16 Greatest Songs of the Week: Hatchie, Anna von Hausswolff, Stella Donnelly, Hannah Frances, and Extra
Plus Lande Hekt, Magdalena Bay, Sorry, bar italia, and a Wrap-up of the Final Two Weeks’ Different Notable New Tracks
Oct 17, 2025
Welcome to the thirty sixth Songs of the Week of 2025. We didn’t do a Songs of the Week final week as a result of I used to be up in Washington, D.C. final Thursday and Friday protecting a few reveals, together with Miki Berenyi Trio at Pearl Avenue Warehouse (learn my evaluation right here). So this week’s listing encompasses the final two weeks’ price of songs, which was a bit overwhelming to be trustworthy.
This week Andy Von Pip, Caleb Campbell, and Mark Moody helped me determine what ought to make the listing. We thought of over 60 songs and narrowed it all the way down to a Prime 16.
Of word maybe: your complete Prime 5 are solo artists which might be girls and primarily from different international locations (two from Australia).
We have to shut the funding hole for our subsequent challenge and are providing 25% off subscriptions, 50% off again points, and as much as 70% off print advertisements. Discover out extra right here.
Subject 74, The Protest Subject, is out now. It options Kathleen Hannah and Bartees Unusual on the 2 covers and might be purchased from us instantly right here.
In current weeks we posted interviews with Wolf Alice (a digital cowl story), Idlewild, Elbow, Baxter Dury (a My Firsts), and extra.
Within the final week we reviewed some albums.
That can assist you type by way of the multitude of contemporary songs launched within the final week, we’ve got picked the 16 finest the final 14 days needed to provide, adopted by some honorable mentions. Try the complete listing beneath.
1. Hatchie: “Solely One Laughing”
Hatchie, the shoegaze/dream pop mission of Australian musician Harriette Pilbeam, is releasing a brand new album, Liquorice, on November 7 through Secretly Canadian. Final week she shared its second single, “Solely One Laughing.” It’s accompanied by a music video through which Pilbeam works at an amusement park and gloriously feels like one thing straight from the early ’90s.
Pilbeam had this to say in regards to the album in a press launch: “I wrote ‘Solely One Laughing’ to air my frustrations with the state of the world and the place I discovered myself in on the time (early 2023). I needed a rollicking music that felt such as you have been struggling to maintain up with me mainly ranting in regards to the lack of management I felt over my life.”
Beforehand Hatchie shared the album’s first single, “Lose It Once more,” through a music video. It was considered one of our Songs of the Week.
Liquorice is Hatchie’s third full-length album and follows Giving the World Away, which was considered one of our Prime 100 Albums of 2022. Melina Duterte (aka Jay Som) helped produce the album.
“This album feels just like the fruits of the whole lot I’ve needed to do with this mission since I first began it,” says Pilbeam in a press launch. “I centered on the finer particulars of the trajectory of affection discovered and misplaced, impressed by my favourite tragic romance movies. I’ve by no means felt extra aligned with an album and might’t wait to share the expertise with everybody.”
Pilbeam and her longtime bandmate/romantic companion Joe Agius have been based mostly in Los Angeles for a time, however determined to cease touring and return to Australia.
“In the end, the inspiration for the album got here from dwelling a quite simple life and having time to reconnect with myself and be alone with my ideas,” says Pilbeam.
The album was recorded at Duterte’s house studio and options Stella Mozgawa (Warpaint, Courtney Barnett) on drums. Alex Farrar (Wednesday, MJ Lenderman) blended the album, which was mastered by Greg Obis (Dutch Inside, Gradual Pulp, Wishy).
Jeremy McLennan (Orchin) co-wrote “Lose It Once more” and Agius directed its video.
“I needed to see my limitations as strengths that inform my model,” Pilbeam says about embracing her influences on Liquorice.
Learn our interview with Hatchie on Giving the World Away right here.
Learn our rave evaluation of Giving the World Away right here.
Giving the World Away is Hatchie’s second full-length album, the follow-up to her acclaimed debut album, Memento, which got here out in 2019 through Double Double Whammy.
Hatchie was featured on Beneath the Radar’s twentieth anniversary compilation album, Covers of Covers, the place she covers HAIM’s “FUBT.”
Learn our rave 8.5/10 evaluation of Memento right here.
Learn our 2018 interview with Hatchie on her EP Sugar & Spice.
Learn our My Favourite Album interview with Hatchie on Carole King’s Tapestry.
2. Anna von Hausswolff: “Wrestle With the Beast”
Swedish musician/composer Anna von Hausswolff is releasing a brand new album, ICONOCLASTS, on October 31 through YEAR0001. Yesterday she shared one other new music from it, “Wrestle With the Beast,” which is over eight minutes lengthy. It options Otis Sandsjö on saxophone.
Von Hausswolff had this to say in regards to the single in a press launch: “I wrote this music after a detailed buddy skilled a psychosis. There was one thing unstoppable and utterly disconnected about her, as if she have been dwelling and reigning in a parallel universe of some type. She was so distant from the particular person I knew, as if all of her social boundaries had utterly dissolved. There was a brand new, bizarre brilliance to her manner of speaking and being. She had no filters. I’m glad she’s again to regular as we speak, nevertheless it made me consider how weak and complicated all of us are, and that there are layers of unresolved trauma and unstated truths inside everybody.”
Beforehand von Hausswolff shared two new songs from ICONOCLASTS: “The Entire Lady” (a duet with Iggy Pop) and “Stardust.” “The Entire Lady” was considered one of our Songs of the Week. The album’s subsequent single, “Dealing with Atlas,” additionally landed on Songs of the Week.
The album additionally options Ethel Cain, Abul Mogard, and Maria von Hausswolff. Von Hausswolff produced the album with longtime collaborator Filip Leyman. Her final studio album, All Ideas Fly, got here out final in 2020 through Southern Lord. In 2022 she launched the stay album, Dwell at Montreux Jazz Competition.
3. Stella Donnelly: “Yr of Bother”
Australian singer/songwriter Stella Donnelly is releasing a brand new album, Love and Fortune, on November 7 through Dot Sprint Recordings / Distant Management. Final week she shared its newest single, the trustworthy ballad “Yr of Bother.”
Donnelly had this to say in regards to the music in a press launch: “This one is all coronary heart no ego, all ache no achieve. I initially tried to make this a dance-floor heartbreak however I used to be being too bold and overthinking it. Julia [Wallace] helped me work out that I simply wanted to play it on my own.”
Love and Fortune consists of “Standing Ovation” and “Baths,” two songs Donnelly shared in August. “Standing Ovation” was considered one of our Songs of the Week. When the album was introduced she shared “Really feel It Change,” additionally considered one of our Songs of the Week.
Love and Fortune is Donnelly’s third album and follows 2022’s Flood and 2019’s Watch out for the Canine (each launched by Secretly Canadian). It was recorded in Naarm and Melbourne with collaborators each longtime (Marcel Tussie, Jack Gaby, and Julia Wallace) and new (Sophie Ozard, Timothy Harvey, and Ellie Mason). A press launch says Love and Fortune options breakup songs.
“These songs wouldn’t go away me alone,” Donnelly says within the press launch. “Like seagulls, they screamed at me after I rode to work, they pecked at me whereas I wrote essays, and so they stole my chips the second I believed I used to be happier with out music.”
Learn our interview with Stella Donnelly on Watch out for the Canine.
Additionally learn our rave 8.5/10 evaluation of Watch out for the Canine.
4. Hannah Frances: “The Area Between” (Feat. Daniel Rossen)
Hannah Frances launched a brand new album, Nested in Tangles, final week through Fireplace Speak. Final week she additionally shared one final pre-release single from the album, “The Area Between,” which options Daniel Rossen of Grizzly Bear.
Frances had this to say in regards to the music in a press launch: “‘The Area Between’ is the fruits level of the album. It’s an exploration of give up with out resolve or forgiveness, of dwelling within the areas left.”
“The Area Between” was accompanied by a music video made by Frances and Vanessa Castro.
Castro had this to say in regards to the video: “In ‘The Area Between’ Hannah Frances performs a contemporary ballet duet with an avant-garde twist choreographed by New York Metropolis Ballet’s Emma Engel. Impressed by Marcel Dzama’s performs and the surrealist creativeness of Leonora Carrington, the piece follows Hannah’s youthful self, additionally performed by Engel, who guides her by way of a dialogue along with her many components. These selves are embodied by a solid in animal masks, shifting by way of a dreamlike world that blurs childhood creativeness play with the self-discipline of rising up as a performer.”
Engel provides: “The choreography is dreamlike, constructed on playful shapes and gestures that return all through the video. At first the motion is mild and foolish, however as the 2 characters develop nearer, it transforms into one thing extra highly effective and heartfelt. Mixing hints of ballet with free and summary motion. The dance displays connection, love and the enjoyment of shifting in sync with another person and finally your self.”
Beforehand Nested in Tangles single “Surviving You” made our Songs of the Week listing.
5. Lande Hekt: “Favorite Pair of Footwear”
Final week British indie-pop singer/songwriter Lande Hekt (previously of Muncie Ladies) introduced a brand new album, Fortunate Now, due out January 30, 2026 through Tapete. She additionally shared its lead single, “Favorite Pair of Footwear,” through a music video.
Hekt had this to say in regards to the music in a press launch: “I wrote this music after I was listening to numerous The Bats and The Chills, it in all probability sounds nothing like every of that Flying Nun stuff however that was what was inspiring me on the time. Regardless of the traces that lean in direction of despair, I feel that is fairly a hopeful music. It’s about rising out of a pit of hopelessness and doing one thing actually constructive. The music options my previous buddy and longtime collaborator Samuel Bedford. We first sang collectively once we have been 16, we recorded a music collectively for his folks solo mission, then we have been in an indie rock band collectively once we have been 21 known as Egocentric Son. Sam sang on my music ‘Kitchen’ in 2020 and now he sings on this music and ‘Coming Residence.’ Every of those collaborations are 5 years aside which is tidy.”
Hekt wrote and recorded Fortunate Now with producer Matthew Simms (Wire, It Hugs Again).
6. Magdalena Bay: “Human Occurs”
This morning, Los Angeles-based electro-pop duo Magdalena Bay launched two new songs, “Human Occurs” and “Paint Me a Image.” We have been cut up on which music we preferred finest, with them each getting a brand new equal variety of votes, so that they each make this listing. “Human Occurs” had the slight edge, with three extra factors within the vote.
The songs observe two different new songs the band shared in September, “Second Sleep” and “Star Eyes.” Each made our Songs of the Week listing.
Magdalena Bay are Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin.
“Right here’s one other pair of songs that complement one another,” the band collectively say in a press launch. “Completely different than the final, totally different than the following.”
The current 4 songs observe Imaginal Disk, their acclaimed sophomore full-length album launched final yr on Mother + Pop. It was #1 on our Prime 100 Albums of 2024 listing. The band just lately introduced {that a} film related to the album will likely be launched quickly. Amanda Kramer directed it and Tenenbaum and Lewin wrote and edited it. The precise launch date is TBA.
Stream Imaginal Disk right here.
Learn our rave 9/10 evaluation of it right here.
Learn our evaluation of Magdalena Bay’s September 2024 live performance on the 9:30 Membership in Washington, D.C. right here.
7. Magdalena Bay: “Paint Me a Image”
8. Sorry: “At present May Be the Hit”
9. bar italia: “omni shambles”
10. Preoccupations: “MUR”
11. Lady Scout: “Identical Youngsters”
12. Courtney Barnett: “Keep In Your Lane”
13. Nonetheless Clean: “Identical Solar”
14. Bizarre Nightmare: “Perpetually Elsewhere”
15. Ladytron: “I See Purple”
16. Doves: “Spirit of Your Good friend”
Honorable Mentions:
These songs virtually made the Prime 16. There are much more songs on the Spotify playlist.
Black Thought and Hazard Mouse and Rag’n’Bone Man: “UP”
DARKSIDE: “One Final Nothing”
The Dears: “Tomorrow and Tomorrow”
Drop Nineteens: “Fools”
Ezra Furman: “One Hand Free”
Gorillaz: “The Manifesto” (Feat. Trueno and Proof)
HAIM: “Tie you down” (Feat. Bon Iver)
Haley Heynderickx and Max García Conover: “Fluorescent Gentle” and “Boars”
Jamie Lidell and Luke Schneider: “New Land”
Jay Som: “Previous Lives” (Feat. Hayley Williams)
Jenny on Vacation: “Dolphins”
Jo Handed: “Ico”
Joyce Manor: “Effectively, No matter It Was”
Joyer: “On the Films”
Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore: “Melted Moon”
Kelly Lee Owens: “ASCEND”
Lala Lala: “Does This Go Sooner?”
Midlake: “The Calling”
Molly Ringworm: “Passenger Princess”
The Mountain Goats: “Chilly at Night time” and “Rocks in My Pockets”
Preoccupations: “PONR”
Steve Gunn: “Morning on Okay Highway”
Sugar: “Home of Useless Reminiscences”
Tame Impala: “My Outdated Methods”
Whitney: “Harm”
Right here’s a helpful Spotify playlist that includes the Prime 16 so as, adopted by all of the honorable mentions and a few extra songs: