Hottest 100: follow the countdown

A seriously hot day is about to get even hotter because triple j’s Hottest 100 will shortly kick off.

The annual countdown, which lists Australians’ favourite songs from the past year, will begin at 12pm (AEDT), and I will be following each and every track along the way, offering some (hopefully) hot takes on the biggest hits of 2025. You can also bop along to the tracks yourself by tuning into triple j on the radio, online or via the triple j app.

This year, Aussies were able to vote for any songs released between December 1, 2024 and November 30, 2025. Though the results are kept firmly under wraps, we know that 26 acts featured in the countdown are making their Hottest 100 debut this year, and some kind of significant record is set to fall… What that record is exactly, only time will tell.

Good Luck, Babe! by Chappell Roan took home the top position last year, but what song will reign supreme this time around? Will it be a classic oldie or a new hit, a local tune or a global heavy-hitter? Grab a cold one and get comfortable because we’re about to find out.

Anthony Albanese is no stranger to the Hottest 100 – he didn’t earn the nickname “DJ Albo” for nothing, after all.

Last year, he nominated The Angels’ Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again and Cold Chisel’s Flame Trees for the Hottest 100 of Australian songs in July. This year, he’s leaned into British breakouts and Aussie indie tracks, voting for Olivia Dean’s Man I Need as his top pick, followed by Hatchie’s Sage and Hilltop Hood’s Don’t Happy, Be Worry.

But perhaps most entertaining is his inclusion of noughties cool girl Lily Allen. He selected West End Girl, the lead track from the British singer’s viral 2025 album, as the fifth song on his list. Who said a recently married politician can’t get into arguably the biggest break-up album of all break-up albums? Albo: He’s one of the people.

It’s official, folks. The Hottest 100 of 2025 has kicked off, and the first song to grace our ears was the retro-futuristic track Potion by Djo, aka Joe Keery, aka Steve “The Hair” Harrington from Stranger Things. I guess Joe is still on our minds after the dramatic conclusion of Stranger Things earlier this year (I mean, who could forget that hair?). Potion is, of course, part of his 2025 album The Crux, released in April.

Coming in at No.99 was Delete by Ninajirachi, a high-energy synth-heavy track from her debut album I Love My Computer. It’s the Australian electronic DJ’s first time on the countdown, so kudos to her.

Just behind that came Don’t Go from Aussie indie rock duo Old Mervs. Already two home-grown tracks on the list – not too shabby.

The first leg of the countdown is being helmed by Home & Hosed presenter Anika Luna and The Hook Up podcast co-host Pip Rasmussen. It’s their first time presenting part of the Hottest 100, and they’re “bloody stoked to be here”. So are we, guys.

Written by Keli Holiday (born Adam Hyde, best known as one half of electronic duo Peking Duk) about his partner, media personality Abbie Chatfield, Dancing2 is an unapologetic love song – and one that has come to spark nearly as much online hostility as joy.

The song has been all over TikTok, where it’s being used to soundtrack relationship montages, cancer recovery stories and family dance routines.

However, the song’s omnipresence may have begun to work against it. TikTok frequently suggests trending audio as default sound, which may explain why some social media producers reported Dancing2 auto-attaching itself to videos documenting unrelated or grim news wholly unsuited to a romantic pop soundtrack. Oversaturation can sour even otherwise faultless music; in cases like this, it can also breed suspicion.

Some criticism has also centred on alleged similarities between Dancing2 and LCD Soundsystem’s All My Friends. While surface parallels can be drawn, a more obvious musical forebear is Alex Cameron – a co-writer on the track – whose work has long explored male insecurity, bravado and theatrical performance, often punctuated by generous lashings of saxophone from bandmate Roy Molloy.

Whether it wins or not, perhaps the more pertinent question is this: why has a man’s public devotion to an outspoken woman proven so difficult for so many to stomach?

You can read more about the controversy surrounding Dancing2 here.

Before we get stuck into what was hot this past year, let’s reflect on which songs sizzled in 2024.

The previous countdown (held in January 2025) saw US singer Chappell Roan snatch the top spot with her pop blockbuster Good Luck, Babe!. Meanwhile, Sydney pop-guitar duo Royel Otis took out the No. 2 spot with their cover of Murder on the Dancefloor.

Grammy award-winner Billie Eilish and club rat queen Charli XCX dominated the overall chart with eight entries each, including their duet Guess, breaking the record set by Australian act G Flip the previous year for the most appearances on the list by one artist.

There was a second countdown last year too. This was held in July to mark the youth station’s 50th anniversary, and it only recognised home-grown tracks rather than music from all around the world. This followed backlash in years prior over the decline in local artists featured in the annual poll.

Never Tear Us Apart by INXS came out on top, while The Nosebleed Section by Hilltop Hoods and Untouched by the Veronicas placed second and third, respectively.

However, there was a notable lack of female representation overall. Sure, the Veronicas and Missy Higgins made the top five, but only 12 tracks in the whole countdown were either performed by or featured female artists.

A seriously hot day is about to get even hotter because triple j’s Hottest 100 will shortly kick off.

The annual countdown, which lists Australians’ favourite songs from the past year, will begin at 12pm (AEDT), and I will be following each and every track along the way, offering some (hopefully) hot takes on the biggest hits of 2025. You can also bop along to the tracks yourself by tuning into triple j on the radio, online or via the triple j app.

This year, Aussies were able to vote for any songs released between December 1, 2024 and November 30, 2025. Though the results are kept firmly under wraps, we know that 26 acts featured in the countdown are making their Hottest 100 debut this year, and some kind of significant record is set to fall… What that record is exactly, only time will tell.

Good Luck, Babe! by Chappell Roan took home the top position last year, but what song will reign supreme this time around? Will it be a classic oldie or a new hit, a local tune or a global heavy-hitter? Grab a cold one and get comfortable because we’re about to find out.