All Songs Considered — The Best Songs of 2025
NPR, hosted by Robin Hilton
Aired: December 9, 2025
Episode Overview
In this special, in-person edition of NPR’s music discovery mainstay, Robin Hilton, alongside NPR Music’s Hazel Sills and Sheldon Pierce, convene to discuss their personal picks for the best songs of 2025. The conversation, filled with warmth, friendly banter, and deep musical appreciation, highlights standout tracks and albums from a year marked by diversity and unpredictability in music. Each host brings unique perspectives and weaves in broader trends—from dancefloor experimentation to the rawness of indie rock. The episode closes on a note of communal uplift, reflecting on music’s ability to bring people together, even through loss.
Key Topics & Discussion Points
Music in 2025: General Observations
-
Diversity & Restlessness:
The team agrees there’s no clear "number one" song—tastes are more fractured, and consensus is rare.- Robin Hilton (01:16): “It's an unranked list…do you all have a number one song, like a personal number one song?”
- Hazel Sills (01:40): “It's really hard for me to say, like, oh, this one song dominated my year.”
- Sheldon Pierce (02:08): “I tend to lean towards weirder songs…most people are like, why would you pick that one?"
- Theme: Music refuses static boundaries—genres and influences constantly shift.
-
Trends:
- Songs are emotionally earnest, genre-fluid, reflecting a world in flux.
- Restlessness and unpredictability are reflected in song structures and lyrical content.
- The fracturing of musical monoculture—more individual voices, less consensus.
Featured Songs & Deep Dives
1. Dijon – “Yamaha”
Album: baby (Aug 15, 2025)
Chosen by: Hazel Sills
Segment: 02:50–06:37
- Description: A sensual, soulful R&B standout blending Prince-esque flair with modern earnestness.
- Why it's special:
- “It's so soft and earnest…it’s like a song that's about being in love, but it's also a song about how much you love the feeling of being in love.” — Hazel Sills (04:33)
- Notable for genre-bending, brilliant production, and vocalist-as-hype-man quirkiness.
- Dijon’s profile is rising—behind-the-scenes success and solo acclaim.
- Trend Insight: Reflects the resurgence of openhearted R&B and breaking free of genre confines.
2. Nourished By Time – “Max Potential”
Album: The Passionate Ones (Aug 22, 2025)
Chosen by: Sheldon Pierce
Segment: 06:43–09:22
- Description: Post–R&B with themes of searching for passion amid daily grind; blurs lines between romance and existential struggle.
- Panel’s takes:
- “Trying to find love amid the constant stress of working your 9 to 5…” — Sheldon Pierce (07:42)
- “...how to live your life and not be crushed by the world that we live in.” — Hazel Sills (08:20)
- Robin Hilton initially struggles with the unique voice, like he once did with Bob Dylan, but acknowledges its distinctiveness.
- Theme: Music as solace and resistance to modern stress.
3. Patrick Watson – “Peter and the Wolf”
Album: Oh (Sept 26, 2025)
Chosen by: Robin Hilton
Segment: 09:22–14:04
- Backstory: Watson regained his singing voice after a vocal cord hemorrhage, channeling vulnerability into haunting, layered soundscapes.
- Described as:
- “Like twisted little fairy tales…the word I keep coming back to is magical.” — Robin Hilton (11:51)
- “Very spooky. It sounds like I’m in a haunted music box…but there’s so many layers to this song…” — Hazel Sills (12:05)
- Inspired by nighttime walks, city ghosts—creates an “eerie fog” atmosphere (Sheldon Pierce, 12:26).
- Memorable Moment:
- “But it’s not just that you’re not alone. It’s that something’s coming for you.” — Robin Hilton (13:06)
4. FKA Twigs – “Room of Fools”
Album: Usexua (Jan 24, 2025)
Chosen by: Hazel Sills
Segment: 15:28–19:12
- Analysis:
- Draws comparisons to Björk in both sound and spirit.
- “I hear such freedom from Twigs in this song...she is down on the dance floor with a crowd of anonymous people…” — Hazel Sills (17:04)
- “It's significantly less cerebral than a lot of the stuff she’s done…here she is like amongst the crowds.” — Sheldon Pierce (18:02)
- Theme: Celebrating communal experiences and the visceral embrace of dance music.
5. Pink Pantheress – “Stateside”
Album: Heaven Knows
Chosen by: Sheldon Pierce
Segment: 19:28–21:49
- Significance:
- Marks Pink Pantheress’ transition from viral "URL pop" to mainstream presence.
- “The full moment where she is out in the open,” — Sheldon Pierce (20:43)
- Depth: Bright sound with an undercurrent of obsession:
- “It has that signature Pink Pantheress theme of sounding a little cute and sweet, but…she’s in love with this person, but she also is stalking them.” — Hazel Sills (21:10)
- Broader Insight:
- Song is a “grower”—surface simplicity gives way to deeper strangeness reflecting the restless mood of the year (Robin Hilton, 21:49).
6. Asher White – “Beers with My Name on Them”
Album: 8 Tips for Full Catastrophe Living (Sept 12, 2025)
Chosen by: Robin Hilton
Segment: 21:49–26:43
- Musical Style: Frenetic, unpredictable, genre-blurring—mirrors cultural and mental chaos.
- Host connection:
- “If there was a soundtrack of my brain at any given moment this year, this was the sound of it.” — Robin Hilton (24:10)
- “It short circuits right in the middle…” — Sheldon Pierce (24:51)
- Reflection:
- “It really does feel like a breakdown, like, in the most literal sense, to your point about what it sounds like in your mind.” — Sheldon Pierce (25:56)
7. Wednesday – “Townies”
Album: Bleeds (Sept 19, 2025)
Chosen by: Hazel Sills
Segment: 28:51–31:44
- Themes:
- Ghosts of hometowns, the persistence of memory and trauma in small-town life, the inability to escape history.
- Panel Discussion:
- “This is kind of a song about ghosts…even when they die, their memories are like embedded…” — Hazel Sills (30:13)
- “I think it's not just about ghosts from your hometown…I think it's about the cruelties and the horrors of small town living…” — Robin Hilton (31:25)
- Meta: Illustrates the difficult task of choosing just one “best” song from an album; albums vs. singles as yardsticks.
8. Gabriel Jacoby – “The One”
EP: Gutted Child (Nov 14, 2025)
Chosen by: Sheldon Pierce
Segment: 32:16–35:49
- Discovery:
- “There are not a lot of times where you sort of just stumble onto an artist who has just started, who feels almost fully formed upon arrival.” — Sheldon Pierce (33:15)
- Sound: Funky, retro—evokes 90s R&B and 70s funk, yet feels fresh and generational.
- Hosts’ Reactions:
- “I didn't realize there were young people making music that sounds like this…not in a cringe way…not in like a silk sonic way…” — Hazel Sills (34:04)
- “There’s a lot of soul and funk, like pastiche…this is his lived experience.” — Sheldon Pierce (35:15)
9. Olafur Arnalds & Talos – “We Didn’t Know We Were Ready”
Single Release: Posthumous (2024)
Chosen as closing track
Segment: 36:53–38:16
- Story:
- Talos died of cancer shortly after the collaboration; the remaining artists completed the song as a tribute.
- Emotional resonance:
- “It almost feels like they are comforting and consoling one another in the wake of this loss.” — Sheldon Pierce (37:33)
- “You are ready…you’re stronger than you think…” — Robin Hilton (37:55)
- Closing note:
- A message of community, resilience, and gentleness in the face of life’s unpredictability.
Notable Quotes & Moments
-
On the difficulty of consensus:
“If we had done previous lists the way that we did the list this year, we would have had more diffusive lists in the past as well.”
— Sheldon Pierce (28:04) -
On genre fluidity:
“So much music we heard this year just sort of refuses to be any one thing.”
— Robin Hilton (05:50) -
On song vs. album:
“Sometimes albums is the answer to me. Because Wednesday…this was the best rock album of the year.”
— Sheldon Pierce (31:12) -
On restlessness in music:
“We live in a very unsettled age, and the music is really reflecting that.”
— Robin Hilton (21:49) -
On resilience and community in music:
“The community, the sense of community, everyone coming together, it's just so angelic and celestial and just really, really beautiful.”
— Robin Hilton (37:55)
Major Segment Timestamps
| Time | Segment | Content | |------|---------|---------| | 00:19 | Show Begins | Introductions, 2025 list overview | | 02:50–06:37 | “Yamaha” by Dijon | Hazel’s pick; R&B, Prince influence | | 06:43–09:22 | “Max Potential” by Nourished By Time | Sheldon’s pick; R&B, existential themes | | 09:22–14:04 | “Peter and the Wolf” by Patrick Watson | Robin’s pick; haunting, comeback story | | 15:28–19:12 | “Room of Fools” by FKA Twigs | Hazel’s pick; dancefloor, experimental | | 19:28–21:49 | “Stateside” by Pink Pantheress | Sheldon’s pick; pop star evolution | | 21:49–26:43 | “Beers with My Name on Them” by Asher White | Robin’s pick; hyperactive, genre-fluid | | 28:51–31:44 | “Townies” by Wednesday | Hazel’s pick; indie rock, memory | | 32:16–35:49 | “The One” by Gabriel Jacoby | Sheldon’s pick; funk, R&B discovery | | 36:53–38:16 | “We Didn’t Know We Were Ready” by Olafur Arnalds & Talos | Closing track; tribute, community |
Tone & Atmosphere
- Playful, self-aware, and affectionate among panelists.
- Deeply passionate about music, open to disagreement.
- Conversational reflections often blend personal stories with analysis.
- Underlying thread: music as both comfort and challenge in turbulent times.
Summary for Non-Listeners
This 2025 year-end roundup is less about crowning “the best” and more about mapping the musical world’s vibrant, unsettled landscape. From R&B’s return to earnestness, through post-pandemic dancefloor catharsis, indie rock’s haunted memories, and experimental brain-bending tracks, the episode showcases not just excellence, but variety, sincerity, and the search for connection. The stories behind the music—artists’ comebacks, tragic losses, and unexpected debuts—reveal music as a companion through joy, struggle, and everything in between.