This is a new category for my yearly musical round-up. [Why do I do this to myself?!]

Just to be clear, the vast majority of the following tracks are not singles released prior to an EP or album release. These are standalone tracks, as far as I am aware. There is one (maybe two?) exceptions, but I’ll explain those as we come to them!

This is the last post where the list is in A-Z order. That said, I’ll try to highlight in my commentary the ones that were my absolute favourites.

8485 & Danny Brown – ‘G.I.R.L.’
This is what you call a BANGER, from the cult Canadian electropop underground auteur, 8485. Danny Brown‘s frankly legendary 2025 run of guest verses also pops, with his style reminiscent of peak Atrocity Exhibition focus.
LISTEN HERE

Asian Glow – ‘Cans in Vain’ & ‘The Question Lingered On’
The South Korean artist had a busy 2025 with an EP (111010111000000110011101111011001001011110010000111011001000010010011100) and an LP (11100011), both of which were very good. The two standalone singles, particularly ‘The Question Lingered On’ were my highlights, though!
LISTEN HERE

Better Lovers – ‘Don’t Forget to Say Please’
A loose rager of a track from the ‘core-supergroup. A final song with Greg Puciato before they move forward, no doubt stronger, albeit losing his recognisable voice.
ONLY AVAILABLE ON NON-BANDCAMP STREAMING

Bureau de Change – ‘Dumb Men’, ‘Marriage’, ‘Office Chair’ & ‘Resistance’
Here, like in a few other instances, is where I may be just a tad too early, and these four tracks will prove to be building towards an official release. However, nearly five months on from ‘Marriage’ dropping on Hallowe’en, it appears these were all excellent morsels of poppy post-punk perfection from the Bath-based band. They recently signed to Alcopop! so hopefully 2026 will prove fruitful.
LISTEN HERE

Chappel Roan – ‘The Subway’
A nice one-off single to hold her legion of fans over before something more significant, ‘The Subway’ is a real bop.
ONLY AVAILABLE ON NON-BANDCAMP STREAMING

Church of the Rat – ‘End Times Prayer’ (and cheeky mention of Salvation b/w The Rug Pull)
The London quartet are one of the freshest post-hardcore / noise rock bands in the UK right now. The mini two-track EP (of a sequence of three) was great, but what really battered me around the head was standalone single ‘End Times Prayer’.
LISTEN HERE

Cold Gawd – ‘Bomb Pop’ & ‘Golden Postcard’
The Californian shoegaze maestros have long been a favourite of mine, but seeing them live at the beginning of 2025 was an absolute revelation. Both songs are fantastic, but ‘Bomb Pop’ is extra special, dedicated as it is to “if you have ever got engaged in London while the sun sets in February, this one’s for you,” which had happened just before the aforementioned gig took place!
LISTEN HERE

Computer – ‘All in my head’, ‘Annalise’, ‘I forgot how to dance.’ & ‘The world is a grand videotape’
Following their standout debut EP, Zero (more on that later!), Computer dropped a further four tracks individually. All continue to explore their math rock oriented midwest emo in spectacular fashion.
LISTEN HERE

famous – ‘Demons in London’, ‘Europe’ & ‘Revelation’
Unfortunately for me – and indeed us all – 2025 saw the end of famous as a band (well, “indefinite hiatus”, anyway). But before they left us, we were treated to three final standalone singles. All are fantastic, although I have a particular penchant for ‘Europe’.
LISTEN HERE

Fragile Body – ‘Rudderless’
Like a goddamn brick to the face. Fragile Body released one single in 2024 and ‘Rudderless’ in 2025. I really hope they’re building towards a fully fledged release.
LISTEN HERE

Hazel English – ‘Baby Blue’, ‘Calgary’ & ‘Gimme’
I fell head over heels for Hazel English upon the release of her album in 2020, Wake UP! She has kept up a steady stream of music since then and the three songs from this year are all lovely, with ‘Calgary’ being my favourite. I was lucky enough to see her play live in the tiny little boho venue Folklore Hoxton in London in 2023, and it was divine.
LISTEN HERE

Headlegs – ‘FOG’ & ‘Miasma’
I’m always excited to hear any new band, especially one from London that I can probably see quite easily and (hopefully) relatively quickly after said discovery. Headlegs are one such band and the two debut songs are both equally brilliant and utterly unhinged. Sludgey post-punk to soundtrack nightmares. With an EP forthcoming in 2026, I imagine these two tracks may feature.
LISTEN HERE

HEALTH x Chelsea Wolfe – ‘MEAN’
We were gifted this song but I am greedy. I would love an EP or even a full-length album of this. One of the earworm alternative tracks of the entire year, this is a musical marriage made in heaven? – hmmm, nah, maybe the goth club, instead? This is a song to savour – and repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat…
LISTEN HERE

Hynoki – ‘Phasmophobia’
An incredible debut single from Hynoki, a rabid emoviolence band from Richmond, Virginia. They followed this up with an absolutely fantastic EP. More on that release later…
LISTEN HERE

I Blocked Out the Sun with the Palm of My Hand So I Could See the World Clearly – ‘I face the bull with the sword, drained and empty’
Tobias Vokes solo project delivers an incredible debut twelve minute emotional hardcore song that somehow demands rotation despite its length.
LISTEN HERE

i chased a crow – ‘headlights/highways (demo)’, ‘Frost’, ‘shell’ & ‘void II’
A handful of great tracks in 2025 from this raw slowcore / noise rock / skramz melee of a project, including an ‘EP’ of singles from a forthcoming album (Tobias’s theme / Harlow’s theme). The clear standout here is the nearly twenty minute ‘shell’. Wow.
LISTEN HERE

Imperium Infernalis – ‘Mortality Salience’
Another cheeky single-track but EP-length inclusion here, with the eighteen-minute ‘Mortality Salience’ from Imperium Infernalis, a dizzying avant-garde Hellenic black metal opus!
LISTEN HERE

Ithaca – ‘Ithaca’
A self-titled swansong from the UK stalwarts. I’m glad I got to witness their last ever set at ArcTanGent Festival. They will be very much missed.
LISTEN HERE

Jeanie and the White Boys – ‘Queen Bee’
Having recently seen them at a free DIY Magazine showcase at The Old Blue Last in London, this band are surely going to make it big. They’re caustic enough at the moment, for a significant part of the mainstream to still shy away, but with Jeanie Crystal‘s voice and earworm riffs and fiery, eye-openingly honest lyrics, they’ll still go far. Like a very angry punk version of Amy Winehouse who still wants to dance and has a sleazy rock garage band ala The Cramps in tow.
ONLY AVAILABLE ON NON-BANDCAMP STREAMING (which I find bizarre)

Jordan Raf & Shallowater – ‘From My Wings’
Shallowater delivered an awesome sophomore LP in 2025 (more on that later) but also found the time to team up with Jordan Raf for a stunning track. Simply sublime.
ONLY AVAILABLE ON NON-BANDCAMP STREAMING (which I also find bizarre)

Lankum – ‘Ghost Town’
Originally created by Lankum for an Oona Doherty dance show ‘Specky Clark’ at Sadler’s Well, the single is a devastatingly powerful and otherworldly interpretation of The Specials’ 1981 number one ‘Ghost Town’. Shivers.
LISTEN HERE

Lastborn – ‘End of Entropy’
‘Tragic metal’ (doomy post-metal to you and I) this hits HARD. Originally from Belarus, but now based in Poland, Lastborn are a band to keep your eye on.
LISTEN HERE

Life Without Buildings – ‘Love Trinity’
Life Without Buildings were a group of Glasgow School of Art students who formed in 1999, with vocalist Sue Tompkins joining a little later in the year. They weren’t active for too long, eventually disbanding in 2002 after the release of their first and final record, Any Other City. ‘Love Trinity’ began its life as a one-off, originally released as a very limited single for Trifekta Records in Australia to promote an upcoming tour. It’s a bit of a stretch to include it here, but with their one-off reformation and this being re-released as a one-sided 7″ with etching, and now finally on streaming, I felt I had to include it.
LISTEN HERE

Man/Woman/Chainsaw – ‘Only Girl’
One of the hottest bands in the underground UK scene right now, Man/Woman/Chainsaw released an excellent two-track ‘EP’ (more on that soon) and this standalone song. This latter track is possibly the best of the three new additions in 2025 that they made to their growing catalogue.
LISTEN HERE

MARE – ‘Midnight Snack’
It doesn’t matter that it doesn’t feature Tyler Semrick-Palmateer‘s incredible vocals, nor that it’s clearly just a sketch of an idea of a demo of a track, anything, ANYTHING “new” from MARE, the band with only one self-titled EP to their name, but that happens to be the best EP of all time, was ALWAYS going to feature in a 2025 wrap-up from yours truly.
LISTEN HERE

Meatdripper – ‘Animal Brains’, ‘Homegrown’ & ‘Spider’
Unsurprisingly, some stoner inflected doom from Birmingham, UK, is pretty special. Similarly to some other artists on this list, I thought the three tracks might be leading towards an official release, but with another gap since the most recent single, ‘Animal Brains’, it appears this was just to whet out appetite. An all womxn quartet, Meatdripper are hopefully due a big 2026.
LISTEN HERE

Mgła – ‘World Without Us’
An unreleased song from the Exercises in Futility writing and recording sessions, you say? Yes, please! Inject it into my veins! Mgła are a contentious band for many, and it’s certainly true they have entered into a grey area that I grind me teeth about fairly often. They have had associations I would utterly abhor and condemn, and I’m consistently disappointed in them and other artists in similar position of notoriety for staying silent or playing the “apolitical” (or “we hate everyone”) card. I guess you can disapprove that I’ve included this track and any mention of them, but I did listen, and I did love it, so here it is…
LISTEN HERE

My New Band Believe – ‘Lecture 25’
Alongside his solo endeavour as Camera Picture, My Name Band Believe is the new vehicle for ex black midi multi-instrumentalist Cameron Picton‘s writings and experiments, with a revolving but often repeating set of musician friends and collaborators. The debut song is a ride, and while it might not be the wild abandon of ex-bandmate Geordie Greep‘s debut solo album, it bears far more repeated listening. Having heard a great deal of other material live, I feel very confident in stating that we’re in for a treat when a more substantial release is announced. Condolences to Cameron, Geordie and Morgan for the devastating loss of their friend and bm founding member, Matt Kwasniewski-Kelvin.
LISTEN HERE

Night Swimming – ‘In the Real World’, ‘Whispers on Argyle’, ‘Second Place’ & ‘Submarine’
Yet another exciting UK band, this time hailing from Bristol, who released a glut of wonderful singles in 2025. I thought this slew of singles might also have been Night Swimming building to a new release, and this has recently been confirmed. I’m not going to take this inclusion out – just treat it as a preview, I guess! All the songs are great but ‘Submarine’ is most definitely the pick of the bunch for me.
LISTEN HERE

Oldest Sea (feat. Kathryn Mohr) – ‘Sometimes Come the Wolf’
I’ve been a fan of Oldest Sea since I heard their Strange and Eternal EP back in 2022. When they followed that up a year later with A Birdsong, A Ghost, I knew the project was very special. Another year later and they released the two track EP, Judith Slaying Holofernes, which placed at #5 in my ‘EPs of 2024’ list. Here we have a standalone track in collaboration with another artist on the rise, Kathryn Mohr. I’m hoping for big things in 2026. They deserve it.
LISTEN HERE

Orphan Donor – ‘Vomit in the Cathedral of Nous’
Absolutely excellent metallic skramz from this Pennsylvania band, who I hope will release again very soon. We need more Orphan Donor and we need more screamo that travels in this lane, too!
LISTEN HERE

paper hats – ‘D’Artagnan’
I caught these guys live at the legendary Windmill in Brixton, the pub made all the more famous in recent years, by the music scene that spawned from it’s tinsel stage blowing up internationally. paper hats really blew me away and this, their debut recorded song, was already a firm favourite with the venue faithful. An EP is on the way and my guess is that this will likely feature.
LISTEN HERE

Pyre – ‘Burned for a Reason’
Absolutely filthy beatdown hardcore from this Berlin-based rabble. Scorched earth policy riffs.
LISTEN HERE

Squid – ‘The Heart and Circle Round Fire’
It seems harsh to say, but I genuinely think I might have preferred this one single from Squid over their third LP, Cowards. And as you have (hopefully) already read, I think that record is very good indeed! But ‘The Heart and Circle Round Fear’ is an absolute standout song, and returns to the raw and wild work of their Town Centre EP.
LISTEN HERE

steel. – ‘DFTTM’ & ‘P.A. Bass’
steel. are an exciting Liverpool, UK band who have inexplicably only got one of their two new tracks up on Bandcamp. Their winding, drawling art-rock come post-punk songs will burrow its way into your brain. Hopefully we will hear some more of their sprechgesang sound in 2026.
LISTEN HERE (‘DFTTM’) but ‘P.A. Bass’ ONLY AVAILABLE ON NON-BANDCAMP STREAMING

Stortregn – ‘One Eternal’
I’m a man of contradictions. Aren’t we all? Stortregn classify this release as an EP due to ‘One Eternal’ being paired by a cover of the Ozzy Osbourne track, ‘Mr. Crowley’, whereas I have chosen to focus on the single, dismissing the cover, despite somewhat inconsistently including Lankum in this list. Go figure. Anyway… this is another brutal addition to the Swiss band’s technical death metal wizardry.
LISTEN HERE

Street Sects – ‘Bethany Drive’
The Austin, Texas duo Street Sects were very busy in 2025, not only releasing an album under their original moniker, but another LP as STREET SEX. After all that they found the time to gift us with one last standalone single at the beginning of December.
LISTEN HERE

Suffocate for fuck sake – ‘to rest in the trust, that creates the world’
Another cheat inclusion, with this massively underrated Swedish post-hardcore / post-metal band, delivering a twenty-minute epic single track. It is an awe inspiring journey, not wasting a single second, and expending every last bit of emotion out of every note. I need it released on some fancy wax, please & thank you. If you haven’t explored this band before, I implore you to do so… 2016’s In my blood is pretty much a classic in my eyes.
LISTEN HERE

Sugar Horse – ‘What’s Your ETA? Let’s Have a Tear Up’ & ‘Would You Like Me to be the Cat?’
UK noise rock/metal favourites Sugar Horse gave us two gargantuan servings of heaviness in 2025. Both songs were released dedicated to Palestine and the work of the under attack relief agency UNRWA (who still are, btw). The fact that both songs are crushingly amazing, is a bonus.
LISTEN HERE

Svalbard – ‘If We Could Still be Saved’
Long time heroes of the UK underground, the alt shoegazey hardcore band Svalbard announced that they would be disbanding in 2026. They delivered one final recorded track, before they now embark on a travel around the world to say their farewells…
LISTEN HERE

The Keening – ‘Hell is a Mirror’
The solo venture of Rebecca Vernon (ex-SubRosa), The Keening released a defiant, potent song raising money for the people of Gaza, donating all proceeds to GMAS (Gaza Mutual Aid Solidarity). Hauntingly powerful.
LISTEN HERE

†The Lord† w/ Katie Jacoby – ‘Mayim (Khoshek)’
As most of you may likely know, †The Lord† is Greg Anderson of Sunn O))) and Southern Lord Records fame creating exploratory compositions, often with different collaborators, this time with Katie Jacoby, a violinist renown for her love of darker music.
LISTEN HERE

thistle. – ‘tied’
The Northampton band thistle. were another young band who were a highlight of 2025. We’ll get to their excellent EP, it’s nice to see you, stranger later on, but they also released a standalone single ‘tied’ which was also fabulous, very much in the current nu-gaze swell, but quality and distinctive enough to stand out.
LISTEN HERE

Tideless – ‘Swallowed in Asunder’
This is one of my biggest “cheats” on this list as it genuinely is a single from a forthcoming album. That said, at nineteen-minutes, it felt far too substantial (and way too good) to omit. Shoegaze swirled into blackened melancholic doom, Tideless wowed me in 2023 with their album, Eye of Water. From the sounds of this, their next record could top it.
LISTEN HERE

Vi som älskade varandra så mycket – ‘För varje steg’
Here is a band that needs to a) receive far more love and recognition than they have so far, and b) come over and play some gigs in the UK. Den sorgligaste musiken i världen (2014) and Det onda. Det goda. Det vackra. Det fula. (2019) are both absolute favourites of mine. Surely we’re very much due a new album soon? Pretty please? In the meantime, the Swedish band have furnished us with one new song, ‘För varje steg’, which will be part of a 12″, Det vi glömt, det vi kommer ihåg och det som aldrig har hänt, that collects together a further eight tracks from their back catalogue that have never been released on vinyl before. I have been satiated… but not for long.
LISTEN HERE

world’s end girlfriend – ‘Helix of Frequency, Phenomenon of Love and Void’
A stunning nine-minute song that almost perfectly summarises and distils the uncanny beauty and inherent strangeness of world’s end girlfriend down. To listen to the song, the listener must agree to follow a set of ‘rules’.
LISTEN HERE

WU LYF – ‘A New Life is Coming’
After fourteen long years the Manchester “heavy pop” band return with a the aptly titled ‘A New Life is Coming’. As I’ve been writing my 2025 write-up, an eleven-minute beast, ‘Tib St. Tabernacle’ has dropped, but this has now been confirmed as being on new album, A Wave That Will Never Break. ‘A New Life is Coming’ remains an utterly fantastic standalone!
LISTEN HERE