PAST PRESENT FUTURE 004
It’s been everywhere, or rather, it’s been nowhere!
People across the internet conceded that 2025, in a split from decades of precedent, ultimately did not have a song of the summer. The public lamented when last week’s Apple Music Wrapped revealed the top five most streamed songs were all from last year. The question has been asked- is anyone making good music anymore?
Obviously, the answer is yes. You’re just not looking in the right place.
While it may be too late to find your song of the summer, some of the following tracks may be here just in time to soundtrack your 2026. In this edition of Past Present Future, we will be recapping some of our favorite albums and singles of this year for you to carry with you into the new year.
Burnout Days by flipturn (JANUARY 2025)
As someone with a lifelong habit of cherrypicking songs for my playlists, the fact I continued to loop this album for months was a testament to its character in itself. The Florida natives craft a trippy, fantastical ride in Burnout Days, opening with the sodapop, synthy elixir of song that is ‘Juno,’ flowing through different windows and storylines of their universe with their customary quiet storytelling.
Favorite Track: ‘Burnout Days’
A stunning closer, hits the ground with that hypnotizing opening and just never quits. Beautiful.
People Watching by Sam Fender (FEBRUARY 2025)
Known for his breakout ‘Seventeen Going Under,’ ‘Dead Boys,’ and a feature on Noah Kahan’s ‘Homesick,’ Sam Fender has certainly made his musical mark. His newest album is a quieter affair (if you can call an album with multiple saxophone solos quiet), that packs all of the power of his previous work. People Watching shifts from broader stories and focuses inwards, towards Fender’s investigation of grief and love and the places and people he holds closest.
Favorite Track: ‘Wild Long Lie’
My favorite from the moment I first heard it, an all-encompassing celebration of life and of love. My number three most listened to track of 2025.
Moanbag by KhakiKid (FEBRUARY 2025)
KhakiKid is just delightful. The Irish rapper has made a name for himself with his infectious ear worms and exuberant EPs, from 2021’s ‘Schlumped Up’ to April’s ‘;Pylonz (feat. SOFY).’ The EP’s lead single ‘Date Nite’ looped in both my brain and my feed for literal weeks, and is by far one of my favorite songs of 2025.
Favorite Track: ‘Date Nite’ (with Saint Demarcus).
There’s a reason I listened to this second every day for a month straight. Rarely has a song gotten more stuck in my head.
All Dressed Up for Nothing by Alfie Jukes (MARCH 2025)
I’ve loved Alfie Jukes since 2023’s ‘Cigarette’ first came into my life, and his debut album All Dressed Up for Nothing landed to high acclaim this spring in my house. Jukes delivers a beautiful collection of tracks, pairing his signature vocals with heartfelt intentions, and landed with this jewel of an album.
Favorite Track(s): ‘More Time’ and ‘Boys’
The former is a perfect hopeful springtime gem of a pop song, the latter a nostalgic yearning for the simplicity of his childhood.
The In Between by Ella Jinks (MARCH 2025)
The stripped-back nature of The In Between is a perfect complement to the stellar vocals of the songstress. Her second EP is a treasure, intimate and existential, and one that marks Jinks’ name as one to keep an eye on in the future.
Favorite Track: ‘Maybe in Another Life’
Truly haunting, a silver stream of a song.
We Will Annihilate Our Enemies by Real Lies (APRIL 2025)
This dreamy, cinematic electronic album from UK duo Real Lies dives into life and love in the 21st century. At once both a performance piece and a club classic, this album feels like sunsets, blurred photos, and an affirmation that the best thing we have in this world is each other, shouted from the DJ decks. I don’t listen to a ton of electronic music, but this album was on repeat all summer long.
Favorite Track: ‘Wild Sign I Choose You’
Expansive and begging to be used in an indie movie, stat. This song alone is half of why I love this album.
The Hours: Morning by Cautious Clay (MAY 2025)
This themed concept album from indie/R&B artist Cautious Clay is a marvel. With each song centered around a different hour of the day, he continues to create snapshots in each of his works, each generating an experience wholly its own. The first half of the day became available for streaming in May, and an August drop of Fade Blue (11pm) began the release process for The Hours: Night.
Favorite Track: ‘Tokyo Lift (5am)’
Fun, catchy, sunrise of a song.
Salt of the Lee by Cliffords (MAY 2025)
I will never miss out on an opportunity to gas up the Cork four-piece Cliffords. I suggested their lead single ‘Bittersweet’ get added to our WVUM rotation back in March, my neighbors have heard me belting ‘My Favourite Monster’ through our shared wall on many an occasion, and I have used a Cliffords song to close out more than half of my STARBURST! shows on air. They performed at festivals across the UK this summer and opened for Queens of the Stone Age this fall, and are sure to continue to make waves in their next EP cycle (the lead single ‘Marsh’? Phenomenal as usual).
Favorite Track: ‘My Favourite Monster’
This song’s buildup from a lyrical slam poetry-esque intro into that glorious brass explosion was like hearing a choir of angels descend from Heaven.
Dímelo by ALMA (JUNE 2025)
For anyone craving an end to the boy band drought, look no further than ALMA’s debut track ‘Dímelo.’ This Argentinian trio channels the energy and production of early 2000s groups while adding their own flair with urban and R&B influences.
I just don’t know you yet by absolutely (JUNE 2025)
Fantastical and exuberant, this track is a celebration of love and the wonder of meeting a stranger, not knowing how much they will change your life. Her upcoming second album is already ramping up to be a showstopper, and as the sister of British R&B/jazz icon Raye, it is evident that unbelievable vocals just run in the family.
Love Letters / رسائل حب (Deluxe) by Saint Levant (AUGUST 2025)
This entire album is an audible treat, fusing futuristic synth-pop beats with Saint Levant’s Palestinian, Arabic, and Algerian influences. A double feature that plays with themes of stardom, loss, grief, and of course, love, Love Letters / رسائل حب is an entrancing journey from start to finish.
Favorite Track: ‘KALAMANTINA / كلمنتينا’
The lead single from this album, the stellar KALAMANTINA is far and away one of my favorite songs of this year.
Portal by Balu Brigada (AUGUST 2025)
The New Zealand indie rock group joined twenty one pilots on their Clancy headline tour, and have continued to excel in explosive openings. The third single for their upcoming album Portal, Backseat is destined for a night drive or evening montage, with an unforgiving beat and neon atmosphere that swirls and shifts and descends into madness as it carries on and on. The album is a fun pop and indie-rock exploration sure to delight listeners of all ages.
Favorite Song: ‘Backseat’
Perhaps the evening highway drive song of all time. Kind of like a sci-fi take on ‘We Are the People’ by Empire the Sun.
Getting Killed by Geese (OCTOBER 2025)
Popular for good reason. The Brooklyn-based indie band’s fourth album rocketed to the top of the charts quicker than anyone expected, and became absolutely inescapable this fall. The riotous album professes itself with its full chest, big guitars and Cameron Winter’s hollering lyrics surprising me with how quickly they folded into my heart.
Favorite Song: ‘Half Real’
This was my favorite track on my first listen, and remains my favorite now. Wistful lighthouse keeper / ‘bench on the seaside watching the tide roll in’ kind of music.
EVERYONE’S A STAR! by 5 Seconds of Summer (NOVEMBER 2025)
If you haven’t kept tabs on 5SOS since She Looks So Perfect, it’s time to tune back in. Ten years later, the Australian quartet has finally ironed out their direction for their sixth album EVERYONE’S A STAR! A decade of musical endeavors shines through in the seventeen tracks of the final version, drawing from Youngblood’s blockbuster melodrama sound, 5SOS5’s refined lyricism, and displaying vulnerability usually reserved for their solo projects (Luke Hemmings’ bonus track ‘Start Over’ dropped me to my KNEES). It's impossible to pin down, covering every iteration of the boyband’s catalogue and beyond, from CALM-era dark pop tracks like ‘istillfeelthesame’ and ‘Ghost’ to rock-inspired ‘No.1 Obsession’ into a new electro-dance, Gorillaz-inspired foray with their flashbang singles ‘NOT OK,’ ‘Boyband,’ and ‘Telephone Busy.’ Gritty and glittery, psychedelic and refined, promiscuous and devastating all at once, 5 Seconds of Summer are matured in sound and in body, and embracing their world with open arms– the stardom, the chaos, the insults and the adoration. What’s so bad about being called a boyband anyway?
Favorite Song: ‘I’m Scared I’ll Never Sleep Again’
5SOS returns to form for this absolute heartbreaker, weaving Calum Hood’s gentle narration and Hemmings’ mournful confessions between twinkling guitars and a kicking drumline.
It’s impossible to cover every great release of 2025. The future of music is bright, we just need to know how to find it. Dig deeper, ask around, share your favorites with your friends and listen to their recommendations in return. Talk their ears off.
Gatekeeping great artists is so last year.
Thank you for reading this edition of PAST PRESENT FUTURE and supporting college radio!
If you are interested in further broadening your indie and alternative horizons, tune in to my radio show STARBURST! on WVUM 90.5 FM. Any University of Miami students interested in getting involved with the blog (and maybe writing their own edition of PAST PRESENT FUTURE) or anyone passionate about up-and-coming artists to look out for can DM me on Instagram @starburst.905 or email us at blog@wvum.org.
Sending lots of love from me to you, keep it locked to the voice <3