Homegrown Handpicked: A Playlist Of Our Favourite Tracks From December 2025

2025 has been one of the busiest years for music in India, with global artists turning up in force and live shows across genres filling venues from Delhi to Mumbai. Big international names like Travis Scott, Post Malone, Enrique Iglesias, Jon Batiste and EDM mainstay David Guetta toured the country alongside festival bills that brought diverse audiences together — from hip-hop and rock to dance music.

We saw Kaytranada come down to perform and go crate digging through old R. D. Burman records, as well as Gorillaz announcing their ninth album 'The Mountain', a project recorded in part in Indian cities with collaborators including Anoushka Shankar and Asha Bhosle and releasing new tracks this year that nod to Indian sounds and voices. 2025 has been very eventful, showing how India has become a key stop on the global live music map. Meanwhile, here at home we've had our own artists push boundaries and experiment with new forms of expression through creative risks and an expansive imagine. With more exciting releases to look forward to next year, here is our last playlist of 2025:

Kolkata-based Murphy’s Paradox’s debut album Something Like Love follows the course of a relationship across eight songs, moving from the early stages of attraction and falling in love to boredom, growing differences, separation, denial, and eventual acceptance. Written by singer-songwriter Durjoy, the record draws from a long personal relationship. The band records most of the album live and places strong emphasis on sound and arrangement, allowing each song to sit in a specific emotional phase. The final track, 'Some Other Day', reflects on the loss of love and the difficulty of coming to terms with it, with the idea that understanding and peace may arrive later, even if they feel out of reach in the present.

Shilpa Ananth’s new single blends English and Tamil within a soul-infused R&B sound that also draws on jazz and hip-hop textures, deep bass grooves, layered harmonies, and flugelhorn lines. The track was written out of a personal point of self-assertion and authenticity, with the singer questioning external expectations and her own relationship to belonging and creative identity. The accompanying music video, directed by Suruchi Sharma and built with AI-generated imagery, pairs digital and physical visuals to explore what truly accepting oneself feels like.

Shourya Malhotra’s single, 'Paws', is a folk-tinged song built around themes of companionship, love, loss, and the bond between humans and dogs. The track features a music video shot at a Delhi animal shelter in collaboration with Fur Ball Story that documents abandoned dogs awaiting adoption, using the song to bring attention to the need for rescue and rehoming. Paws highlights how canine companionship can reshape a person’s life, framing that emotional experience as both a tribute to pets and a broader call for empathy and action toward animal welfare

SYMBOL97’s latest single is a direct statement of where he stands in hip-hop and how long he has been part of it. Produced and engineered by Praharsh Samal, the track leans on sharp, confident writing and a clear boom-bap foundation, with a hook that addresses assumptions about him being new to the culture. Based in Mumbai and originally from Kalimpong, SYMBOL97 draws on his early roots as a B-boy, carrying that discipline and respect for the form into his rap. The song follows his earlier releases like 'Ring The Alarm' and 'Bazooka' and marks his return after a nearly three-year gap, positioning 'NEW 2 DIS' as a focused reminder of his commitment to the craft.

RANJ’s new single, produced by Mumbai rapper-producer Tienas, is a brief, bass-heavy track just over a minute long that blends underground trap with assertive lyricism. Built on a low, menacing beat from Tienas, the song pairs RANJ’s confident, sharp delivery with her background in Carnatic and opera training; positioning her voice clearly within the larger landscape of Indian hip-hop. The music video uses quick edits and strong visual energy, emphasising contemporary South Asian hip-hop aesthetics.

Hardcore and Nu-metal up-and-comers Tryst and Costheta come together on a track that reflects the modern direction of India’s underground heavy scene, where metal and hip-hop increasingly overlap. The song addresses how harmful social norms continue to be protected in the name of tradition, pointing to herd behaviour and the uncritical passing down of beliefs. Lyrically, it questions why these ideas remain defended and what it means to actively challenge them. Sonically, 'Cancel Culture' blends hardcore aggression, metal textures, and hip-hop delivery into a tense, confrontational sound that matches the frustration that drives the track.

KBIR is a Bombay-based songwriter and producer whose work focuses on using sound as a narrative tool. A Berklee College of Music graduate in production and background scoring, he approaches music with an openness to contrast, treating polished melodies and abrasive textures with equal interest. He is currently preparing to release his debut eight-track pop album, 'It’s Not Me It’s You', which has been shaped by awkward, humorous encounters with love and a growing comfort with not taking himself too seriously. That tone carries into the project’s first single, 'Fly', which is paired with a campy horror-inspired music video drawing from R&B, pop, and electronica.

keichyna is a Delhi-based artist working across sound and visual language, known for building music around questions of identity. Their debut album, 'Rhapsody of the Exiled' was conceived as a larger reflection on how individuals negotiate selfhood within systems that erase that. From the album, 'Where To Draw The Line?' captures a moment of confrontation between empathy and anger, reflecting their broader interest in examining rage and what it reveals about power and survival.

Mary Ann Alexander’s latest single, produced in collaboration with UK-based producer Ceebeaats, is built on layered vocals over a rhythm inspired by early-2000s R&B. The song focuses on the idea that love is something people learn through experience and attention over time, drawing on Alexander’s Malayali upbringing and the way expressions of affection shaped her life. The video, directed by Madhavan Krishnesh, uses movement and physical interaction to reflect the song’s emotional themes. 'Student of Love' looks at intimacy and connection as parts of an ongoing process of growth and understanding.

Kim The Beloved’s new track sits at the intersection of R&B and hip-hop, combining melodic warmth with homest, grounded writing. Co-written with longtime collaborator Miss P (Partei Hangsing), the track reflects Kim’s perspective as a father and provider, shaped by responsibility and faith. The lyrics deal with staying emotionally open while addressing fear, temptation, and moral accountability through a strong spiritual lens. Sonically, the song moves between steady, reflective verses and a softer R&B bridge that focuses on the need for real connection.

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