favourite tracks 2025 so far

the pleasure principal

the pleasure principal

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hi

in case you were wondering here are my 23 favourite tracks halfway in, presented in alphabetical order.
here are the youtube and spotify playlists with some extra stuff.



agnes - balenciaga covered eyes

so sad, so sexy, come and arrest me

what is there to say, she had been on point for a while now and this is now exception - classic house beat begging you to move, amazing opening, beautiful vocals.
i was iffy about the "balenciaga" name drop initially (it's obviously a critique) but it still bugs me a bit.
 
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alison goldfrapp - find xanadu

fill me with stars

i was whelmed by the love invention, but i love this release and it's already my most listened to track of the year. it's soars and glitters and crawls and the finale is just chef's kiss abbatastique. amazing. the röyksopp remixes are so good i'm not sure they're not as good as the original - especially the extended one. pray for a tensnake mix.
 


aly & aj - lasso

i'd get away with you heart, and i'd make it look easy

i'm soft on the new album. strange single choices (if you ask me) but there are a couple of gems and this is far and away my favourite. wistful, full of twang and just beautiful and dreamy.
 


andrea laszlo de simone - la notte

vorrò sempre tornare

one of my favourite musicians lately (if you don't love il regno animale i don't know what to tell you) is back back back and this one is more of his signature infectiously melodic, earthy, low-key, bittersweet joie de vivre-ness.
 


arne vinzon - les rochers

on voit des ombres, au calme on sombre

flying under the radar for over 20 years now, this is probably my favourite track by this french duo - it's majestic and steady and enveloping and i was always a sucker for a bit of a whistle.
 


bertrand belin - l'inconnu en personne

je n’ai pas connu en personne, les inconnus en question

the quintessential moody french troubadour responsible for a couple of my favourite songs of the decade has a new album out and this is the lead single. i love his voice, his delivery, his writing, the clean, emotional musical backdrops.
 


buscabulla - el camino

coge tu camino, baby, escoge tu camino ya

i've been following buscabulla since the wondrous blood orange produced metele and i think they're making some of their best music lately. forward looking pop music with a latin twist what more.
 


cmat - running / planning

and she prayed to god in school, for a perfect friend, he looked just like you

i haven't braved a cmat album yet (though i did love stay for something) but i find her immensely relatable and enjoyable and i love her storytelling and way around a building a melody. also her unabashed (vocal) acrobatics are a tonic in a sea of boring, mumbling pop stars.
 


destroyer - hydroplaning off the edge of the world

i go to the park and then i go back home

ugh, i hate to play favourites but this one might be it. i could quote most of this song as my favourite bit. fools rush in but they're the only with any guts or insane intercourse, constant swapping or god is famous for punishing or women fill out, men crumble inward or it's all the same thing under a certain light. couple with an amazing boppy backing track and his deadpan voice and i'm on cloud nine.
 


jenny hval - to be a rose

this is every cigarette my mother ever smoked

one of my favourite hval songs already and that's saying a lot. it builds dramatically and beautifully, the sound is rich, the melody very much there and i just love love love the contemporary artist-ness of her.
 


lou hayter - 808 beat

got my baby on the back of my new beep beep, alright

a 2024 track which i had on rotation a lot early in the year - it's twee, it's fun, it's got the 80s funk throwback vibe, but most importantly it's lemonade (pink lemonade). self-written and produced by hayter.
 


mariah the scientist - burning blue

i can feel it in the air, my cold sweat dripping everywhere

i've been following her from the jump and i'm happy to report ms the scientist has been building herself a pretty lovely catalogue of forlorn love songs. i've not been into r&b much lately but she still resonates and i'm for a new album with even better tracks.
 


marina - cuntissimo

they say that i should settle down, but i don't wanna

i know it’s silly and stupid and a lot of lines make me cringe (cause your energy’s precious!) but i love the strings and the melody and the production, selma hayek in the sun and, of course, ms diamandis' voice.
 


molly nielsen - un po' più vicino al cielo

la musica suona della tua macchia, e imagina che qui in cimitero siamo davvero, un po' più vicino al cielo

a slice of lo-fi synth-pop in italian by a swedish girl who sounds like a man, i love it, whatever will they think of next, etc.
 


noah cyrus + fleet foxes - don't put it all on me

by the look in your eye, i can tell you’re no longer sleeping, but we’re still dreaming

fleet foxes are reliable as always for some oneiric melancholy folk, this one is just really pretty and melodic and the vocals work really well together.
 


perfume genius - it's a mirror

can i get off without reliving history, and let every echo just sing to itself?

mike hadreas is obviously one of the most compelling musicians of the past decade and i always seem to vibe with him thematically. this time around is no exception. (his duet with aldous harding is also very good and the video is nuts.)
 


polo & pan + beth ditto - petite etoile

i landing on your shore, open the door

what an unexpectedly amazing match-up! beth ditto is such an amazing vocalist and i just love how she sings this song almost like it's in french. it's pop, it's chanson, it's dance, it's reverie, it's raw emotion, it's everything.
 


purple disco machine + alison goldfrapp - dream machine

hello, i'm dream machine

this is just such an easy, breezy, beautiful throwback, goldfrapp doing her thing effortlessly over 120 bpm pdm. magic.
 
the pleasure principal said:


perfume genius - it's a mirror

can i get off without reliving history, and let every echo just sing to itself?

mike hadreas is obviously one of the most compelling musicians of the past decade and i always seem to vibe with him thematically. this time around is no exception. (his duet with aldous harding is also very good and the video is nuts.)
Click to expand...

Best album from him since the immaculate "Set My Heart On Fire Immediately"
 


sam fender - wild long lie

i think i need to leave this town

what can i say, it's devastating, it's hopeful, it's wonderfully put together. he just does despondent euphoria so well.
 


sally shapiro - did you call tonight

maybe i downplayed the echoes of your name, somewhere within, i played a different game

i can't believe this depressed pair of italo disco revivalists are still going (and signed to italians do it better nonetheless) but bless the gods. the new stuff has been great and i'm happy to report they have somehow managed to become one of my most listened to artists ever. bigger than gaga, bigger than beyonka, you heard it here first.
 


sofia kourtesis - canela pura

vamo' a mi casa ya, canela, ay, ay, ay

off volver, an ep following up her amazing madres album, this is pretty much just a really joyous, fun latin house romp by the queen of peru.
 


st. lucia + aly & aj - campari lips and soda

campari on my lips, 'pari on my hips

ugh, i love this souffle of a song so much from the product placement to the ridiculous caterwauling at the end. it just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and bimbofied. i resent this world for shrugging so hard at it and shall protest with a glass of campari soda in about 5 mins.
 


tennis - weight of desire

and I could hardly describe you, when i am right there beside you, i’m beside you honey

lord have mercy, if i start typing the word dreamy one more time! but here we are, the modern-day carpenters made me do it. it's bittersweet they are disbanding and i'm really itching to go see them in london for their farewell tour.
 
HELLO

I really like both this Destroyer song and Bologna.

Petite Etoile is so good. Beth's delivery is just delicious. Love the Sally album, a definite improvement on their previous IDIB effort.
 
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