1 January 2026 - Chaeyoung - SHOOT (Firecracker)

Happy New Year, and welcome to the best year of Wicked Guilty Pleasures yet.

We're opening with Twice breakout star Chaeyoung, who had in my opinion the greatest Korean album of 2025 with her solo debut LIL FANTASY vol.1 - and this album and its main single (which we are featuring today) are just great.   

In atypical K-Pop fashion, Chaeyoung didn't just show up at the studio and sing and dance like the good little idol.  No, she was a producer and co-writer of all the songs on this album, including this one, on which she co-wrote both lyrics and music and co-designed the vocal arrangement.... AND produced this song!

The video is clearly evocative of Alice In Wonderland.  We all get that, right?  It's almost like Chaeyoung is leaning into the whole li'l fantasy thing.   

She may be a complete artist.... no doubts there.   

But also, she's a K-Pop idol and we know how those live performances go. 

What you DON'T usually see is an excited, engaged crowd at these performances, but here we are. 

31 December 2025 - Addison Rae - Headphones On

So here we are, at the end of the year.  I started writing this post in early November, and as of this moment, as I look at my Spotify On Repeat playlist, three Addison Rae songs are in my top 10.  

This one is #1.  

It has been for months. 

It ended up #11 on my Spotify Wrapped, by the way.

(Update: by the end of December, it slipped a little bit but it's still pretty high up - #8)

This would be her second Billboard Hot 100 hit (after last year's "Diet Pepsi") (and yes, there's a third, coming in a future post), and was a bigger hit in other countries.  It was also in the conversation this year for Song of the Summer and went a LONG WAY towards legitimizing her as an artist and a songwriter (she co-wrote this).  

The song is deep and emotional, and has several tonal shifts throughout.  

This is why I choose this song as both my favorite single of the year, but also the last post of 2025. 

And yes, this video was really recorded in Iceland. 

Like our "Diet Pepsi" post, we're going to feature her August performance at the GRAMMY Museum.... because it's great. 

We had a spectacular 2025 with you. This blog feels reenergized, and I feel like we're just hitting our stride.   Thanks for being here. 

30 December 2025 - Fionn - I Put My Makeup On

The SECOND biggest personal surprise to me on last week's list was Fionn's album scum. clawing all the way up to number 16.  (The biggest was my #1. Seriously)

It deserved it, though.  It was a power-pop girl-power masterclass from two women who themselves started a lot folkier than this. The Finn-Morris twins have created a sarcastic, compelling sound that finally started to break through to mainstream audiences in 2025.  

This is my favorite single from the album - one that evokes feelings of early Spoon while keeping their Vancouver-based Celtic-influenced sound intact - and definitely one of my favorite singles of the year overall by any artist. 

29 December 2025 - Mallrat - Pavement

Light hit my face like a straight right is the second album by Australian artist Mallrat, and it was #9 on my Wicked25.  She's so uniquely Australian that she hasn't broken too far out of that country yet.

Today's post is the 4th single from the album - a hip-hop tinged affair that has received some acclaim, and rightly so - it's a fun tune that also hits kind of hard and somewhat empowering.  Co-written by the artist, it's definitely an autobiographical tune that tells the story of a woman who has been told to just give up on her dreams and refuses to listen. 

Just because she hasn't broken yet in the US does not mean she isn't trying.   I think she's poised to be huge and this performance and others like it - a California performance in October - is a huge reason why. Her music is full of the same energy and verve she brings to the live show. 

26 December 2025 - Siula - Llygaid

If you read my Wicked 25, the one pick that probably had you saying "who?!" was my #23 - Light Falls On The World by Welsh electronic duo Siula.  They were big in Welsh music circles, but haven't expanded much beyond that. 

This song - the title means "eyes" in Welsh - is both a haunting and illuminating musical journey, It's ethereal and yet emotional - a real testament to what the band is all about.   This song is a solid indication of the quality and tone of the entire album, and that's why it made my list.  

So, bask in the glow of Siula.   And don't worry about the Welsh. 

25 December 2025 - Emmanuelle Boucher - Noël chez moi

Why do I get all French Canadian at Christmas?  

I don't know.   

I DO know that "Noël" is a French word, and I want to wish all of you Joyeux Noël from the bottom of my heart.  

Now listen to some Quebec country music. 

24 December 2025 - Cœur de Pirate - Pour la première fois, Noël sera gris

In 2016, Cœur de Pirate released Chansons tristes pour Noël, an EP of three Christmas songs, including this song she wrote herself. 

And, since I already had the œ on my clipboard, I figured I'd share this sad but beautiful song with you.  I hope your Christmas is bright, if you celebrate, and not at all gray.