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We are nearly as close to 2027 as 2025, but here are my favourite songs from 2025. As usual, that’s when I discovered them, not when they were released.

Admiral Fallow – Guest Of The Government

The Airborne Toxic Event – The Walk

All Time Low – Weightless

All Time Low – Break Your Little Heart

Azure Blue – 747

Bear’s Den – Blue Hours

California Wives – Purple

Christian Lee Hutson – After Hours

Cigarettes After Sex – Anna Karenina

Doves – The Cedar Room

Embrace – Nature’s Law

Feeder – Just the Way I’m Feeling

First Aid Kit – Out of My Head

First Aid Kit – Palomino

Gypsy & The Cat – Time To Wander

The Greeting Committee – Get Over It

The Killers – boy

The Killers – Run For Cover

K’s Choice – Time is a Parasite

Lonely dear – Sum

Marina – Are You Satisfied?

Mt. Nadir – 24

Mt. Nadir – HEROWORSHIP

Night Traveler – Love Nobody Else

Phoebe Bridgers – Funeral

Phoebe Bridgers – Sidelines

Sam Fender – The Borders

Sombr – Undressed

The Strike – Devils in the Canyon

The Strike – Down

Ten Fé – Superrich

My favorite songs discovered (though not necessarily released) in 2024.

boygenius – True Blue

boygenius – Not Strong Enough

Carter U.S.M. – The Only Living Boy In New Cross

Cigarettes After Sex – Pistol

Cigarettes After Sex – Tejano Blue

The Goo Goo Dolls – Beautiful Life

Kings of Leon – Waste A Moment

Matt Berninger – Distant Axis

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Bauhaus Staircase

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Kleptocracy

The National feat. Phoebe Bridger – Laugh Track

WALK THE MOON – Mono No Aware

My favorite songs discovered (though not necessarily released) in 2023.

44phantom – Cherry Cigarettes

The 1975 – About You

The 1975 – I’m in Love with You

All Time Low – Blinding Lights

All Time Low – Modern Love

All Time Low – Tell Me I’m Alive

Billy Joe Armstrong – I Think We’re Alone Now

Blue October – Shut Up I Want You To Love Me Back

flor – Gotta Do Something

Jukebox the Ghost – Wasted

JW Francis – Swooning

Lemony Rug – Unpack Your Bags

modernlove. – Follow You

The Midnight – Heartbeat

The Midnight – Sunset

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Bauhaus Staircase

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark  – Kleptocracy

A Story Told – Better Than Heaven

A Story Told – Feed Bad

The Strike – Miles Ahead

Thea Gilmore – She Speaks in Colours

Tiny Microphone – Holiday

The Wombats – Is This What It Feels Like To Feel Like This?

My favorite songs discovered (though not necessarily released) in 2022.

Adrian Sieber – Unglued

Blackfield – Under My Skin

Blaenavon – I Want You

Brian Fallon – Rosemary

Brimheim – Can’t hate myself into a different shape

Dave Hause – We could be kings

Ethel Cain – American teenager

Girlhouse – A long december

Gretta Ray – Human

Homeschool – Smartest Man (feat. Samia)

Kyla La Grange – Neverland

The Menzingers – Lookers

mxmtoon – Blister in the sun

The National – Somebody desperate

Prinze George – Take Off

Pronouns – I’m right back in it

Silicone Boone – Found you

Sir Simon – Smoke Alarms

the Sunset Kids – I wanna be

Taylor Swift – All too well (Taylor’s version)

Vancouver Sleep Clinic – Middle Of Nowhere

YUNGBLUD – The funeral

Artist:
Vivid

Spotify:
Not on Spotify

Video:

Favourite Lyrics:
it won’t be the same again
feel the open wind my friend
don’t you know this is the end of this game
“means nothing to me”

Thoughts:
Nearly 25 years old and still one of my all-time favorite songs from a severely underrated band (they don’t even have an entry on the English Wikipedia). The songs evokes a weird melancholic optimistic sadness in me.

Artist:
The Magnetic Field

Spotify:
spotify:track:4I1eZhhSus3KZw4di2aiet

Video:

Favourite Lyrics:
The book of love has music in it
In fact that’s where music comes from
Some of it’s just transcendental
Some of it’s just really dumb

Thoughts:
The idea for the song is just brilliant.

Notable Covers:
The Airborne Toxic Event, Peter Gabriel

1. Ben Lee – Love Me Like The World Is Ending
2. Better Than Ezra – In Your Eyes
3. Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day – That’s Rock’n’Roll
4. Ethan Gruska feat. Phoebe Bridgers – Enough For Now
5. Everything Everything – Violent Sun
6. Feeder – Youth
7. The Howl & The Hum – Hostages
8. Inhaler – Ice Cream Sundae
9. James – Sit Down
10. The Killers – My Own Soul’s Warning
11. The Menzingers – Anna
12. The Naked and the Furious – Bury Us
13. Night Traveler – Burn
14. Our Lady Peace – As Fast as You Can
15. Phoebe Bridgers – Motion Sickness
16. The Struts with Albert Hammond Jr – Another Hit Of Showmanship
17. Taylor Swift – August
18. Taylor Swift – Betty
19. Tonic – To Be Loved
20. Travis – Waving at the Window
21. VNV Nation – Armour

Spotify Playlist 1h19min 

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Artist:
The 1975

Spotify:
spotify:track:4AQzk2yNWKs6sYhZi6NzVN

Video:[/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/m1jw6Jw1Fqk”][vc_column_text]Favorite Lyrics: 
I had a dream where we had kids
You would cook, I’d do the nappies
We went to Winter Wonderland
And it was shit but we were happy

Thoughts:
The song needed a few rotations to grow on me, but now it’s in my Top 3 for 2020. It’s lighthearted yet sincere, upbeat yet lamenting.

I really like the lyrics above because of they convey the beautiful idea how your spirits are elevated just by spending time with the right person, no matter what is happening around you.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Artist:
Boygenius (Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, Kucy Dacus)

Spotify:
spotify:track:4q9w3UGW3utmeUruBLUoZZ

Video:
This Live version is even better than the studio version.[/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/6T5zc36sAIE” align=”center”][vc_column_text]Youtube comment: i heard there was a small town in Norway that was getting 50% of its renewable energy from phoebe’s voice at 2:39

Favorite Lyrics: 
I never said I’d be all right
Just thought I could hold myself together
…
I wanna be emaciated
I wanna hear one song without thinking of you

Thoughts:
This incredible powerful voice carries so much sadness and vulnerability. The lyrics are authentic and touching. The song brings back memories of lost love I had not thought about in years.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][phoxy_gallery type=”full_slider” images=”1436,1437,1438,1439,1440″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]I got a second macro lens, the Sony 30mm F3.5. Although inferior to the 90mm in every way but weight, I hope it still has its use. The plan is to have it in the bag together with the 16-55mm and 55-210mm for a lightweight travel package that’s ready for every situation.

Shooting with the 30mm for the first time was a bit of a mixed bag. The lack of in-lens image stabilization is noticable and I found the manual focus very slow and quite uncomfortable. Looking at the zoomed-in pictures in camera, I was quite disappointed, but it turns out the image quality is better than I initially thought, so I don’t regret the purchase.

However, I’m not sure whether I will keep the 30mm or replace it with a fast manual 35mm because I’m having lots of fun with the manual Zonlai 22mm F1.8. We’ll see.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]