True to the HighClouds spirit, we’ve once again tried to shine a light on overlooked releases and new or under-the-radar artists alongside some more familiar names. And yes… for the second year the same artist is topping our Best Songs list. At this point, it’s safe to say we’re obsessed. All of the tracks featured here (and many others) are also gathered in our Spotify playlist, that you can find below.

Thank you for reading, listening, and sharing music with us throughout 2025. We wish you a beautiful end of the year, and we’ll be back very soon in 2026 to share even more amazing music with you.

60 Avalon – Harder To Reach Than God
59 Farao – Waiting for You
58 Reggie Devoyage – Down Town
57 Nuovo Testamento – Picture Perfect
56 Yumi Zouma – Drag
55 Boyhood – A Grand Time
54 Danny L Harle; Caroline Polachek – Azimuth
53 Fernette – Lowlands
52 Jouska – Season of Dread
51 Charli xcx – Chains of Love

50 Pearly Drops – End Credits
49 Marina Zispin – Penthouse Samba
48 Boyish – Jumbos
47 Sword II – Sugarcane
46 TOPS – Chlorine
45 Robyn – Dopamine
44 The Deep – KPOP B!TCH
43 Juliana Madrid – Jamie
42 Men I Trust – Come Back Down
41 R. Missing – Telepolartears

40 Jenny Hval – The artist is absent – 89 seconds rewrite
39 Fontaines D.C. – Before You I Just Forget
38 hemlocke springs – the beginning of the end
37 Sea Lemon – Stay
36 Georgie & Joe – Pacemaker
35 Fine – I could
34 Jessy Lanza – Slapped By My Life
33 Arny Margret – Day Old Thoughts
32 Lipsticism – Erased
31 Clara Kimera; notinbed – angel candles

30 Neggy Gemmy – Mysterious Girl
29 Joanne Robertson; Oliver Coates – Always Were
28 Hannah Jadagu – My Love
27 HTRK – Swimming Pool
26 Night Tapes – television
25 Raisa K – Affectionately
24 helen island – hot zone, regular day
23 Dean Blunt; Elias Rønnenfelt – 1
22 Cole Pulice – After the Rain
21 crushed – starburn

20 AMORE – Delirio
19 Oneohtrix Point Never – Rodl Glide
18 Erika de Casier – Delusional
17 Judeline – chica de cristal
16 Dijon – Yamaha
15 Rochelle Jordan – Ladida
14 PinkPantheress – Illegal
13 Maria Somerville – Garden
12 Ethel Cain – Fuck Me Eyes
11 Sophia Stel – Everyone Falls Asleep In Their Own Time

10 Jim Legxacy – ’06 wayne rooney
9 Magdalena Bay – Human Happens
8 snuggle – Woman Lake
7 Addison Rae – Headphones On
6 After – 300 dreams
5 FKA twigs – Striptease
4 james K – Play
3 Nourished by Time – Max Potential
2 Smerz – You got time and I got money
1 Oklou – blade bird

Bury the Key is the group’s first full-length project since 2020, and it’s clear that their time apart pursuing solo endeavors has only sharpened their collective vision. This latest effort finds Jane Penny, David Carriere, Marta Cikojevic, and Riley Fleck leaning into a moodier, more textured sound — one that maintains their signature melodic charm while diving into deeper, sometimes darker emotional territory. The result is a record that lives in the tension between light and shadow, where glossy arrangements meet lyrics full of emotional nuance and contradiction.

Out today, “Chlorine,” perfectly captures this mood. The fact that chlorine is primarily used for disinfection but it is also an extremely reactive element sets the tone. At once nostalgic and toxic, the track evokes the bittersweet pull of bad habits and the people we can’t quite let go of. “At one point I was caught in a cycle of going out to the bar hoping that I would cross paths with a certain person who was not good for me but who I felt irresistibly drawn to,” shares Jane Penny. “I grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, where it’s very cold and I used to go to the pool a lot in the winter. It’s also where I first started going to bars to drink with my friends. I was thinking about alcohol and chlorine both being poison, thinking about all the people that I’ve tried to be close to that have ended up being bad for me, how I still love them all, and I wrote the song ‘Chlorine.’”

Catch TOPS on tour:

9/4 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
9/5 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
9/6 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile (EARLY SHOW)
9/8 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
9/9 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
9/11 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada – Outdoor Stage
9/12 – Houston, TX @ Heights Theater
9/14 – El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace
9/15 – Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress
9/17 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom
9/18 – San Diego, CA @ Belly Up
9/19 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
9/20 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether
10/1 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall
10/2 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
10/3 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
10/4 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage
10/6 – Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall
10/7 – Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall
10/8 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
10/9 – Nashville, TN @ Exit/In
10/11 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Festival
10/14 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
10/16 – Detroit, MI @ El Club
10/17 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
10/18 – Montreal, QC @ Théâtre Beanfield
11/10 – Brighton, UK @ Patterns
11/11 – London, UK @ Heaven
11/13 – Dublin, IE @ Workmans Club
11/14 – Glasgow, UK @ Stereo
11/15 – Manchester, UK @ Band on the Wall
11/17 – Leeds, UK @ The Brudenell Social Club
11/18 – Bristol, UK @ Rough Trade
11/20 – Kortrijk, BE @ Wilde Westen
11/21 – Paris, FR @ Point Ephemere
11/22 – Brussels, BE @ Botanique
11/23 – Vlaardingen, NL @ De Kroepoekfabriek
11/24 – Hamburg, DE @ Nochtspeicher
11/26 – Berlin, DE @ Neue Zukunft

Jane Penny, the mesmerizing lead vocalist of TOPS, is readying the release of her solo debut EP, Surfacing. Shaped by her time in Berlin during the pandemic, a period she defines as challenging and fraught with vulnerability, the project became a catalyst for her to explore resilience through a transformative musical journey.

After “Messages,” Penny has now unveiled a fluttering and sexy new track, “Wear You Out,” of which she said: “I wanted to make something poppy and cute but also a bit sinister and weird, sensual and witty. Lots of wordplay, a bit dirty, I think the video represents the song well. Sometimes the greatest passion and the most intense love is slightly destructive and I wanted to explore that in a fun way.”

Like the previous single, “Wear You Out” comes with an excellent OTIUM-directed video. Watch below.

Lead singer of Montreal indie royalty TOPS, Jane Penny is launching her solo career with Surfacing, scheduled for this Spring on Luminelle. Penny started to write, produce and record the EP in both Berlin and Montreal, following TOPS’ European tour in March 2020.

“There are things I wanted to explore sonically and creatively, which would be impossible in the context of TOPS,” explained Penny. “I wanted to challenge myself to create a whole world of my own, to write all of the parts, program the drums, choose every sample, write the bass line. When I took control over the entire world of music that I was creating I felt that it also opened up a lot of emotional space, sensuality and intuition that comes through solitude. It took a while to reach a point where I feel it’s ready to share, but now the gates are open and I’ll definitely be continuing on this path.”

To introduce the project, Penny shared the first single “Messages.” Talking about the track, she said, “It’s a pop song about getting notifications from everyone except the one person you want to hear from, which was happening to me at the time. The opening sample — ‘there is a message for you’ is a strange message that the credit card machines in Montreal cabs make.”

Watch the video, directed by OTIUM and inspired by Maya Deren’s 1943 film Meshes Of The Afternoon, below.

Jane Penny – Surfacing EP artwork

TOPS‘ Marta Cikojevic continues to soar solo as Marci, with another comforting vintage bop in the shape of “Stop.” Produced by longtime collaborator David Carriere, the delightful track is about the relatable “naughty thoughts that get stuck in your head.”

Later this Summer, TOPS‘ Marta Cikojevic will release her debut record as Marci. After “Entertainment“, “Immaterial Girl“, and “Terminal,” she is now unveiling a new single off what we are already naming one of the best pop albums of the year. Watch the “Pass Time” video below and don’t hesitate to pre-order the album via Bandcamp as well.

A few weeks ago, TOPS‘s Marta Cikojevic made her solo debut as Marci with the track “Entertainment.” The artist is now back with a new single, “Immaterial Girl,” which precedes the release of her debut album. “I wanted to make people happy. I wanted to make people feel like they could dance even when there was negativity,” Cikojevic explains about the self-titled record. Crafted in collaboration with her bandmate David Carriere, Marci also features contributions from the likes of Mitch Davis, Rene Wilson, Austin Tufts (Braids) on drums, Chloé Soldevila (Anemone), Adam Byczkowski (Better Person) as well as TOPS‘ Jane Penny on backing vocals.

Listen to the delightfully retro new single, watch the Chloé Soldevila-directed video, and pre-order the album via Bandcamp below.

A lot of top things are happening for TOPS at the moment. In the midst of their Canadian tour, and before flying to play in Europe, the Montreal based band released a track for the video game called Glitchhikers (“Future Waits”) and launched the solo career of their keyboardist Marci (aka Marta Cikojevic). Today, they return with a summer road movie-ready new track, “Perfected Steps,” which teases their new EP, Empty Seats, due out in a few weeks. The 5-track project features the freshly released singles “Future Waits” and “Perfected Steps,” as well as their 2021 bops “Party Again” and “Waiting.”