16th January, 2026
Way back in 2023, I wrote up a mini-playlist tour. Today, out of a need to do something with my hands that doesn’t involve a heap of thinking, I think I’ll do the same.
Let me explain the ecosystem of my Spotify account. Every year, I make a big playlist. I name it with a single emoji – whatever feels like it fits. This year, it’s a fish. The playlist never starts with the same genre as it ends with, but I try to build the foundations early in the year, thinking about what interests me and what sort of music I feel reflects that. This year began focusing on nature, slowing down and reflecting. I had peaceful, folky intent for this playlist, and it’s taken its own path so far. I try to keep it somewhat streamlined, but basically it ends up becoming a big messy collection of songs that I love, songs that I forget to come back and listen to, and songs by whichever artist I am excited to see live. Please see below for visual learners.
I will not go through every song on the playlist, but I’ll pick out the ones that I’ve listened to on repeat and try to come up with a way to explain why I think they’re so worthy of winding up on my Spotify Wrapped 2025.
WWGBH by Emily Wurramara
This is the first song on this year’s playlist. I had the very exciting opportunity to interview Emily early on this year, and that made me love her work even more. It’s very calming, feels like a hug; it’s about home, and it feels like it is. Sleepy, gentle, natural, and simple in the best way.
Ball Park Music’s Like A Version – Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap
Hide and seek is a very well-referenced piece of music in contemporary pop. Many of the artists I love have been inspired by Imogen Heap’s work – Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, other successful people I’m sure…
This cover gives me chills. I had Hide and Seek stuck in my head the day before the Like A Version was released. As excited as I was for a new Ball Park Music album, this cover is my favourite thing the band has released this year, by far. When we saw their show in Newtown last month, I was not-so-secretly hoping that they would add this cover to the set list. Unfortunately, we can’t have everything we want!
Incomprehensible by Big Thief
Big Thief has made most of the songs that I hold closest to my heart. They released this a month after my 24th birthday. After my birthday, I was spending a lot of time reflecting on how I have grown in the past few years and where that growth has placed me as I approach my mid-twenties. I’ve always been excited by the idea of aging—I look forward to my 30s, 40s, and beyond. Most times when I say that to someone older than me, they tell me I only feel that way because I’m young now. I have a hunch that they’re wrong, but I’ll wait and see. This song is so calming and speaks about growing and changing and aging in a way that feels honest and beautiful to me. There’s a lot of soft, sparkly sounds in the production, which I love.
Sadness As A Gift by Adrianne Lenker
Is it cheating to include an Adrianne Lenker song after a Big Thief song? Potentially! But it’s necessary. This song is so warm and optimistic. It’s really about accepting your circumstances and making the best of it – which I think is almost always the best idea. I loved this song when it came out, and earlier this year I listened to a podcast that broke down the song’s origins and creative process. It was recorded with all the instruments and vocals at once, in the room’s ambience. That sounds like it shouldn’t strike me as special, but increasingly few songs are mastered that way.
Nettles by Ethel Cain
This song feels a lot brighter than what I expected from Ethel Cain’s newer work. It’s still sad, for sure, but it’s absolutely beautiful. Unlike a lot of the other songs on this playlist, I don’t feel a personal connection with this song; I just think it’s such a brilliant song. It takes me out of my own life completely and places me in the middle of a movie about someone else entirely. The build of the song is gorgeous, and I have such specific images that come to mind when I listen to it. I think that’s an incredible thing for a piece of music to achieve.
In 8 minutes, it takes you through what feels like a novel of sonic sections, and ties it all together seamlessly. It might be one of my favourite Ethel Cain songs now – which is a hard call to make given the calibre of her work overall. I am looking forward to hearing the whole album when it’s released in August, but I have a suspicion this will remain a very close favourite of mine.
Pavement by Mallrat
I’ve been enjoying some very earnest electronic music – a la Fred Again. Like EDM but for the morning time. This year, Sycco has played a huge role in my listening habits for similar reasons. This has a great pace. It’s very hopeful, anything could happen kind of vibe. I love Mallrat’s album, and I’ve had my moment with almost every song on it, but this one is what I keep coming back to. I’ve yet to get sick of it.
He Didn’t Mean It by Stella Bridie
Last year’s playlist had Salad by Blondshell, and this year’s has a heap of Stella Bridie. I think this song is brilliant, spiteful, and such an honest reflection of womanhood as I know it. It also makes a jab at the popularity of true crime, which I wholeheartedly agree with. This song makes me want to scream in a really great and terrible way.
“That night we almost came to blows
I hate those fucking murder shows
Girls get stripped for parts as background noise in people's cars
You don't see what's wrong with it
But I said if they find me in an oil drum
And those vultures come
And you let them in to dissect my things
I swear I'll hate you till you feel it”
My Ego Dies At The End by Jensen McRae
I actually heard this song for the first time last year, but I kept coming back to it, so it’s on this year’s playlist as well. The melody is just so beautiful to me. The rise and fall of her voice feels like a really natural pattern – you automatically know the slopes of the song by heart. It’s cathartic, and I think it’s just absolutely perfect.I listened to it over and over for hours the first afternoon I heard it. Great for self-reflection, moping, etc. I think Jensen McRae might be the next artist to blow up a year from now. If you like Phoebe Bridgers, you’ll like Jensen McRae, just trust me.
SPEYSIDE by Bon Iver
There isn’t a Bon Iver song in existence that I don’t love. I’ve chosen this song to include on this list because it is the most recent song from its album that I’ve listened to, but truthfully every Bon Iver song is equal to me.
Things Change by Carla Geneve
Carla Geneve is one of my favourite ‘Sally Rooney adjacent’ Australian 20-something singer-songwriters. There’s a song for every experience of my life on her self-titled 2019 album, and this is the one that resonated with 2025. Last year’s playlist had To Perth, Before the Border Closes by Julia Jacklin serve a similar role.
UGH UGH by KAYTRAMINE
Sometimes you have to take a break from self-reflection and just listen to something fun with a good beat. I didn’t know that Amine and Kaytranada made this album together, but it’s the most fun listening I’ve done this year.
Yanada by The Preatures
I’ve seen more live music this year than I expected to, but the major standout is seeing The Preatures a couple of months ago. I didn’t realise how much I love this song until they played it, and suddenly I would have been happy to head off for the night. It’s so fun and encouraging and beautiful, I feel so lucky to live at a time where this song is accessible to me any time I like.
Successful Bisexual by Tamara & the Dreams
This is fun, silly, spunky; it reminds me of Courtney Barnett; it’s urgent
Again, it’s about growing up. It feels really young and exciting. It’s easy to forget in your 20s that you really are still so young, because everyone’s priorities and timelines are different. We’re all figuring out which timeline of success we like best, trying and failing and learning. A sense of humour is necessary, I think, in all of that.
Why Is She Still Here by Renee Rapp
This only came out the other day, but I must have listened to it upward of 15 times in a row when it did. It’s incredible; it’s kind of jazzy, and the emotion in Renee Rapp’s voice makes it really obvious that she had a career on Broadway before she started releasing music.
Dancing in The Dark covered by Lucy Dacus
Another classic cover for this album. Earlier this year, I was trying to stick to a solid bedtime routine, and this specific cover of this song played a huge role in signalling to my brain that it was time to settle in for bed.
Clearblue by Lorde
I thought about writing a whole album review for Lorde’s recent release – ‘Virgin’. I can summarise most of my thoughts with this one track. Clearblue is such a poignant sample of the album’s overall themes, but the pared-down production makes it my favourite. Generally, I’ve enjoyed a slower, calmer and intentional sound this year. When ‘Virgin’ came out, i listened to it in full as I took my first walk outside after about 2 weeks of recovering from being sick, and this one stuck out to me. I’ve hit repeat almost every time it’s come on shuffle.
Lady Lady by Olivia Dean
I’ve been a fan of Olivia Dean since I first heard ‘The Hardest Part’ during lockdown. That song helped me through some tough times. I was ecstatic to see her name on the Laneway lineup earlier this year, and she’s been gaining traction as a more mainstream artist since.
This song reminds me of Angie McMahon’s song, Mother Nature, but less scary. I enjoy songs about the power of nature, and I saw the explanation of this song before I listened to it – so I had no choice but to love it.
