Rather than focus on particular tracks, we prefer to focus on entire singles here at Phonica, be they 7inch, 10inch, or 12inch — there has to be a physical release for it to be included in our chart. It’s the hardest chart of all to compile, as these short releases or EPs are far more subjective than an album and far less consensus amongst us. Here, we celebrate those singles that made an impact, provided the soundtrack to nights, sold well at the shop, and, most importantly, were loved by our staff members.
Resident Advisor recently stated that 2025 didn’t deliver a single unifying club anthem and we agree, there was no track that crossed genres and brought everyone together on the dancefloor. Instead, the year was defined by a wealth of exciting, diverse singles, each shining in its own sphere.
Fold & Cu.rve’s Business / Smart Casual emerged as this year’s bass-heavy anthem — heard everywhere all summer — and became the closest 2025 equivalent of last year’s Flight FM frrom Joy O. Alex Kassian deserves a mention this year for his trio of releases , the downtempo and most interesting 'Body Singer' , his huge Spooky remake and , our favourite (although it arrived in the last few weeks of 2024) 'Elastic' as Opal Sunn with Hiroaki Oba, a progressive anthem, complete with chilled dub mixes.
But if you want chilled....you can't get more chilled than the original of Marshall Jefferson’s Yellow Meditation For The Dance Generation though Joakim's remixes provided the peak-time energy, one of the tracks of the summer for DJs such as Vladimir Ivkovic. It was a big year for both Subb-an & our very own Luther Vine with their 'All Night EP' being one of our bestsellers , but they also delivered 2 other killer EPs on their own.
This year, our own Phonica label returned after our 20 year project with 3 veritable club bangers : Roman Flügel’s Cooking The Books EP balanced melodic tension with rhythmic ingenuity, as he always does, Nuage gave us euphoric anthems and Escape Artist ratcheted up the bass and euphoria.
It was good to see the return of Danilo Plessow aka MCDE to house music with his Rude Futures bringing sulphuric heat with Acid Reaction, and both Miles J. Paralysis’ Turf Step EP and Brennan / Ferg’s Dubble 005 pushed experimental percussive textures and glitchy club ideas.
Vocal-driven and soulful singles also shone. Lady Blackbird vs Crooked Man’s Crooked Spirituals fused her gospel intensity with intimate production whilst Mattias El Mansouri’s Disintegration showed how he can deliver an anthem (watch this space!).
Whether tracing the pulse of the dancefloor or exploring more contemplative sounds, 2025’s singles highlighted the continued creativity and vitality of physical releases in an era dominated by streaming.
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