A Rock Song Is No. 1 on New York Times’ Best Songs of 2025 List

A Sleep Token song is No. 1 on The New York Times' Best Songs of 2025 List.

The publication shared the list earlier this week and it features a total of 50 tracks broken up into two categories. The first category, rounded up by writer Jon Caramanica, has "Caramel" from Sleep Token's latest studio album Even in Arcadia at the very top.

"A huge, gloriously silly and brutally effective amalgam of abandoned styles ripe for reinvigorating — rap-metal, dream-prog, pop-reggaeton, backpack hip-hop, cosplay rock, metalcore and more," Caramanica wrote of the song.

"Caramel" was the second single Sleep Token shared from the album after "Emergence." Even in Arcadia peaked at No. 1 in the U.S. after earning a total of 127,000 album-equivalent units, 73,000 of which were actual album sales [via Billboard].

It was the band's first No. 1 album in the U.S. and it also landed at No.1 on albums charts in eight other countries.

Sleep Token, 'Caramel'

What Other Songs Made the New York Times' Best Songs of 2025 List?

Caramanica's picks include songs by other artists such as Brandon Lake and Jelly Roll, Drake, Tate McRae, The Weeknd and a few others. The first 20 songs were ranked and the rest were honorable mentions.

READ MORE: The 13 Biggest WTF Rock + Metal Moments of 2025

The second portion of the list (titled "Blasts of Sass") was written by Lindsay Zoladz, who included a rock song at No. 13— Wet Leg's "Mangetout."

"On this grinning kiss-off with sass to spare (“Get lost forever!”), Wet Leg’s Rhian Teasdale leaves the target of her ire staring a little too long at a bag of snow peas before the pun finally dawns on him: Man. Get. Out," Zoladz said.

Justin Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter, Lady Gaga and Cardi B were among the other artists included in the "Blasts of Sass" section.