Songs of the School Year, 2025-2026 (2)
11. Not Cute Anymore -- ILLIT
I don’t think I could have predicted, until this exact moment, that I would have an ILLIT song on one of my wrap-up lists. And there were almost TWO of their songs on this list, but sadly, I ended up taking “Mamihlapinatapai” off at the last minute. I knew I liked "Not Cute Anymore," but I didn't realize just how important it is to me, how key it has become to my memories of this year. And before its release, I certainly couldn't have predicted “Not Cute Anymore.” Yes, it's still cutesy, as one would expect from ILLIT, but it's just so laid back.
I admit it—the hype for this group has mostly gone right over my head. I did not, and still do not, care about “Magnetic.” I care about “jellyous” only slightly more. (I am annoying. I recognize this. I don't know what's wrong with me. In my defense, I really like “little monster.” Am I redeemed?) But “Not Cute Anymore”? Oh my god. Maybe it was something about its softness in the dead of winter, or its unexpected lean into Silly-Silky-esque brain-cleaning music, not just softcore but truly tender, or maybe it’s how I relate to the concept of an unapologetically cute song that repeats “I’m not cute anymore.”
"Not Cute Anymore" is a lovely exploration (admittedly via lyrics that I would call… kitschy) of the idea that maybe nothing is genuine in the world of being an idol, or in the world of being a young adult; that every version of yourself is affected, that being an alt girl is just as much of a performance as being a cutesy girl. I appreciate how meta ILLIT has been getting, with the combination of “Not Cute Anymore” and “Not Me” and “It’s Me,” but really? I just appreciate that “Not Cute Anymore” is a beautiful little song, one that really sells me on the charm of their voices and (continuing the work that “little monster” began) on their artistic approach as a whole. Strange and delightful, weird and charming, infinitely cozy. This may just be that “pill / to get us through the wintertime” that Gregory Alan Isakov was singing about.
12. Born in the USA - Electric Nebraska -- Bruce Springsteen
So… I saw Springsteen live for the second time this year. Never kill yourself!! I went with my dad, a big Springsteen fan who introduced me to Springsteen in the first place. In the lead-up to the concert, my dad complained (quite a bit) that Springsteen was going to play weird sad “Born in the USA” as his opener. I was overjoyed, having been a fan of weird sad “Born in the USA” from first listen. All my dad’s complaining apparently reached the Boss himself, though, and we got the ‘84 “Born in the USA” at our show. But look, honestly, I really like this song either way.
I had my moment of not liking “Born in the USA” as a younger Springsteen fan—it’s tinny, repetitive, overplayed, too easily mischaracterized by self-described Proud Americans—but then I came back to it (post PTSD diagnosis, if that’s anything). Now, I love it in all its iterations: I love “end up like a dog that’s been beat too much / till you spend half your life just to cover it up,” and I love the hollow spaces in the lyrics that hit with terrible, mournful thuds, because there is no answer to the questions Springsteen asks of the universe. Turns out, that emptiness works just as well with minor-key guitar as with catchy synth. I enjoy this newly-released (original) version, and I’m much prouder to be a “Born in the USA” fan now that I have this, in all its gloomy Nebraska-ness, to point to as a resistance to conservative co-opting.
(If your aversion to its reputation keeps you away from this song in particular, may I suggest "Gun in Every Home" or the acoustic outtake of "Working on the Highway" as other good songs from the new expanded Nebraska.)
13. the cure -- Olivia Rodrigo
So… we like this one, right? I placed my bets the day it was released, and immediately started shuffling songs around on this list. I haven’t paid attention to anyone else’s thoughts on “the cure”, because I’ve been stuck in a honeymoon phase, just me and this song in our own little heaven. (I originally had Ashnikko and Cobrah’s “Wet Like” in this spot, but of course Olivia Rodrigo had to mess up my flawless list and take away any potential weird-girl Ashnikko fan cred. I mean, yeah, “Wet Like” is one of the most normal Ashnikko songs, but in my defense, “Weedkiller” was also in my most-listened songs of 2025.) I don’t have the rock background to trace the particular influences of "the cure" in an insightful way, that sulky minor-key acoustic style that it draws from before going full ballad later on, but it just keeps reminding me of Slowdive’s “Dagger,” which one of my students introduced me to this year. (I can assume that The Cure is one of her influences here, though.)
My favorite part about “the cure” is how pathetically sad it is. Olivia Rodrigo goes so deep into her own sadness here, she (her speaker) says some downright terrible things about her new relationship. It feels like medication and it’s good for me, I’m sure, and then, Why can’t you ever be enough? It’s bitterness turned to a shocking, kind of appalling, aggression, turned against someone who doesn’t deserve this at all—it’s a hopeless cynicism toward kindness that I’d never want to admit to feeling, but obviously I connected with this song almost instantly, so... To be clear, “the cure” isn’t actually angry at the new partner; it remains pretty focused on Rodrigo hating herself, so these two particularly nasty lines seem more pathetic than malevolent, just emphasizing how far beyond help Rodrigo (/ her speaker) feels.
Olivia Rodrigo has previously written a lot about her problems with jealousy, and I find this song to be a meaningful expansion on that theme. Rather than focusing on the people she is jealous of, in “the cure” she really zeroes in on the insecurities behind an overarching jealousy problem, the deeper sense of inadequacy and dissatisfaction that goes beyond specific partners and circumstances.
Admittedly, I’ve never really related to her songs about jealousy. I feel all sorts of other negative and insecure feelings, to be sure, but jealousy? Not to a meaningful intensity or extent, not the way she describes. I love “jealousy, jealousy,” yes, because it’s just an awesome song, with a nice groove and a fun sing-along chorus. “The cure” is very much about jealousy, too, but I… really, really personally connect to it this time? That idea of getting exactly what you wanted, then finding that you’re still so dissatisfied, to the point that you become doubtful and self-hating and eventually bitter towards the person/thing you were supposed to love. It don’t matter how your love feels anymore.
And "the cure" is quite specific—it doesn’t need to be general to make a connection. “I used to play a game in my head when I’d date a guy / I’d tally up the girls that he’d fucked till I’d start to cry” is effective because it’s such a specific admission—I imagine we all have stories like this, stories from our pasts that become horrifying as we speak them; windows into our worst tendencies (that have never really gone away); stories that make you realize, as you tell them, that it’s not a surprise, really, that you turned out this fucked.
Everything about this song is so well-executed—Rodrigo’s voice sounding hushed, almost horrified; the slow introduction of strings; the fact that the song is long, really given room to breathe (and wallow in emptiness).
(It turns out that I enjoy Rodrigo’s new album most at its most pathetically sad. "purple" and "less" are my favorites, and "less" might just fuck up my entire summer. That being said, I like "drop dead" now. In not my defense, this is mostly because it becomes quite depressing in the context of the entire album, as the naive, starry-eyed beginning of a doomed relationship. Yay!)
14. Tiburón -- Nina Suárez
One of the biggest victories of last year, perhaps, was a new Nina Suárez album. Or perhaps the biggest victory was that I was aware of their new album when it released, because I could have easily forgotten about them, except for a couple of classics from their last album that have stuck around in the playlists. But here we are, adding yet more impressive music from Argentinian alt-rock Frank Sinatra to my personal canon! “Querido chico” is really fun surf rock, and “Domingo de lluvia” is a charming ballad (I think that’s what you’d call it?) and “La salvación” is just good Nina Suárez stuff, but “Tiburón” is the one I think I’ll remember best. It has a gorgeous little hook, actitud indiferente / espíritu de tiburón, and then there’s yo soy como nalga, que el mar abandonó. “Tiburón” is delightful indie-boy euphoria (a type of music which can, of course, be created by people of all genders), but I would still recommend “Corrida al Arco” or “Ciudad” (both from their first album) to new listeners, because those two really show off the depth of Nina Suárez’s voice—I promise I’m onto something with “Argentinian alt-rock Frank Sinatra.”
Now here’s a song I may not be able to listen to in future years. I’ll likely end up packing it in the box with StayC’s “Run2U,” glorious songs tied up with bad memories simply by virtue of their release dates. We’ll see, I suppose.
Admittedly, I haven’t loved LUX as an entire album as much as I should—again, the release date was a disadvantage—but also, can you really fault me for being too caught up in the opening tracks when they’re like this? The insanely beautiful “Sexo, Violencia y Llantas” and then “Reliquia,” heartbreaking and explosive, mournful and passionate. It’s amazing how well “Reliquia” fits Rosalía’s voice—it’s so (literally) symphonic, you wouldn’t think there’s space for a delicate voice like hers, but she writes songs that fit her vocal style perfectly, bringing out its wistfulness with melody and instrumental cushion.
I struggle to understand why this song makes me so emotional. I mean, yes, the instrumental is awe-inspiring, and I’m completely bought in to Rosalía’s performance, and then there’s religious trauma and all, but still… it makes me so emotional. Maybe it’s something about the idea of living a life far beyond yourself without having to actually believe in the divine, or maybe it’s the way she portrays loss as inevitable, as a very natural part of who she is. My heart has never been mine (my translation)—of course, of course you were meant to lose parts of yourself along the way, that’s not your fault. There’s no one to blame, here, because it’s an essential, holy process of giving and sacrifice and change. You don’t need to desperately protect your heart, you can just let it happen. I fucking love this song. And yet, I need a break from it. It’s a lot. But hopefully the memories will fade away, as they often do, and I can come back to "Reliquia" in the future and fall in love with it all over again.
As experimental as he’s considered, it’s easy to forget how pleasant Rojuu’s music often is. I spent a lot of last year falling asleep to Y3Y2 and Roku Roku, for one, and his new EP CiTY ROc is a wonderland of fluffy, pastel sounds. It’s hard to choose a favorite, but “The sundays” was the pre-release, so I got attached to that one first. The Junko Yagami sample is fantastic, and its harmonies sound really interesting sped-up—a bit grand, a bit ethereal. Combined with the high-low contrast of the sample with Rojuu's voice (which is delightfully crunchy on this song), this feels like lower-tier "Papillon." (I mean, I don't think this song has the aspirations of "Papillon," so "lower-tier" isn't meant as an insult.) Anyway, awesome song awesome EP. This can be my soft-fluffy EP of the year, a more cheerful complement to iiso's Ash from spring 2025.
In 2026’s early-year music drought, one song shone brightly, and I clung to it as my singular SOTY candidate while I waited for the year to truly begin. As we can see, I’ve since found some other songs I like more (including a different Namasenda release), but I have to give “Cola” credit. I was obsessed with this song, and I still really enjoy it.
Namasenda first appealed to me with “deathrow bby” and “maserati” (and, once I explored more of her music, “Star” and “Snow”) because of her ability to write deeply emotional songs that also take the surface-level, the act of performance, very seriously. In her music, her emotional world is built around her experiences performing, masking, focusing on the surface-level, and I think she finds the balance between embracing a persona and allowing us glimpses of the world beneath through lyrics that are subtle, or absurdly catchy, or both. I love that approach, and I relate a lot to it, and that’s why “Cola” attracts me in the way it does. It’s obviously, consciously fake, but Namasenda shows some regret, or doubt, about that fakeness, too. The regret and doubt add layers that make "Cola" infinitely re-listenable for me. It’s also incessant in its pacing: addictive, fun and passionate. Love you more than all the drugs!! So, thank you, “Cola,” for carrying my year for a minute there.
Infinite Honorable Mentions
→ Atlantic City - Electric Nebraska – Bruce Springsteen (that one post that’s like springsteen just joined the war on seasonal depression, on the side of depression. yep. what an album.)
→ Aura — Silly Silky (god i love silly silky)
→ Burning Up — Meovv (let me say that i was NOT emotionally prepared to like a meovv song this year. as with nmixx’s debut, i still have not forgiven meovv for the headaches their debut gave me. hell, maybe they’ll pull an nmixx someday soon. in any case, “burning up” is fun and pleasantly clubby, with some good textures in there. update: i, against my will, really like “ddi ro ri.” sigh. so, we might be seeing a lot more of meovv on my blog sometime soon. ugh i’m so bad at being a hater.)
→ Butterfly Doors – AtHeart (clumsier than “plot twist,” i dare say, but the switch-ups and the loona influences are much appreciated. go weird girl music go)
→ Cosas que salen mal – Comic Sans (decent comic sans album this year!)
→ Crazy – EXO (i can’t believe i don’t have space for this one on the main list. quite a compelling beat, and of course the exo vocals)
→ Dancing on the Wall — MUNA (this is my “prom dress” now. and i cried to “prom dress” at my actual prom, so… i think that says something)
→ Dame brillo — Rojuu, Evar (i repeat: delightful album. fantastic weeb content here)
→ Dot dot dot… – AtHeart (MY WEIRD GIRL MUSIC… this arrangement is so delightful, soft and sweet with some sound effects and a heavy beat to spice it up)
→ Dowhatyouwant — Silly Silky (my favorite silly silky of 2025, i think? her move towards house music has really served her well)
→ Faço Acontecer — Nandatsunami (thank you, whatever music account introduced me to nandatsunami! her first EP is awesome, but "faço acontecer" is special in its campiness. it’s… like a duel scene from a western film? i love it, and i love nandatsunami, she’s a delightfully charming performer)
→ Gala — XG (proud to say i called it. xg is GOOD i was RIGHT and you should all love “howling” now.)
→ girl, get up. – Doechii, SZA (if i wasn’t putting only this school year’s releases on here, there would be a LOT of sza on this list. i was especially into “consideration” with rihanna. the sza we got this year was pretty awesome, though! and i do very much understand the doechii hype now.)
→ Gun in Every Home - Nebraska Outtakes – Bruce Springsteen (MY commie springsteen. MINE.)
→ Heart Drop – Rescene (ideal walking-in-the-rain music! i do feel that rescene wasn’t all that musically interesting this school year, but "heart drop" will remain on the playlists)
→ IA v5 — Taichu (edm taichu! delightful. simple, short and sweet, a drive-at-night kind of thing. i listened to this one a lot.)
→ It — Yves (well, of course i had to have an yves song on here. the strings on this one in particular, set against yves’s tinny, wispy voice, are just breathtaking. the whole album is delightful, but “break it” is especially growing on me right now.)
→ It’s Me – ILLIT (i'm so glad i understand illit now. this is FUN.)
→ Lisianthus – Lucy (ohhhh strings. i wish i listened to more lucy than i do; i think the issue is that they’re usually too happy for me. this, though? wonderful. sulky and wonderful.)
→ Mamihlapinatapai – ILLIT (i love this album. this one, in particular, is just so charming.)
→ Me sabe a poco — Repion (this will haunt me forever. i can’t even really say i like this song, i just can’t get rid of it now that i’ve heard it. my god. this makes me feel empty in the way hwa sa’s “LMM”—only one of my favorite songs ever—used to.)
→ Modo sigilo – Aiko el Grupo (yayyyy i like an aiko el grupo song!! this group includes teresa of repion, and i’ve had my eye on them for a little while now—and something finally stuck with me! in fairness, it’s a very pop-learning track, but in fairness to me, i also really like “el aWard es para:”. maybe i just needed something simpler, like “modo sigilo,” to acclimate me to their energy at first.)
→ Mr. Media – Tyla (god-tier tyla song. the intensity of the beat, combined with a whole new level of confidence in her performance, makes this one of her best. next to “butterflies,” probably. that one has sentimental value. i’m so excited for the album!)
→ MTD dreams – Saramalacara (HACIENDO TERAPIA TWICE A WEEK !! THAT’S MY NORMAL SHIT !! i love it. i love how dissatisfied this album as a whole is, and “MTD dreams” is one of my favorites in terms of capturing that restlessness)
→ Nocturne — Itzy (itzy b-sides remain good and interesting and awesome, i don’t even bother complaining about the title tracks anymore.)
→ Odd – Gaeul from IVE (solid! nostalgic)
→ Otra día será — Repion (ohhhh 201, the album you are. i’d call this pretty straightforward alt-rock, but damn does that chorus hit. it’s such a desperate anthem of hope, and that just really connected with me this year.)
→ La salvación — Nina Suárez (i really need to give the rest of this album more attention, but i keep getting distracted by this opening track—and, of course, “tiburón.” “la salvación” just feels so classic, but still so powerful. nina suárez is an amazing vocalist.)
→ paw, paw! – ILLIT (this is my “magnetic,” soft and wonderfully digitized and very addictive.)
→ Reality Hurts – NMIXX (taichu music #yay… and better than half the stuff on the actual taichu’s album this year, i must admit)
→ Slowburn – Silly Silky (brain-cleaning music!)
→ Sweat, sweaty — Silly Silky (i really needed this song this year. silly silky’s music is just so healing; even her dance music just feels so sweet and vulnerable.)
→ Tax free – Saramalacara (and, i find myself in yet another saramalacara summer. “tax free” is a glorious summer driving song. it’s not “darksouls,” but that’s a really high standard to beat. as we get further into summer, "millies per day" is also meeting that need.)
→ Tenemos piel – Saramalacara (i can’t decide what my favorite new song from the album is, but this one isn’t a bad candidate. as usual, i love vocoder!!)
→ We Only Love Things That Fade – Dohvva (this album was such an awesome random discovery, and this is the song that will probably stick with me the most. just some nice soft, sentimental indie rock, and dohvva has a very pretty voice.)
→ Wet Like – Ashnikko, Cobrah (second-to-last cut from the list. this one is so much fun. high-quality trash!)
→ Working on the Highway - Demo Version – Bruce Springsteen (i don’t like the original, but THIS?? oh my god it’s so sweet, and i think this acoustic version really does that aspect justice)
Thank you for reading! It’s been a long year, for sure, but it’s nice to get my thoughts out again. :)
