduring life with premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Written from the vantage point of Sarah Greenwell — the Providence band’s singer and guitarist — “PMDD” is a balm for other people living with the disorder, and a wake-up call about the realities of PMDD for everyone else.
“It’s always kinda scary to write something so personal and vulnerable but I’ve always found comfort in making light of dark stuff,” notes Greenwell. “It’s been empowering to own something that disrupts my life… It makes me feel good to imagine that a song I wrote could help someone who is going through something similar. When I see girls going nuts at these shows, I’m like ‘fuck yeah!’ This is a movement!”
Hyber, ‘Waiting For Your Call‘
Believe it or not, there was a time when a ringtone call could cause a heart-flutter instead of a shudder. The predominant practice these days is to decline any phone call that’s not your best friend or a takeout delivery person — jeez, anyone else is probably a psychopath — but Hyber’s song “Waiting For Your Call” conveys the fabled adrenaline rush of waiting on a ring from someone you’re aching to reconnect with. The June tune jitters with antici…pation, sending you back to afternoons of standing by the “house phone,” praying your junior high crush would call. Or maybe those visions are just a side effect of the pop-punk the song’s cushioned in, as delightfully springy and yearning as anything released in the early aughts.
Jill McCracken, ‘dependents‘
Jill McCracken’s been on this list before, back in 2022 for their radical plea “help me, hold me, heal me.” But in their latest chapter, the Boston soul singer isn’t seeking reassurance anywhere but within themself — and the search is a fraught one. McCracken’s August single “dependents” is a pendulum swing in the other direction, their new compass the rallying cry of “I depend on me now!” The tune feels like a rite of passage: A snapshot of that moment when the people-pleasing levee breaks and all that’s left is a torrent of self-assurance.
Lewis M., ‘KENNY OMEGA’
There’s nothing wrong with an artist assuaging self-doubt in the privacy of their own studio. But tackling that uncertainty publicly — and with a hard-hitting battle cry, at that — is one hell of a flex. To reclaim his potential, Lewis M. channels his favorite wrestler on “KENNY OMEGA,” a fresh start after an era of life that the Boston rapper described as “poisoned.” It’s a champion’s anthem — and while wrestling’s bold moments can be staged, the moxie behind “KENNY OMEGA” is very real.
“When I watch him wrestle, I feel like I’m watching an artist that makes everything they do in the ring feel incredibly intentional and specific,” Lewis told Vanyaland. “His matches always tell complex stories. I view him among my very favorite storytellers in any artistic medium.”
Meech BOLD, ‘BROCKTON BOXER’
There’s repping your city the fun way — wearing themed merch, name-dropping local celebs — and there’s doing it the serious way, and placing your neighborhood’s conflicts the forefront of your art. That’s exactly what Meech BOLD did with his January song “BROCKRON BOXER,” an ode to his hometown bearing the weight of “heavy circumstances… both fiscally and spiritually,” as he explained on Instagram. Through the solo track, the Brockton rapper and Van Buren Records member effectively enters the ring on behalf of his city, using nimble bars to ignite difficult conversations and praise the area’s impact on his life.
“As an adult, being a daily figure within the socioeconomic construct of Brockton, I can truly express the needs of a city I believe to be one of a kind — prosperous beyond measure,” he wrote in the since-deleted Instagram post about the song. “The various trials I’ve encountered within the last three years alone in the city have only built up a champion spirit.”
Oompa and Connie Diamond, ‘HO3 SH!T’
Oompa gives us wisdom. She gives us hope, wrapped in an infectious groove. She gives us a model of unflappable grace. And she gives us ass-shakers, a la “H03 SH!T,” her April collab with Connie Diiamond. That’s not to say that the Roxbury rapper’s saucy single lacks depth. If anything, “H03 SH!T” demonstrates a thorough understanding of what it takes to make a crowd drop their money and/or body on the floor. Either way, you’re going to be feeling it in the morning, when the electric bounce of “H03 SH!T” is still ringing in your ears.
Paper Lady, ‘Joe Modern’
These are divided times, but rest assured that we can always reunite against a common enemy: Slimy real estate associates. Paper Lady’s unique choice of topic for their song “Joe Modern” isn’t why we love the April single — we chalk that up to how its post-punk advances in precarious leaps and bounds — but the subject matter certainly cements it as one of Boston’s most memorable releases of the year.
“One of [the songs] is about our realtor that we were working with when we were looking at houses and he’s just like, the worst, so we wrote this song about him,” said Paper Lady vocalist Alli Raina, describing the song at Boston Calling last year before their performance on the Orange Stage. “I feel like our Boston people will understand that — the frustration of working with a realtor.”
Shandelle, ‘TREAT U RIGHT‘
Nostalgia is, generally speaking, a filthy liar. But damn if Shandelle’s song “TREAT U RIGHT” doesn’t squeeze every last lusty drop out of ’90s R&B. The Boston singer’s October single is a window into old-school crushing, and the view is so sultry that it practically arrives slicked with condensation. But even as great as “TREAT U RIGHT” is as a come-on, it’s also peak “girls’ night out” material — the one push you need to down the extra shot, pick the heels that are an inch higher, and drop your dance moves a foot lower. No matter how you play it — flirty or fun — “TREAT U RIGHT” lives up to its name.
ShellzWithAZ and Brandie Blaze, ‘VOWELS’
Class is in session, and ShellzWithAZ and Brandie Blaze have the floor. The two area emcees — from Brockton and Boston, respectively — teach a lesson in declarative statements with their January tune “VOWELS.” Their prime example? The line “A E I O U / I make this shit look good.” ShellzWithAZ and Blaze lob various versions of the lyric back and forth, building hype as they vault off each other’s momentum. “VOWELS” shines for its streamlined self-confidence, but also its seamless flow between the two artists. ShellzWithAZ and Blaze don’t just make collaborating look good — they make it look easy.
Silvie’s Okay, ‘Butterfly a Moth’
Take “thank u, next” by Ariana Grande, but swap the pop sass for serene alt-country. With his February single “Butterfly a Moth”, Western Massachusetts artist Silvie’s Okay emerges from a breakup with mindfulness and grace, not unlike sloughing off a chrysalis. It’s a rare, refreshing perspective that positions a relationship’s end as a welcome and necessary rebirth.
“‘Butterfly a Moth’ was such a gift to receive as a song, kind of this full circle moment,” Silvie’s Okay — a.k.a. Vince Thompson — told Vanyaland. “It was late spring after a breakup and I was truly the happiest I had ever been in my life. I hadn’t wanted the relationship to end while it was happening — I was holding onto something that was actually hurting me and causing me to regress and act out younger versions of myself, a pattern I had witnessed before when I couldn’t let go of things. As soon as the relationship ended, I turned around and saw the life I had been neglecting.”
STL GLD, ‘The Clapper’
STL GLD’s music has always been palpably physical. There’s stomping (“MSK”), fist-pumping (“With Me”), and floating (“Caterpillars”) rippling through the Boston hip-hop’s group catalog, and yet they’ve never sounded as straight-up danceable as they do on “The Clapper.” The song from STL GLD’s fifth LP, “Good Music For Bad Kids,” is a zig-zagging sprint along the edge of pop and hip-hop, straight into new territory. The group’s forte is usually their unflinching grit, but in the case of “The Clapper,” all that glitters is STL GLD.
Tiberius, ‘Sag‘
“How’d you get so down? How’d you get so sad?” sings vocalist and guitarist Brendan Wright on “Sag,” the lead single from Tiberius’ November album Troubadour. They’re the questions of the year — or the decade, thanks to the pandemic — but Tiberius tap into a special strain of dread here that the Boston music community knows all too well. “Sag” is a downcast alt-rock confessional, but it’s also a poignant document of the pressure to move elsewhere — the “Allston to Bushwick pipeline,” as Wright described to us in July. Even if a group can resist the siren’s call of New York, it’s worth singing about, if for no other reason than to express the belief that a mainstream breakthrough in Boston is possible. And with “Sag,” Tiberius seem poised to pull it off.
ToriTori, ‘You Don’t Know‘
ToriTori shined on a lot of tracks this year — “Long Way From Home” with her brother Latrell James, multiple entries on STL GLD’s new album — but her most recent solo single is the stunner of 2025. In September, we dubbed her song “You Don’t Know” “either a captivating warning, or the most ominous seduction we’ve ever heard.” Three months later, we still aren’t sure which is the better description. That double edge is exactly what makes “You Don’t Know” — and ToriTori — so menacingly powerful.
Winterpills, ‘I’m In The Story’
In the mood for a guitar riff that stirs the same kind of noirish atmosphere as Echo & the Bunnymen’s “The Killing Moon” or “Under The Milky Way” by The Church? Cue the opening of “I”m In The Story,” from Winterpills’ November’s LP “This Is How We Dance.” Fans of the Northampton band have waited nine years for their latest effort, although this album highlight sounds culled straight from a shadowy pocket of 80s. The post-punk guitar melody wrapped around “I’m In The Story” slinks with an air of mystique that’s simply impossible to ignore; if Winterpills are immersed in this story, then damnit, so are you.
Wooll, ‘LIC’
Shoegaze is often an all-consuming sound: A shroud of hazy rock that descends upon the listener and fogs up their mind and surroundings. But “LIC,” the March single from Wooll, is more akin to a pattering drizzle — which is probably why the Providence band describes it as “shoegaze-adjacent.” Now the closer of their May album Thistle, the song’s swirls of melancholy sound deceivingly cozy, wrapping smoky tendrils of electric guitar around whomever’s tuned in. It’s a remarkable balancing act.