Monthly Report: December 2025 Singles
1. Nine Inch Nails - "As Alive As You Need Me To Be"
I'm fond of saying that Trent Reznor has made more great music in the 21st century than any other '90s rock star, and of course he's done a lot of that via film scores and other projects that don't necessarily keep his music on rock radio. But the lead single from the Tron: Ares soundtrack hit #2 on both Alternative Airplay and Mainstream Rock Airplay, their best showing on either chart in 18 years or more, and it's nice to hear him rip into a big hooky anthem like this. Here's the 2025 singles Spotify playlist I've updated all year, but I'll start doing my year-end singles lists this week.
2. Taylor Swift - "Opalite"
Despite being more popular than ever by any other metric, Taylor Swift's last few albums have rarely spun off multiple radio hits, and often even the lead singles seem to just coast on the success of the album and the general goodwill towards Swift. So while the moderately annoying lead single "Fate of Ophelia" is still firmly entrenched at the top of multiple charts, it feels notable that "Opalite" has become the people's choice, staying in the top 10 far longer than any song from The Tortured Poets Department and already top 20 on pop radio without being officially promoted. "Opalite" kind of feels like a microcosm of The Life of a Showgirl's sound when it works best: Fleetwood Mac on the verses, ABBA on the choruses.
3. Sarah Reeves - "Cloud Nine"
Sarah Reeves has been a CCM hitmaker for a decade, but in the last couple years she's started to cross over to secular pop with a few adult contemporary hits, and "Cloud Nine" is her first single to get on the regular degular Pop Airplay chart. And man, it's catchy as hell, love that synth bass on the chorus.
4. Khalid - "Nah"
I was an early fan of Khalid Robinson when "Location" first started getting buzz, but I found his output pretty hit-and-miss after that. I like After the Sun Goes Down, though, it feels like coming out of the closet he can loosen up and make music that's a little more individual and expressive, even while working with Max Martin-adjacent Swedish pop pros.
5. Cardi B - "ErrTime"
The remixes with Latto and Jeezy are great but I don't mind if radio stations just play the solo version, definitely one of the standout bangers on Am I The Drama?
6. JID f/ Ciara and Earthgang - "Sk8"
I enjoyed interviewing the Earthgang guys last year, I'm glad their fun guest spot on JID's latest album has become the album's breakout radio hit.
7. Tucker Wetmore - "3,2,1"
Tucker Wetmore's What Not To has really grown into one of the year's biggest debut albums in country, "3,2,1" is the album's second top 10 radio hit and "Brunette" has even more streams than that one after getting big on TikTok, they'd be smart to release that as his next radio single.
8. Madison Beer - "Bittersweet"
I've mostly dismissed Madison Beer over the course of her 10 years of semi-stardom, but I like this song, feels like she's finally making something that doesn't feel generic and robotic.
9. Rascal Flatts f/ the Jonas Brothers - "I Dare You"
A few years ago, I jokingly wrote, "If you told me that the recently disbanded Rascal Flatts had simply rebranded as Dan + Shay, I'd believe you." So I'm pretty amused that the biggest Rascal Flatts song since they reunited was co-written by Shay Mooney.
10. Megan Thee Stallion - "Lover Girl"
I still kinda wish this song had louder drums than those light cymbals and snaps, but I like that you can really hear the session bassist going off. And it's kind of fun to hear Meg rap about being in love with the same sneering attitude as her pimpin' Tina Snow shit.
The Worst Single of the Month: La Sserafim & J-Hope - "Spaghetti"
I like that K-pop takes every aesthetic to its logical extreme, but when it's bad, it's just horrible.
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on Tuesday, December 02, 2025 at 2:00 AM.
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