An Abridged Look at the Non-US Hits of 2025

 

An Abridged Look at the Non-US Hits of 2025

Hey guys, it’s Fire from Fire’s Flaming Hot Takes back again to FINALLY send off 2025 with a look at the best and worst non-US hits of 2025!! 

As always, what I’m qualifying as a “non-US hit” are songs that made the 2025 year-end list in the UK, Australia, or Canada but NOT the US. So with that in mind, these are the qualifications for the songs that I’m choosing to highlight. As per usual, the songs that are highlighted in this article are the songs that became hits in the UK, Australia, or Canada that would’ve made or seriously contended for my best or worst list for 2025 had they become hits in the US. I will not mention songs that had made a previous non-US hits list nor songs that had made a prior US list - so again, no, you’re not gonna see “Mr. Brightside” here. Also, if the songs are set to become hits in the US in 2026, they don’t count either. Again, there are a few songs that’ll likely straddle this line, but I’ll just say that I can’t predict the future and if a song I consider ineligible now misses the 2026 US YE, so be it. 

This is also where we’re gonna see some overlap with what showed up in the US at some point because of me expanding my criteria for my year-end lists. This does mean that there’ll be some overlap in what shows up here and what showed up in my best and worst lists this year but I’m not gonna calculate January-December YE lists for Canada, the UK, or Australia just for this article, especially considering the fact that it’ll likely be filled with old songs from the 90s and 2000s that were already hits in the past. And if I were to exclude every song that I also considered a US hit in 2025, I’d only have barely 20 songs to choose from for this article. So you got all that? Alright, let’s get this started with the bad non-US hits!

Alex Warren - Burning Down (#77 AUS)

Alex Warren being one of the biggest artists of 2025 was clearly not just a US-exclusive problem—this was a full-on pandemic. He had three other songs that were hits in the UK, Australia, and/or Canada in 2025. And while I like “Carry You Home” and “Bloodline”, “Burning Down” is absolutely terrible, even worse than his actual US hit!! The song is heavily built on staccato piano notes that are transposed into a minor key for a song that somehow sounds more shouty, hollow, and formless than “Ordinary”!! It sounds like a hideous cross between Benson Boone’s “Slow It Down” and David Kushner’s “Daylight”. We couldn’t give success to “On My Mind” with Rose, but we gave it to this!? Come on!!

Disco Lines & Tinashe - No Broke Boys (#17 AUS, #52 CAN, #35 UK)

This was one of the very last cuts from my worst list. I already thought “No Broke Boys” was the worst song on Quantum Baby because the production didn’t flatter Tinashe’s attitude at all and she didn’t sound invested. This remix from Disco Lines in some ways actually does improve on the original, the song is now much more upbeat with a decent sounding synth riff. But what utterly kills this for me is that incredibly stock house drop and that awful vocal splicing, we didn’t need to hear Tinashe go “no pap- no pap-” - it’s incredibly grating. In other words, it’s a cheap remix that I thought we left behind in 2023 in David Guetta’s dumpster.

Drake - What Did I Miss? (#93 CAN)

I already covered this in my worst list so I’ll keep this relatively short: this is an incredibly pissy and whiny song where Drake feels entitled to our sympathy after his massive L from Kendrick. I will concede though that “I look at this shit like a BTC/Could be down this week, then I'm up next week” is a fucking bar. Like I don’t care whether you support bitcoin or not, that bar goes so hard. But going back to bad remixes...

Morgan Seatree f/Florence + The Machine - Say My Name (#87 UK)

As bad as the “No Broke Boys” remix is, at least it had a coherent vibe to match Tinashe’s attitude! That’s in contrast to this remix of Florence + The Machine’s “Spectrum (Say My Name)” by one Morgan Seatree. I’ve not heard the original song but I honestly don’t need to to recognize that this is fucking awful. Florence Welch’s vocals are definitely great in a technical sense, but her classical tone puts me at a distance and it keeps me from outright loving a lot of Florence + The Machine’s songs. And this production does not flatter her delivery at all. She’s hollering over a stock garage beat and it makes her sound awful. That’s not to mention all the vocal splicing which makes it sound like Florence Welch is having a stroke mid-song. But let’s talk about another Morgan...

Morgan Wallen - I'm A Little Crazy (#89 CAN)

I already tore into this song in my worst list but to summarize, this song does a remarkably good job of painting Morgan Wallen out to be like late period Aaron Lewis screaming at his TV. I could also mention that HARDY cowrote this and you can tell, with all the conservative undertones on this song. But yeah Morgan, you ARE a little crazy, however I don’t think the world’s insane (well ig it is but definitely not for the reasons Morgan says it is). Now go crawl back into your dungeon to work on pumping out your like 123456789765432123456787654345678987654567656765676567656765676567865676567654565456565676567656765676567656765676567656765676567656765676567123456789765432123456787654345678987654567656765676567656765676567865676567654565456565676567656765676567656765676567656765676567656765676567 song album or whatever for next year. Or...don’t actually, learn how to make good music again before calling us crazy!

Skye Newman - Family Matters (#69 UK)

Skye Newman sounds awful, she’s regularly offkey and it doesn’t help her lean into the neo-soul production effectively. It’s a shame because the lyrics are actually quite heartbreaking, talking about Newman’s family struggles. The lyric about a line meaning two things since she was 5 should cut so much harder than it actually does, but it’s that delivery, Newman doesn’t sound believably sad or hurt, she only really comes off like that one drunk woman at karaoke who chooses a song she doesn’t know at all and is struggling to figure out the melody to the song.

So that’s all the bad songs out of the way, now for the great stuff!

Ariana Grande - twilight zone (#75 CAN)

I already covered this in my best list, but if anything I feel like I’ve only gained new appreciation for this song since then, primarily thanks to Todd’s video highlighting the songwriting. And once I noticed the songwriting, I loved this song even more. The song is about the feeling after a breakup where you’re past the initial grief stage but not exactly “over it”. There are so many great lines, like “Is this a black-and-white scene? If so, then I'm in the gray one” or “Why do I still protect you? Pretend these songs aren't about you” or especially “Sometimes, I just can't believe/You happened”. Ariana also sounds utterly gorgeous against the chilly melody and the bright mix only makes this feel like more of a slow burn. If this is Ari’s swan song to her singing career as she pivots to acting, then I guess I’m in a bit of a twilight zone regarding this transition.

BLACKPINK - JUMP (#97 CAN)

I talked about this song in my Chill Pick article already and it still holds up really well for me!! It takes BLACKPINK’s signature flashiness and fuses it with a Romanian Popcorn beat that prevents that flashiness from feeling obnoxious. Really, when my biggest complaint with the song is that it’s too short (aka the “Just Wanna Rock” criticism if you will), you must be doing something right.

Calvin Harris & Clementine Douglas - Blessings (#41 UK)

So something cool that happened in 2025: I found out that the area I go to college in has an EDM station! Overall, the station is a very welcome breath of fresh air whenever I’m sick of hearing the same songs 2345678986543234567898765434567654676567656765675676567 times a day on my pop station. There were quite a few non-US hits in this article that I regularly heard on that station. We covered some of them in the bad section—“No Broke Boys” and “Say My Name” namely—but “Blessings” was another one of those songs. And I don’t think I fully appreciated how great it was whenever I heard it on that station. I always liked it, but relistening to it for this article revealed that it’s a remarkably well-produced EDM track. What really works here is the garage and house fusion. And those synths feel ripped from the 90s in the best way possible! This song was an underrated blessing to music in 2025 that should’ve been HUGE this past summer! But speaking of songs I heard a lot on my EDM station that I only grew a deeper appreciation for on relisten...

Chrystal - The Days (NOTION Remix) (#10 AUS, #12 UK)

Yeah, I’ve always thought this song was great, but relistening to it for this article made me realize that “oh wow, I actually love this”. That bitcrushed bassline is really strong and Chrystal rides the speed garage production so well. I put this in a similar canon to “Strangers” by Kenya Grace from 2023—a well crafted dance track in its genre niche with a chilly melody and higher cooing that complements it with lyrics about the whirlwind of a disposable hookup turning into real feelings. Incredible song!!

Coldplay - The Scientist (#95 UK)

It’s fucking hilarious that this song was eligible for this article at all. It did technically make a YE list in Canada in 2002 if you look on Wikipedia but this was before the Canadian Hot 100 was even created. And since this was the first year it made any of the official YE lists I’m considering for this article, it counts! And on some level, comparing “The Scientist” to the rest of these songs doesn’t even seem fair. But I have a few qualifiers—I never considered “The Scientist” to be one of Coldplay’s best songs in comparison to stuff like “Fix You” or “Clocks”. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always liked it, but I only came around to finding it great when I listened to the list of songs eligible for this article. “The Scientist” just feels like it’s missing that big crescendo that made songs like “Fix You” so special. But at the same time, that piano loop just sounds timeless and gorgeous with Chris Martin’s delicate falsetto. And the more I listened, the more I noticed how the loop subtly builds. I still think this song could’ve used a proper crescendo, but hey, it’s considered a classic by many for a reason!! But speaking of old songs...

Fleetwood Mac - The Chain (#62 UK)

I’m shocked this never actually made a previous YE list prior to 2025, I could’ve sworn this was one of those immortal “perpetually makes every UK YE list until the heat death of the universe” songs. And I mean...what do I even say about a song that’s already widely regarded as one of the best Southern Rock bangers of all time? Yeah, I don’t think there’s anything I could say—if you’ve heard this song, you know why it’s great. But let’s finally look at actual current music again...

fred again.., Skepta, & Plaqueboymax - Victory Lap (#48 AUS, #81 UK)

This goes unbelievably hard. Skepta’s flow just steamrolls over you with that grime production and the Doechii sample. He’s in full braggadocious mode and his flow makes him sound like he’s earned the right to brag! Everything about this song goes so hard that I really don’t even wanna analyze this, I just wanna go to the nearest club and ask the DJ to throw this on. It’s an incredible banger that should’ve played at every club in the US, this should’ve been a massive hit!!

Olivia Dean - Nice To Each Other (#49 AUS, #26 UK)

I know, Olivia Dean is having a huge 2026 in the US right now and there’s always a chance that this makes the US YE in 2026, especially since it’s still charting right now in the bottom half of the Hot 100. But I’m just being safe right now, cut me some slack. Now, I don’t think “Nice To Each Other” is better than “Man I Need” or even “(So Easy) To Fall In Love” (get ready to see those two songs on my 2026 best list), but Olivia Dean’s floor of quality is so high that this is still great. Her voice is still beautifully soulful, warm, and inviting. It feels very Bri ish (complimentary) in how playful it is. Dean says to someone who’s interested in her that she doesn’t want something serious right now and they could just be friends. And she comes off as so likeable that honestly if I was friendzoned by her, I’d still be happy to be friends—she just makes the idea of being friends with her sound great. Also the “ba-ba-ba”’s are incredibly charming, great song!!

Sabrina Carpenter - Busy Woman (#49 UK)

I wish “15 Minutes” could’ve been the deluxe Short n’ Sweet single instead, but in the meantime “Busy Woman” is pretty incredible too. It works in many of the ways much of Man’s Best Friend didn’t. The disco/dance-pop production keeps the atmosphere really light and helps Sabrina lean into her cheekier attitude that helps lines like “if you don’t want me, I’ll just deem you gay” or “to turn me down, well, that’s just unethical” a lot easier to not take seriously. No, I don’t think this reaches the same level of quality as “Juno” or “Espresso” or even “Tears”, but this is still pretty incredible. Also, this was literally ONE spot away from being eligible for my best list. Make of that what you will.

Sam Fender & Olivia Dean - Rein Me In (#38 UK)

Not gonna lie, seeing a collab between Heartland Rock singer Sam Fender and R&B soul singer Olivia Dean kinda raised my eyebrows because that on paper just sounded like a complete mess. But the result is a surprisingly great laid back Heartland Rock cut. Olivia Dean’s deeper soulful delivery serves a great contrast to Sam Fender’s higher warble and they have remarkably great chemistry!! I especially really like when they both go into higher registers to harmonize with each other so effortlessly. Great song that absolutely...reins me in.

sombr - 12 to 12 (#52 AUS, #68 UK)

Another song I sang my praises to in my best list!! And yeah, I fully stand by everything I said in that list, “12 to 12” is one of the strongest showings of potential I’ve heard from an artist in a while. The fact that sombr was able to produce this song entirely on his own and it sounds as high-budget and masterful as it does this early in his career is a testament to his talent as a producer. His falsetto is also super potent and he does a phenomenal job at making this feel like a lost 1980s Michael Jackson cut! This seems to sadly be running out of momentum so I don’t think it’ll be a US hit in 2026, but at least we were blessed with the presence of this song at all.

The Weeknd - Dancing In The Flames (#95 CAN)

I get it, it’s not a propulsive driving song like The Weeknd’s best material and it makes total sense why this got taken off the tracklist to Hurry Up Tomorrow. And honestly, even if it really should’ve been “Open Hearts” as the song from The Weeknd this era to be a hit, I still like “Dancing In The Flames” a lot. It’s nowhere near his best since the percussion isn’t as forceful as it should be, but the melodic synths sound really nice. In fact, you wanna know the song that I was most reminded of when I first heard this? Because it wasn’t any other The Weeknd song, it was “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” by Ariana Grande. From the melodic synths to even the percussion (even if the percussion on this song doesn’t have as much power as Ariana’s song did). This definitely should’ve had more of a driving tempo given all the driving imagery in the lyrics, but as is, it’s still a really good song.

And that’s that! My next article will, if it’s not my Chill Pick article, it’ll be lists for 1999, so stay tuned for that!! In the meantime, if you guys have your own personal favorite non-US hits you’d like to talk about or predictions for my 1999 worst list, the comments are right there!! I’m eager to see what your picks or predictions are!! And as always, remember to keep it Fire!!