#DALEYPOP X December 2025
Starring: Gwen Stefani, Rosalía, Björk, Yves Tumor, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Katy Perry, Christina Aguilera, Hilary Duff, HUMMUS, Robyn, Kylie Minogue, Jim Verraros and The Pretty Reckless!
Music has been embedded in my life ever since I was in the womb, my Mum and Dad basically raised me on music, especially POP music! Like most gay millennials I grew up listening to Madonna, Mariah Carey, Kylie Minogue, Spice Girls, Britney Spears and even AQUA and I’ve always been obsessed with pop culture and Eurovison! I love sharing my favourite songs and album every month with the world from Scene HQ!
Gwen Stefani - Hot Cocoa
Hot Cocoa sees Gwen Stefani leaning fully into her festive pop persona, delivering a cosy, sugar-sweet holiday track that feels like wrapping your hands around a warm mug on a cold morning. The song appears on her 2025 deluxe edition Holiday Romance Christmas album and with its retro pop sparkle, stacked harmonies and playful lyrics it captures the light, flirty charm Gwen has always been great at.
I find the sweetness a little over the top in the best way and exactly what makes it so festive. It’s unapologetically fun, like the musical equivalent of adding extra marshmallows just because you can!
Rosalía, Björk, Yves Tumor - Berghain
Berghain is an unexpected viral collaboration between Rosalía, Björk and Yves Tumor although actually Rosalía featured on the Björk track Oral in 2023 as a fundraiser for Iceland’s fight against salmon farming.
Berghain though, is as wild and genre defiant as the trio themselves. Taken from Rosalía's fourth studio album, Lux and upon its release topped the charts in Rosalía's home country of Spain and I keep hearing it all over Instagram and TikTok. The song features contributions from the London Symphony Orchestra.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor - (Christmas) Time
With (Christmas) Time, Sophie Ellis-Bextor takes the wistful love ballad Time from her latest album, Perimenopop and reinvents it as a shimmering yuletide offering: gentle bells, warm strings and a cozy, nostalgic production wrap around her voice, giving the song a festive glow that feels at once intimate and celebratory.
I love that twist and this version manages to capture the spirit of Christmas without sliding into cliché.
It’s heartfelt rather than kitschy, and it works because Sophie’s voice retains that familiar poise and emotional clarity, even with the seasonal sparkle.
Katy Perry - bandaids
Katy Perry’s bandaids feels like a return to the emotional pop storytelling she built her career on.
After all, she has more than a decade of chart topping singles behind her, and you can hear that polish here.
The track leans into a bittersweet, mid-tempo groove that lets her voice carry the weight of someone patching themselves up while still trying to look bright and bulletproof.
Christina Aguilera - My Favorite Things (Live from the Eiffel Tower)
Watching Christina Aguilera - My Favorite Things (Live from the Eiffel Tower) feels a bit like being dropped into a glamorous holiday postcard come to life.
Filmed with the Eiffel Tower sparkling behind her, Xtina leans into the classic with her trademark vocal fireworks, turning a cosy Rodgers and Hammerstein tune into a full-on vocal event. The arrangement swells, the lights shimmer, and it all feels intentionally indulgent, in the best way of obvs.
Hilary Duff - Mature
When Hilary Duff dropped Mature it marked Hilary's first new music in a decade, ending a long pause since her 2015 album.
The track was co-written with her husband Matthew Koma - feels like a daring step back into pop-rock territory, but with a more grown-up, introspective voice than much of her early 2000s work.
HUMMUS - Sleepless in N.Y.
Sleepless in N.Y. is one of those tracks that immediately drops you into a mood-late nights, hazy lights and that restless city pulse that never quite lets you switch off. You can feel that modern, polished production and mellow electronic beats. It has this almost cinematic quality, like something you'd hear while staring out of a taxi window at 3 a.m. in Manhattan.
Robyn - Dopamine
After almost a decade, Robyn returns with the exalted new single Dopamine which feels like slipping into a late-night confession booth disguised as a dance track. The production pulses with that familiar Robyn shimmer, clean, cool and instantly addictive!
The lyrics walk that tightrope between vulnerability and euphoria that only Robyn seems to master, making you feel both exposed and unstoppable at the same time.
Kylie Minogue - XMAS
Pop's sparkliest showgirl aka Kylie Minogue knows exactly the kind of glittery holiday escapism we need and delivers with XMAS.
Taken from her upcoming Kylie Christmas (Fully Wrapped) album which is THE definitive Kylie Christmas album btw-a sparkling collection of timeless, glittering holiday tracks that capture the warmth, fun and glamour of the festive season in true Kylie style. A selection of her very best Christmas tracks plus three new songs, Hot in December, Office Party and This Time of Year. It’s all delivered with that signature wink and warmth Kylie does so well.
Jim Verraros - Good Boy
Have you been naughty or good this year?! Jim Verraros has dropped Good Boy which feels like the kind of sexy comeback track that knows exactly what it wants to be. Sleek, flirtatious, and unafraid to lean into its pop club DNA....delicious!
It's a confident step forward from an artist who first gained fame on American Idol, and you can hear that experience in how effortlessly he delivers each line, also the official music video is erm, well I'll let you decide (but you're welcome).
The production snaps too, with a glossy, late night pulse, creating a world where sultry vocals and polished beats do all the heavy lifting.
AOTM: The Pretty Reckless
Taylor Momsen's Pretty Reckless Christmas
The Pretty Reckless's new holiday release Taylor Momsen's Pretty Reckless Christmas casts a festive glow that's unmistakably theirs - with gritty guitars, smoky vocals, and a dash of nostalgia. A Christmas past turned into a Christmas present.
In a move that feels both bold and deeply personal, the band delivers a rock-infused reinterpretation of "Where Are You Christmas?," a song originally sung by their frontwoman years ago as a child in the film How the Grinch Stole Christmas - now transformed into a powerful anthem that bridges the innocence of childhood with the weight of adult emotion.
What really works for me is how the EP doesn't just rest on nostalgia. Original tracks like "Christmas Is Killing Me" and "I Wanna Be Your Christmas Tree" bring playful, dark-toned, and sometimes melancholic holiday vibes, proving that festive music doesn't have to be saccharine to be heartfelt.
The Pretty Reckless have managed to inject genuine grit and soul into the Christmas genre - and t that makes this record one of the most interesting seasonal releases in 2025.
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