The Best Songs of February 2025 // New Music Friday!
"Scared of Loving You" by Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco
Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco, her fiancé and the producer of some of the most iconic pop songs of the past 15+ years, announced a brand-new collaborative album titled I Said I Love You First that is set to be released in March! The album is going to chronicle their entire love story, starting with the first song released from their project titled "Scared of Loving You". It is a simple and sweet ballad about wanting to finally fall in love again but fearing that the past may repeat itself. It was also co-written and co-produced by Finneas, who is another one of my favorite artists ever and takes the song to a whole new level.
Just last month in my anniversary review of Selena's 2020 album Rare, I wrote that as much as I would love for her to come back and make more music again, I assumed she would be taking a long hiatus from it because of how vocal she's been about wanting to focus more on acting instead. I'm so happy that isn't the case after all because she is one of my favorite artists ever and this album is going to be so special. I Said I Love You First is set to be one of my favorite releases of the year already and I am so excited to hear more of it! 💓
"Call Me When You Break Up" by Selena Gomez, Gracie Abrams, & Benny Blanco
Soon after the announcement of I Said I Love You First and "Scared Of Loving You", Selena and Benny released the official lead single of the album titled "Call Me When You Break Up" featuring Gracie Abrams. I'm absolutely obsessed with it, it's been stuck in my head ever since I first heard it. It's written as if they are leaving a voicemail for their exes, waiting for them to be single again so they can get back together. Selena and Gracie's voices compliment each other so well, this is such a perfect collaboration for the two of them. I usually only include one song per artist on my New Music Friday lists, but each were just too good not to include both! Again, I can't wait to hear the rest of I Said I Love You First very soon!
"Busy Woman" by Sabrina Carpenter
The shining star of Short n' Sweet deluxe is "Busy Woman", which Sabrina wrote with Jack Antonoff and Amy Allen right after she turned in the final version of the standard album. It wasn't done in time to make it onto the official track list, but it was featured as a secret bonus track on select variants of the vinyl release. "Busy Woman" is to Short n' Sweet as "Feather" is to emails i can't send: fwd. I definitely predict this song being the next major hit for Sabrina, I've been so obsessed with it ever since I first heard it. "Busy Woman" is about how Sabrina deals with rejection, in a very humorous and dramatic way. "I'm so mature, collected and sensible, except when I get hit with rejection, to turn me down, well, that's just unethical, I'll turn into someone you're scared to know," she sings in the first verse. Although she's a very busy woman, she will always make herself available if someone wants her, but if she gets turned down, she's going to act like she didn't even care to begin with. It's very funny, sarcastic, and full of innuendos throughout, which is what Sabrina consistently does best in her music. I love the prominent disco pop influences throughout the song too, it's so beautifully produced. "But if you need my love, my clothes are off, I'm comin' over to your place," Sabrina sings in the hilarious chorus, "And if you don't need my love, well, I didn't want your little bitch-ass anyway".
Check out my full reviews of Short n' Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter + the deluxe edition of the album!
"Nosebleeds" by Doechii
Doechii surprise released an iconic celebratory track immediately following her win for the Best Rap Album at the Grammy's this month. By the way, her performance at this year's show was easily the best of the entire night, it was incredible! "Nosebleeds" is so confident, hilarious, unhinged and the perfect response to her legendary win! She is going to go so far and I can't wait to see what she does next. Everybody wanted to know what Doechii would do if she didn't win, I guess we'll never know!
"Eddie In The Darkness" by Inhaler
Inhaler's latest album Open Wide has been one of my favorite new releases of this month, I am absolutely obsessed with every single song on it. It was hard to choose a favorite, but for the sake of this list, I recommend checking out the opening track "Eddie In The Darkness". I love the way they blend pop and rock elements so seamlessly with such a fresh and modern approach. Everything about this song and the rest of this album is so incredible and among the very best work they have released yet!
"Abracadabra" by Lady Gaga
The Gaga we all know and love is back and better than ever! "Abracadabra" was unexpectedly premiered during a commercial break at the Grammy's this month and brought back so many of the themes and intricacies that are reminiscent of her early work. The energy this song radiates is insane, Mayhem is going to be amazing and a true return to form for her as an artist!
"High Fashion" by Addison Rae
"High Fashion" is Addison Rae's third single off of her upcoming debut album, which is yet to be officially announced but will hopefully be soon! This song is euphoric, raw, and a beautiful depiction of Addison's free-spirited attitude to making music. "I don't need your drugs, I'd rather get high fashion" is such an iconic and clever lyric to build the rest of the song around. Addison just keeps getting better with each new drop and this is some of her best work yet! I've been saying this for a couple of years now, but she is truly the future of pop music and I can't wait to hear more from her!
"Delete Ya" by Djo
Djo released the second single off of his upcoming album The Crux this month, which is such a great follow up to the lead single "Basic Being Basic" from last month. In "Delete Ya", Joe is reminiscing back on an old love that he wishes he could forget about, but just can't bring himself to fully leave that part of his life behind yet. I love the specificity of which it was written, each verse fully paints the picture of the setting and emotions that he was feeling at the time. I love the soft rock sound he's been going in with this new album so far, I'm looking forward to hearing the way that translates throughout the rest of the record in April.
"Superbowl LIX Halftime Show - Live" by Kendrick Lamar
One of the greatest music moments of this month was absolutely Kendrick Lamar's incredible performance at the Superbowl LIX Halftime Show. For the first time, the NFL published the audio on streaming services, so it felt fitting to include it here as one of the best releases of the month. It honestly may be one of my favorite Halftime shows of all time - it was all just so incredibly well done and every detail was perfect.
"Dear god" by Tate McRae
I fell in love with several songs off of Tate McRae's newest album, So Close To What, this month. "Dear god" is one of my favorites, I love the way the production blends 2000's hip-hop, R&B and pop all in one. The song is emotional and confessional, but also is such a danceable pop anthem too. I've had so many of the songs from So Close To What on repeat this month and have been fully converted into a fan with this record.
"Dream Woman" by Suki Waterhouse
Suki Waterhouse released the ethereal "Dream Woman" recently, which reminds me so much of Lana Del Rey's "Video Games". That is a notable influence that Suki has drawn from many times in the past, especially with her recent album Memoir of a Sparklemuffin last year. Suki replicates all of those dark and moody aesthetics so well, while still incorporating her own twist on those recognizable motifs.
"Real Love (Live Acoustic Set - New York City - 03.07.24)" by Bleachers
Bleachers' cover of "Real Love" by The Beatles was released on Valentine's Day, but was recorded last March in New York City. This is the sixth release from Bleachers' rolling live album, From The Studio To The Stage, which they have been adding to every few weeks for the last several months. It is such a sweet rendition of the 1996 classic!
"Everything Is Peaceful Love" by Bon Iver
"Everything Is Peaceful Love" is the beautiful first single off of Bon Iver's upcoming album SABLE fABLE, which is set to be released in April. The production is so gorgeous, and I love the message of finding peace and joy in the present and living in the moment.
"Joni" by SZA and Don Toliver
Following her stunning feature performance at the Halftime Show with Kendrick Lamar, SZA released a few more new songs from her SOS Deluxe: LANA album. The long awaited "Joni" featuring Don Toliver is my favorite of the newest additions, but the entire album is just so gorgeous and has been on repeat ever since it was released in December. "Joni" is a deeply reflective and introspective track that follows a stream-of-consciousness way of writing. She once called it a "trap song from the perspective of Joni Mitchell" - which are two styles that only SZA would be able to blend this seamlessly.
"Baltimore" by Bartees Strange
"safeword" by Halsey
I love when Halsey goes all the way with her punk and rock influences, which is exactly what she did with "safeword". I'm kind of surprised that she released a song like this because of how crazy and wild it is, but it's also a really fun song and feels very reminiscent of the iconic deep cut "Experiment on Me" from the Birds of Prey soundtrack a few years ago.
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