Herb Sundays - Herb Midyear MMXXV
A global survey of Herb faves of 2025, first ascent.
Herb Sundays Midyear MMXXV: The songs that hit us hardest
(Apple, Spotify).
Art by Michael Cina.
2025 out of the mouths of babes.
I didn’t include mine in this list, but my sketchbook of songs lives here as Perpetual Dawn (Apple, Spotify).
The prompt was: “What song hit you hard in 2025 (new or old)?”
Picks (In No Order)
Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick (
) - Erika de Casier "Lifetime"Erika never really "hit" for me until this last album and it's the title track, the penultimate three minutes of an already short-and-sweet album, really digs in the knife. I am not lying when I say that, if I stop and focus on the song — I will cry, as it's a meditation on loving yourself and the meaning of life and finding "your place" within it all. It's featherweight as far as the sound too, as if you're laying in a field in the middle of the city, a piano house ballad playing in the distance, competing for attention with the most beautiful wind chime you've ever heard.
A-Trak (Fool's Gold) - Fakemink - "Easter Pink"
I love hearing young artist put their spin on 2000s electro, in a way that feels unmistakably NOW.
basic chanel - “tracey - sex life (ft. riko dan)”
“this song really nails the 'hardest' element of this prompt. my friends played it to be in the cab home from a festival and its been on repeat ever since. the duo say it's meant to be a sombre track but to me it exudes confidence and makes me feel like the baddest B”
raihan_ (unknownvariable) “quest” by goat
Hrishikesh Hirway (Song Exploder) Ken Pomeroy - “Wolf in Sheep's Clothes”
shaun durkan (crushed) - radagast - “promise” [Editors Note: New crushed album up for pre-order, see Bre’s note below too]
I’ve been spending increasing amounts of time alone running through the woods with this entire album on repeat. It’s beautiful, paranoid, ancient and futuristic all at once. The perfect soundbed for a brief disappearance from everything else out there.
launder -”freedom guitar” - KAN-KAN - sounds like san diego in the best way
Michael Cina (
/ Cina Associates) - Bent - So Long Without Youm- Sampling masterclassDondy (LQQK Studio) - GHOST - “come back again”
Pitkin Loft party pressed a 7” bootleg of this track and it hits so hard. Blazer Sound System put me on to Ghost years ago but this tune was a blind spot. Perfect proof why vinyl is important. It represents so much I love about dance music. It’s kind of a cover song, has an acid-ish instrumental, but it’s a dance hall track. Pure open format gold
Kevin McHugh (LA-4A / Valence Studios) - Barker - “Fluid Mechanics”
Barker has put his creative flexibility on Pro Mode, and continues to engineer incredible sound design with gorgeous chord choices that seem to dial in moods I've never known existed.
Flow State (
) Stefan Wesołowski - “Wilhelm Tombeau” the organ was recorded in Saint Nicholas' Basilica in GdańskWill August Park - “Once Upon a Time” by Romance
Been listening to this song on walks. Really amazing palette and structure. Would recommend checking out any of their records.
Bre Morell (crushed) - addison rae - “headphones on”
every single she’s released in the past year has gone triple platinum in my bedroom, but “headphones on” has claimed the top spot for me. beautiful production, catchy as hell melody, perfect music video and untouchable vibes all around. totally in awe of what her, elvira anderfjärd, and luka kloser are creating. pop music is so back
David Azzoni (Finer Sounds) Jim White Featuring Aimee Mann – “Static On The Radio” - This beautiful sonic gut punch never fails to get the waterworks going
Ryan Schreiber (What's Good) - Erika de Casier: "You Can't Always Get What You Want"
A gorgeous meditation on the transience of love, health, and stability that encourages living in the moment despite future uncertainty. Truly enlightened sentiment meets one of the year's most arresting melodies.
Starchild & The New Romantic - “Night” by Jimothy Lacoste
I quite enjoy his sense of humor and the ready-to-go feel of some of these new releases in particular . Man dem put the thinking cap on, LIGQE. Makes me miss London and despise tariffs equally. &
“My Sarah” by Thin Lizzy
On record recently proclaiming this a perfect song. Phil Lynott’s ode to his daughter, Sarah. Featuring a pre-News, Huey Lewis on Harmonica & background vocals.
Chris Gayomali (
/ ssense) - 2hollis - “nice”this song convinced me that nepo babies are good.
Daisy Alioto (Dirt) - “Yankin” by Lady
Justin Montag (🏀 & 🍎) - “LV Sandals” - Fakemink, EsDeeKid, Rico Ace
No explanation needed, honorable mention: Feng - XOXO, Thouxanbanfauni - BDOB MAYHEM INTRO, Polo Youngin - InYoBity, Fred Again - Victory Lap, Mechatok + Ecco2k + Bladee - Expression on Your Face, ISSO É TRAP - 100% MOHLO, Playboi Carti - OPM Babi and too many more..
Jesse Nichols (NAYMLIS / Stones Throw Records) - Smerz - “You got time and I got money”
I'm just so late to the Smerz train and Vinnie (Portage Garage/DAIS) threw this track on in the car the day it was released, immediate ear worm. Think I played it back at LEAST 30 times that first day. Production is simple, all done at home on their computers, but relays cinematic, so fucking effective. Lyrically sweet and soft - I'm in my soft era so all things considered - absolutely divine. Favorite track of 2025
Justin Hunt Sloane - Mark William Lewis - “Tomorrow Is Perfect”
I'm really excited for the new Mark William Lewis record, I have been a fan for a couple years now & the two latest songs feel like he's really brought all the best things together into a final form.
Laurel Stearns (Primary wave) - “Dock Of The Bay” (heard it in a new way this year) We all need to take time to reflect
Oli Isaacs (this is music ltd) - Neil Young - “Like a Hurricane”
I had the good fortune to see Neil Young three times on his 2025 tour and he played this song each time. My dad introduced me to it when I was a kid and I’ve loved it ever since, a perfect combination of wild guitar playing and lyricism. It reminds me of him.
JP Haynie (Actual Source) - “Nella Stanza Del Padre” by Ennio Morricone
I found this song on a small compilation of lullabies or lullaby-type songs by Morricone and I've probably listened to it 100 times. It's from the film L'IMMORALITÀ (which I haven't seen 🙃). There are so many melodies happening at once. It is so beautiful.
Nigil Mack (drink sum wtr) - Yaya Bey - “Dream Girl” - Song is such a vibe!
Gregory S Paulus (Greg Paulus / NRP) - Happy House Matthew Dear VS Audion remix and if I don’t say so myself “facts” by stimulus Taylor bender and me on the prod
Love Clipse and they make a song about trumpets well I’m going to have to put some horns on it! Juan Happy house as made by MD is the literal dance bomb! Played it last night! And faCTS is the big sound we’ve been working on with Stimulus and Taylor Bense at Hyperballad Music!
james K - CYBERMISSION - Deep Hard
this song makes me want to kiss the air, stomach drop, big smile, tears.
Abe Burmeister (Outlier) - D’Angelo - “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” - a year so indeterminate only a murky voodoo haze will suffice
James Ford (James Ellis Ford) - “Time takes me so back” - Bill Wells - Just love the wonky brass.
Chad Allen Pratt (Same Eyes) - “Don’t Let Go” by Dena/Lauer. - I dig Lauer a lot and this combo with Dena is pretty great! Perfect summer jam!
Liz Warner (WDET) - Herbert & Momoko "Babystar"
I love just about any pop foray that Matthew Herbert can get his controls on, but this new partnership with multi-instrumentalist, producer, and vocalist Momoko Gill is so incredibly catchy. At once upbeat with jazzy flourishes and ever-so-slightly off-kilter, just like I like it.
Mea Liedl ( AM Aalto / Bitwig by day) - Voice Actor, Squu - “Lust is stronger than us from the album Lust”
I love the whole album. The sounds, vocals and the sense of melancholia. It‘s just really beautiful.
Ben Dickey ( Constant Artists) - Take It Easy Freestyle - A$AP Rocky/ I'm Your Dirt I'm Your Love - Yung Lean / Tomorrow is Perfect - mark william lewis
-The Rocky track's from 2013 but I hadn't heard it in a long time, just all the best of Rocky.
-This was the first time I'd sat down and listened to Yung Lean, and there's something about the vocal and the lyric that keep me coming back.
-The mark william lewis track is new and reminds me of American Music Club x Leonard Cohen with production that is perfect
Bijan Shahvali (
) - ROB49 - WTHELLYA completely absurd song that should not work, but does and it has not left my head since the first listen. It's very fun to say!
Gibby Miller (Dais Records) - Sherelle, George Riley - “Freaky (Just My Type)”
just listen. its all there. high octane summer jam
Bryan Ling (New Community Mgmt / In Sheep’s Clothing/writes
) - ! (DUB)Dean Bein - True Panther [Editor’s Note: label of the year?] - 2Sdxrt3all - this is the lifestyle
absoulutely incredible and inspired flip of a sample making it completely unhinged and psychedelic and a perfect platform for a very self reflective but far reaching and off the cuff vocal and a lyrical journey that goes all over the damn place
Chris Swanson (Secretly Group / All Flowers Group) - "Whoza Mtwana" — Dollar Brand
A funeral march? A death waltz? Or an extended joyous gasp? This song from 1980 has been the hopeful soundtrack to resistance in 2025 more than any other.
gum.mp3 (Gum Studio)- “Red, Gold and Green” - Burning Spear
In a world where words like “country” and “identity” hold tremendous weight, music like this is poignant. Makes you wonder how anybody could ever embrace the sanitization of such a rich, political genre as reggae. I’ve been sitting with this track a lot. Burning Spear inspires me to be a part of my community, to volunteer at the community farm, to sacrifice for the collective good.
Phil Waldorf (Secretly Group/All Flowers Group) - Studio - “West Side” Long overdue reissue of an all-timer!
Tim Saccenti (Setta studio) - “Silent Running” - Mike and the Mechanics - The dystopia is now [Editor’s note: 15 min video version!]
Alex Mustonen - Clipse - “So Be It”
Stephan Kunze (
) - Eliana Glass – "Shrine"It's the end of a calm summer day, and you’re slowly walking back to the car through the sand dunes. You turn around to take a last look at the glowing red sun lingering low over the still sea, feeling a cool breeze on your skin and that ambiguous mix of quiet happiness and an indefinite longing deep in your heart; knowing that all things must end but somehow desperately hoping they also may not.
Nick Barat (
writes Catchdini / Fool's Gold) - The Dust Brothers "Corporate World"I wrote and directed my first short film this year and DB’s Fight Club OST was atop all the inspo playlists / reference decks (and temp score, to keep it 100). “Corporate World” got the most analytical listen(s) but every track is a cut and paste fantasia. It’s also the weirdly reclusive duo’s only proper entry on DSPs, save for putting Korn over Galt MacDermot's "Space" drums (hi Busta) on the Spawn soundtrack. Cinema!
Rob Theakston (Dad FM/ Ghostly alum) Brian Wilson - “Lonely Sea”
I am still not over the passing of Brian Wilson.
Matthew Dear -antraum/traumer/anon -”Fukai” - Sounds like Ricardo mastered it.
Jules Dressner (Louis/Dressner Selections) - Stage- “Ocean of Crime”
This song's self-indulgent guitars are only topped by the bat-shit insane lyrics. Broken english nonsensical Italo lyrics have long been a source of immense personal joy and this might be top 3 (number 1 def being Under the Ice By Topo & Roby)
Jubilee - Marie Davidson - “Sexy Clown”
I don’t think i listened to an album more than this this year so far i think it’s just describing my exact mood in this current climate of absolutely fucking stupid. Its self aware while funny, it’s sexy it’s frustrated it’s also confident and it encourages self love while also telling everyone to fuck off. Not to mention the production is the perfect mix of things I’m personally into and gives me the perfect mix of nostalgia and new fresh inspiration. The whole album all the way through has no skips in my opinion. Sexy Clown is a perfect song that gets stuck in my head for days while making me feel very seen.
Larry Fitzmaurice (Last Donut of the Night) - Real Lies, "Finding Money" [ft. Jessica Barden]
My favorite song from We Will Annihilate Our Enemies changes every day, but this is on heavy rotation at the moment...perfect opening line, ruminative and wistful, like Pet Shop Boys trying out their own take on "Born Slippy."
Teen Daze / Pacific Coliseum - Cocteau Twins - “My Truth”
This is the kind of song that makes you stop what you’re doing and listen, which is an experience that I feel like we all need these days.
roe ethridge - The Wild Reeds - “Fall with Me”
quickly, quickly - “Colour of Anyhow” - Beverly Glenn-Copeland
[editors notes: Grahm’s record is one of my best of the year, also one of
’s faves]Heard this song in ‘Companion’ which ironically is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. But this song rules crazy style.
Emily Wilson (
) - “Shapeshifter” by Lorde - Lorde is back to making bangers they said, and I would agreebarbie bertisch (love injection) - ron trent (ft. lars bartkuhn) - “street wave” life-giving music for dancing (or not)!
claire rousay (
, Herb ) - “Heavenly” by Lil Tracy"she called me daddy and she said it with an accent" lol
Chris Dalla Riva (
) - “Jesus Was a Cross-Maker” by Judee SillI came across a TikTok about the tragedy of Judee Sill a few months ago and became infatuated with this song by her. The title alone is such a powerful image.
Patricia Wolf (
)- Loscil ( )- “Silos”This track comes from Loscil's "Lake Fire" which reflects on the tragedy of human caused climate breakdown. Aside from already being a big fan of Scott's music, the environment is at the forefront of my mind each day. The emotional tone of this song is so much in sympathy with the way I feel about the destruction occurring on our planet these days.
Anthony Valadez (KMHD) - “My and Me feat Sampras” - Everything Is Recorded
Vulnerable, moving, graceful and powerful.
Shawn Reynaldo (
writes First Floor) - U.e. "Drawing of Me"Of all the talented artists associated with the West Mineral Ltd. / 3XL / Motion Ward / etc. universe, Ulla is perhaps the one most likely to throw a dazzling musical curveball. Although the scene she's affiliated with is generally known vaporous textures and smudgy combinations of ambient, dub techno and trip-hop, this song from her 'Hometown Girl' album—which inaugurated both the U.e. alias and her own 28912 imprint—is a wonderfully lo-fi slice of downbeat, jazz-flecked emo pop. Stripped of all artifice and recorded in a way that sounds like Ulla is wistfully singing on the other side of the room, it's gentle, deeply vulnerable and quietly devastating—in the best way possible.
Kelbin - caroline - “total euphoria”
Lutalo - “The Jangling Man” - The Cleaners From Venus
I love the lyrical sentiment of this track. The simplicity and motion the guitars give, makes this song feel relaxed yet direct. Not doing too much, just serving the song.
Madjestic Kasual - Feng - “Walk in the park”
Instant ear-hostage-taker wherever you may be, in the clurb, in the homestead, some inexplicable third space that's not those two. My go-to DJ set opener for months on end. Instant classic vibes...
Eli Epstein - ‘Never Enough’ by Turnstile
Although I may have now heard this song enough times (pun intended), this has been the only song so far this year that stopped me cold in my tracks and made me ask “What is THIS?”
simon 2 bridges - valee 'up here'
Jocelyn Michelle Brown (International Anthem Publishing, Reality Club) - Clipse - “Let God Sort ‘Em Out” - “Sounds like hell coming down the stairs - and I mean that in the BEST way possible. I’ve missed them and I’m sure that everyone else has too.”
Spencer Zahn - “Heatwave” by The Blue Nile
Though it's not one of their most popular songs, Heatwave hits all the marks of what defines The Blue Nile. A simple repetitive chorus both in lyric and melody that soars on top of an interesting bed of bass and percussion. Every listen reveals something new.
Jozef White - (The Tabula Rasa Record Company, writes
) - OOH - SOPHIEAll of the posthumous SOPHIE stuff has hit hard of course but the PRODUCT era especially had a huge impact on my perspective and approach to music especially around reintegrating a lifelong love of pop music with a long, wonderful detour through the world of the strange and experimental. I’ve been listening to this song for at least a decade in various forms, mixes, etc. and to have these come out officially, along with GET HIGHER (which I almost chose), 10 years later after such a tragic loss along all of the good and wonderful memories along with a deep sadness wrapped up in a song that balances so many emotions in such a way that only SOPHIE could, hit me in a way that remains difficult to explain in a way that feels adequate.
Dave Sutton (Stadiums & Shrines, AFG family) - Maria Somerville - “Garden”
love these roundups, discovery gold