The Best Songs of April 2025
Massive comebacks, sweet Carolines and more!
Normally, I’d use this intro to reflect on the past month. Given that we’re a third of the way into May, I’m sure you’ll be fine with me just sharing this picture of a delicious Pain Suisse I had and getting onto the best tunes of the month.
Before we get into the Top 5, I’ve got to give credit where it’s due and shed a light on some A-Z honorary runner-ups:
Cheetah - Get Loose (ft. Nia Archives)
Despite my proclivity for being in bed and sound asleep no later than midnight, I still have a hankering for some club and jungle to get me grooving.
Get Loose is the kind of tune you’d expect to hear in a club where someone’s first response to hearing “Bandcamp” isn’t the American Pie film.
Lorde - What Was That
Lorde’s lead singles have always perfectly heralded in their respective era.
Judging solely on What Was That and other snippets I’ve heard, it seems like Virgin is going to explore what if the house party on Melodrama, a stand-in for young adulthood heartbreak, never ended: exciting stuff!
PinkPantheress - Stateside
This isn’t the first time I’ve had to keep PinkPantheress off the list proper due to this series’ rule of “10 million monthly listeners or less”. Don’t worry: no such rule exists for the year-end list, on which you will be sure to find this beautiful slice of breakbeat.
Touchdown Jesus - I Love My Wife
You know that much-memed Metalocalypse scene where Nathan says how much he loves his dad?
Similar vibes here: who would have thought a song that makes you feel like a penny spinning around a charity donation vortex could be a wholesome ode to your life-partner? I mean, other than if you just read the title…
005
Common Holly - Aegean Blue
A jarring contrast to much of the songs I’ll discuss today, Aegean Blue is the kind of track that effortlessly conjures up images of swaying trees and a gentle breeze.
Dig into the lyrics, however, and you’ll find some metaphorical midges—shortcomings in a relationship that threaten this tranquillity—which add some weight to this stunning chamber-pop number.
004
billy woods - BLK ZMBY
I’ve always appreciated billy woods’ panache when it comes to how densely packed he makes his bars: kind of creativity that makes me want to whip out a Pukka Pad and take notes like it was going to pop up on an exam.
I won’t pretend that I totally get BLK ZMBY—show me someone who claims to 100% understand a billy woods track after a few listens and I’ll show you a liar—but what I can convey is really compelling. While it is an analysis of authoritarian African “zombie states” and the division they enact, it’s got all the woods mannerisms like some welcome bits of dark humour and stellar production to help such seriousness go down smoother.
Like what you’ve read so far? If you want to stay up to date with my music recommendations and thoughts, then make sure to subscribe…
You can also check out all the songs I’ve chatted about today, as well as some additional picks in my expanded Spotify playlist here:
003
Home Is Where - migration patterns
Home Is Where have been proudly heralding in whatever-wave-of-emo-we’re-on since their fantastic debut LP back in 2021.
Like it or not, they are the face of it, but as migration patterns reassuringly shows, it’s a mug that does the job: that is, if that job is convincingly capturing the looming meaninglessness of your daily grind to the point you develop some empathy for the dead beasties on your windscreen.
In times like that, all you can say is “BADADA DA DA” and blow your harmonica with enough passion that it would make Bobby D applaud you!
002
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Deadstick
Plenty already do, but I feel like King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard won’t truly get the appreciation they deserve until long after they’ve packed up their Taskmaster shed’s worth of instruments and concepts.
Last I checked, they were doing a thrash metal album about “witches and dragons and shit”. Now it’s a double-cheeked-up-with-dopamine glam rock epic about—tone change—a plane crash? I only ever watched a handful of Lost episodes, but I imagine they’d have a better time of it if they had horns even half as glorious as the ones on Deadstick.
(Props to Mic The Snare for putting this on my radar with his Mario Kart edit: take note, music promoters!)
001
caroline - Tell me I never knew that (ft. Caroline Polachek)
I may not know her rate, but Caroline Polachek seems like the most bang-for-your-buck featured artist you can get.
Sure, you know you’re getting her otherworldly singing—the kind that harkens back to stories of sailors being serenaded to their demise—but she also adds so much depth. A quiver here, a smooth howl there, and before you know it, you’re left with a fleshed-out ethereal framework for a phenomenal bit of post-rock.
Of course, the band caroline is the main artist here, and they don’t squander the lay-up. Tell me I never knew that regularly leaves me in a thinker-like stance as its evocative beauty unravels before me.
I especially dig how it plays out towards the end: a solid answer to this unravelling existential crisis hasn’t been reached, but we get room to process it all. They say tapping into your senses in a mindful way can bring you calm, and when it comes to this song’s audible beauty, there’s enough to have you reach Nirvana.
Thank you for reading all the way through!
Do you have some stellar selections of your own? I’d love to hear about them!
I hope you’re all having a magnificent May!