Every week the Stereogum staff chooses the five best new songs of the week. The eligibility period begins and ends Thursdays right before midnight. You can hear this week’s picks below and on Stereogum’s Favorite New Music Spotify playlist,

From tear-jerkers to mic-drops, NPR's music critics share the 2025 lyrics that made them laugh, cry and hit replay. Right about now, music critics are sharing their favorite albums of the year or favorite songs, but we are going even more granular.

While big names like Miley Cyrus, Ed Sheerhan, Billy Idol missed the cut along with the two new Wicked: For Good tunes, one huge surprise got it.

They’re going up, up, up, and this is their moment. “KPop Demon Hunters” has landed two Oscar nominations, including best animated film and original song for "Golden." Netflix’s hit movie and its song “Golden” has been shining ever since it released last June.

The superstar helped put reggaeton on the map with a chart-topping discography that includes "Gasolina" and "Despacito.

NPR Music's list of the best 25 songs represent the upper echelon of our staff and stations' favorite discoveries from the past 12 months. For those who want to dive deeper, please check out our complete list of the 125 Best Songs of 2025, which was ...