Photo by Marie-Michèle Bouchard (collage)

The Best of 2025

Story by Howard Druckman and Eric Parazelli (compilation) | December 12, 2025

As we look forward to 2026, Words & Music and Paroles & Musique also remember and celebrate 2025, with Top 10 Lists of SOCAN members’ songs from some of our regular contributors. Happy Holidays!


Howard Druckman
Howard Druckman is the Editor of SOCAN’s Words &  Music online magazine.

Howard Druckman

      1. Baby Nova – “Too Pretty for Buffalo”
    2. Mariel Buckley – “Vending Machines”
    3. SHAD – “Slanted”
    4. Julian Taylor featuring Jim James – “Don’t Let ‘Em (Get Inside of Your Head)”
    5. Billianne – “Baby Blue”
    6. Wyatt C. Louis – “In Emerald”
    7. TOBi – “Life is a Jungle”
    8. Landreth – “I’ll Drive”
    9. Ron Sexsmith – “Cigarette and Cocktail”
    10. DijahSB, Snakehips – “Pipe Down”


Eric Parazelli
Eric Parazelli is the Editor of SOCAN’s online magazine Paroles & Musique and Manager of Francophone Communications for SOCAN.

Eric Parazelli

  1. Vulgaires Machins – “Om mani padme hum”
  2. Lou-Adriane Cassidy – “16 ans bientôt trente”
  3. Antoine Corriveau (featuring Rose Perron) – “Pastorale »
  4. Robert Robert – “Kia Rio”
  5. JF Pauzé – “Emmêlé dans ses ch’veux”
  6. Ariane Roy – “I.W.Y.B.”
  7. Loud (featuring Salomé Leclerc) – “Entre nous”
  8. High Klassified (featuring Hubert Lenoir) – “Rouge Blanc”
  9. N Nao – “Corps”
  10. Soraï (featuring Virginie B) – “Though Crowd”

 

Del F. Cowie
Words & Music regular contributor Del F. Cowie has worked as a writer, producer, and researcher for the Peabody and International Emmy Award-winning Netflix documentary series Hip Hop Evolution. He’s also worked as a producer for CBC Music and was hip-hop editor at Exclaim! magazine for more than a decade.

Del Cowie

  1. Saya Gray – “Lie Down”
  2. Planet Giza – “The Fall”
  3. Tanika Charles – “Talk to Me Nice”
  4. BadBadNotGood, featuring V.C.R. – “Found A Light”
  5. Shad – “Bars and BBQs”
  6. Daniel Caesar – “Root of All Evil”
  7. Rochelle Jordan – “Ladida”
  8. Tre Mission – “Creole”
  9. Merna – “Ours to Keep”
  10. Thelonius – “Sunshine”

 

Olivier Boisvert-Magnen
Paroles & Musique contributor Olivier Boisvert-Magnen is a writer, journalist, columnist, researcher and producer for ICI Musique.

Olivier Boisvert-Magnen

  1. Lou-Adriane Cassidy – Souffle souffle
  2. Pierre Kwenders – “We Like”
  3. Fléau DiCaprio – “Big Wop”
  4. Calamine – “Chambre d’écho”
  5. LaF (featuring Ariane Roy) – “June”
  6. Marie-Claudel – “La fin d’une époque”
  7. Mzrabelle – “All Black”
  8. High Klassified (featuring Hubert Lenoir) – “Rouge blanc”
  9. Seinssucrer, Mike Shabb, Obia le chef – “Omniscience”
  10. Loud (featuring Salomé Leclerc) – “Entre nous”

 

Mary Dickie
Words & Music regular contributor Mary Dickie has been writing about music for more than three decades, for publications including Graffiti, Music Express, Impact, Eye Weekly, The Toronto Sun, Elle Canada, and Musicworks.

Mary Dickie

  1. The Beaches – “Last Girls at the Party”
  2. Julianna Riolino – “Seed”
  3. Ron Sexsmith – “When Will the Morning Come”
  4. Tia Wood – “Sage My Soul”
  5. Rheostatics – “Tasiq”
  6. Begonia – “PLB”
  7. Pierre Kwenders – “We Like”
  8. Cris Derksen – “Planes”
  9. Besnard Lakes – “Pontiac Spirits”
  10. John Borra – “Did What I Could”

 

Nicolas Tittley
A veteran of Voir and MusiquePlus, Nicolas Tittley continues to cover the culture beat with one foot firmly planted in the music scene, notably as a contributor to Paroles & Musique. You can catch him every Saturday on Tout peut arriver on ICI Première, as well as on ICI Musique.

Nicolas Tittley

  1. Vulgaires Machins – “Om Mani Padme Hum”
  2. Lou-Adriane Cassidy – “Ariane”
  3. Ariane Roy – “Âmes sœurs”
  4. Joseph Marchand – “St-Placide l’été”
  5. Population II – “La Trippance”
  6. Raccoon – “Conscious Rapper”
  7. Marie-Céleste – “2 Goélands”
  8. Marie Davidson – “Push Me Fuckhead”
  9. Cœur de pirate – “Les enfants des temps derniers”
  10. Amy Millan – “Untethered”

 

Nancy Dutra
Words & Music regular contributor Nancy Dutra is a writer and editor who loves to read, write, and sing about the human condition.

Nancy Dutra

  1. Lou-Adriane Cassidy – “Dis-moi dis-moi dis-moi”
  2. Saya Gray – “Shell (Of a Man)”
  3. Allison Russell, Kristen Personius – “Love I Found”
  4. Ron Sexsmith – “Rose Town”
  5. Amanda Rheaume – “One of These Days”
  6. The Beaches – “Did I Say Too Much”
  7. Marie Davidson – “Sexy Clown”
  8. Rick White, The Sadies – “Fly Away”
  9. William Prince – “For the First Time”
  10. Ebril – “Stranger in You”

 

Élise Jetté
Paroles & Musique contributor Élise Jetté is a freelance journalist, researcher, columnist and host. She can be heard on CISM and ICI Première.

Elise Jette

  1. Ada Lea – “baby blue frigidaire mini fridge”
  2. Bolduc tout croche – “La mécanique de ma défense”
  3. Stéphanie Boulay – “Si l’essentiel c’est d’être aimé”
  4. Lou-Adriane Cassidy – “Adieu”
  5. Afternoon Bike Ride – “Miss Universe”
  6. Carl-Éric Hudon – “Portrait de famille”
  7. Charlotte Brousseau – “Douce”
  8. Catherine Leduc – “Les pentes glissantes m’échappent souvent”
  9. Vulgaires Machins (featuring Jenny Salgado) – “L’effondrement qui vient”
  10. Charlie Juste – “Rue Viau”

 

Kerry Doole
Words & Music regular contributor Kerry Doole is a veteran freelance arts journalist who’s written about music and film for the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Exclaim!, and dozens of consumer and trade publications in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., and Australasia.

Kerry Doole

  1. Begonia – “So High”
  2. John Borra –“Here In My Heart”
  3. Jerry Leger – “Drive Away Tonight”
  4. MOONRIVR – “You Get Me By”
  5. Ron Sexsmith – “Don’t Lose Sight”
  6. Rheostatics – “The Inland Sea”
  7. William Prince – “Thousand Miles of Chain”
  8. Dominique Fils-Aimé  – “Going Home”
  9. Sloan –  “Capitol Cooler”
  10. Julianna Riolino – “The Less I Know”

 

Claude Côté
A freelance journalist for La Presse and Paroles & Musique, he previously wrote for Voir, hosted shows on CIBL radio, served as a music columnist on RDI for 22 years, and delivered segments on ICI Première and ICI Musique.

Claude Cote

  1. Ellemetue – “Les avalés du silicone”
  2. Andrea Lindsay – “Fool In Love”
  3. Barr Brothers – “Run Right Into It”
  4. Choses Sauvages – “Fixe”
  5. Bolduc Tout Croche – “La violence c’est quoi? C’est qui?”
  6. Virginie B – “Cinema” (Yuki B Remix)
  7. Phil G Smith – “Ça valait la peine”
  8. The Planet Smashers – “Alien”
  9. Marc Déry – “Kekpart”
  10. Charlotte Brousseau – “J’entends la neige”