Top 50 of 2025: #35-31: A Panda, The End of the World and a Subway

After this block we will be in the 20s…time is going by quickly! This block is full of top 50 vets, so let’s have a look.

35. HAIM: Everybody’s Trying to Figure Me Out

Top 50 vets HAIM are back again…and maybe even will be coming back later in the 2025 top 50…with the lead single off their new record I Quit. It’s about how we obsess about others’ opinions of us and what people think about us. This obsession can consume us as we worry about what others think…whether what they think is true or not. HAIM recommends letting this go because ultimately we can’t control what people think. This existential message is delivered with tight harmonies and an organic and flowing indie rock vibe.

34. Miley Cyrus: End of the World

Miley Cyrus is really feast or famine for me…when she hits she really hits…but otherwise I’m not really on board. End of the World is one of those hits as she sings about living the high life and living your life to the fullest in the face of disaster. Where this track excels is her vocal, which has evolved into this rough, deep Stevie Nicks type rasp…Miley’s seen some shit. It’s that powerful rugged vocal that really captures me and how she wraps it up in a perfect pop track.

33. Panda Bear ft. Cindy Lee: Defense

Panda Bear is not new to the top 50. He’s been on the list before as a solo artist and also with his work with Animal Collective. On Defense he teams up with Cindy Lee, who has also been on either a top 50 or OOPS! 50 before, and her powerful and cutting guitar work. The fusion of Panda Bear’s alt folky vocals and trippy electro fuzz with Lee’s guitar is a match made in heaven. Lee’s guitar grounds the track and keeps Panda Bear from floating away, while also giving it some needed punch.

32. Chappell Roan: The Subway

Roan leaves the neon clubs behind to write a straight up pop track about love and suffering. It has a distinct 90s The Sundays vibe as acoustic guitar and gentle electric guitar strumming provides the backdrop to her rousing vocal. An excellent follow-up to her breakout Good Luck Babe is all about how you can’t escape your ex…even in New York. You just pray that one day you can go on the subway without seeing or thinking about her. This track not only shows Roan’s range, but underlines how she is now an established pop star.

31. Sufjan Stevens: Mystery of Love – Demo

Sufjan Stevens makes the 50 with a released demo. This acoustic track is Sufjan at his beautiful and fragile best. His vocal dances along like a Cardinal flying through the snow…the fragility of his vocal is both vulernable and soul destroying. Themes of spirituality, human connection, love and searching for something greater than ourselves are all there. The interesting thing about this track is that it’s both sparse, yet powerful and epic…I adore this song.

That’s it for the 30s. THe next block takes us to the 20s and now we are getting serious. We’ll have a good witch, a bluegrass icon, and a K-Pop/hip hop team up.