#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 embracing her full festive pop era, serving a cosy, sugar sweet bop that warms you up faster than a mug of cocoa on a snow kissed morning.
Appearing on the 2025 deluxe edition of You Make It Feel Like Christmas, the song jingles with retro pop sparkle, wrapped up harmonies and playful, merry and bright lyrics perfectly capturing the light, flirty holiday charm Gwen has always delivered with bells on.
I find the sweetness a little over the top but in the best way. It’s unapologetically fun, like the musical equivalent of piling on extra marshmallows (well ’tis the season to treat yo’ elf!). Also I do love a hot choccy, or hot cocoa….although now I’m wondering what’s the yule difference between the two?!
Rosalía, Björk, Yves Tumor - Berghain
Berghain is an unexpected viral collab between Rosalía, Björk and Yves Tumor and it's the kind of surprise drop that feels like finding an extra present under the tree. Although, to be fair, Rosalía and Björk had already decked the halls together back in 2023, when Rosalía featured on Björk’s single Oral as part of a fundraiser supporting 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 and it's just bizarre and fabulous.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor - (Christmas) Time
Our Sophie Ellis-Bextor takes the wistful love ballad Time from her latest album, Perimenopop and reinvents it as a shimmering yuletide offering. (Christmas) Time contains gentle bells, warm strings and a cosy, nostalgic production wrapped 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 the 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. Immaculate tbh.
Katy Perry - bandaids
Katy Perry has dropped bandaids less than a year after 143 and it feels like unwrapping a gift from the emotional pop storytelling that built her career-the kind of track that jingles straight from the heart. You could almost imagine it tucked under the tree next to her iconic 2008 One of the Boys album….though it’s definitely wrapped in a shiny and modern bow.
It's an absolute bop guaranteed to deck the halls of your playlist!
After all, she has more than a decade of chart topping singles behind her, and you can hear that polish here. I'm obsessed with the Woman's World reference at the end of the video too....
bandaids leans into a bittersweet, mid tempo groove that lets her voice carry the weight of someone patching themselves up while still trying to look on the bright side and being bulletproof. Pop perfection.
Christina Aguilera - My Favorite Things (Live from the Eiffel Tower)
Watching Christina Aguilera perform My Favourite 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 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
WAKE UP WAKE UP I never had Hilary Duff comeback on my 2025 bingo card but HERE WE ARE! Hilary dropped Mature which marks her first new music in a decade, ending a long pause since her 2015 Breate In. Breathe Out. album. New Hilary Duff music feels like a Saturn return.
Mature was co-written with her husband Matthew Koma and it feels like a daring step back into pop rock territory, but with a more grown up and introspective voice than much of her early 2000s work.
Fun fact: Tove Lo worked with Hilary on Sparks which is iconic to me. Oh and wait there's more good news....Hilary's announced her Small Rooms, Big Nerves mini tour which, again, is her first tour in over a decade and includes stops in select cities in North America including Vegas and wait for it....London baby!
Hilary Duff will be performing at the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire in January, 2026! A sentence I never thought I'd be typing, this is what dreams are made of (IYKYK hehehe). Oh and that's not all....
A. NEW. ALBUM! luck … or something will be here in February 2026, honestly 2026 is already shaping up to be the best year ever and I know I've already said it but I need to say it again just for those in the back that didn't hear me....THIS.👏🏼IS.👏🏼WHAT.👏🏼DREAMS.👏🏼ARE.👏🏼MADE.👏🏼OF!
HUMMUS - Sleepless in N.Y.
I need to breathe for a minute so Sleepless in N.Y. is one of those tracks that immediately drops you into a chill and late night mood, sometimes the 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....argh we NEED to plan a trip to New York asap bestie if you're reading this.
Btw I don't know much about HUMMUS or how I discovered his music but honestly check him out, I love all of his music and his music is perfect for unwinding when the Christmas shopping get's a bit much, but he says "my name is not because of the salad. and "that won't stop me from making delicious and healthy music." I love that! Gracias por la música si alguna vez lees esto y buena suerte con todo.
Robyn - Dopamine
Konichiwa Bitches hehehe after 84 years, my fave Swede (well joint with Loreen, Zara Larsson, Alcazar, Tove Lo, A*Teens, Måns Zelmerlöw, ABBA and Agnes), the one and only Robyn is baaaaaaaack!
Dopamine feels like slipping into a confession booth disguised as a dance track. The production pulses with that familiar Robyn shimmer, clean, cool and instantly addictive and we've got an official music video too! On her socials, Robyn shared "Dopamine. I’ve been working on this song for almost a decade and it feels so good to release it" and "How great to have a body, how great to have a brain, how great to be alive❤️🔥" YASSS Robyn, plus I need to say there really is nothing quite like Robyn dancing on her own in a music video!
Kylie Minogue - XMAS
Pop's sparkliest showgirl aka Kylie Minogue knows exactly the kind of glittery holiday escapism we need and delivers with XMAS. Kylie said XMAS is a track that dates back to the summer of 2015 and was originally inspired by YMCA by the Village People. I can see that actually.
Kylie's Amazon Music Original song officially enters the race for 2025's official Christmas number 1 single and has an official music video coming soon too! The track (pronounced X-M-A-S btw) is available to stream now exclusively on Amazon Music (so that's why it's missing from my Spotify playlist boohoo) and is also available to pre-order on CD, 7-inch gold vinyl and 12-inch zoetrope vinyl via Amazon and Kylie's official online store....omg what fab stocking fillers.
XMAS is the latest to join a growing list of holiday tracks released exclusively on Amazon Music, including ones from global superstars like Taylor Swift (Christmas Tree Farm), Katy Perry (Cozy Little Christmas), Sam Ryder (You’re Christmas To Me) and Tom Grennan (It Can’t Be Christmas) and is also aken from Kylie's Kylie Christmas (Fully Wrapped) album which is THE definitive Kylie Christmas album! Kylie Christmas (Fully Wrapped) is a sparkling collection of timeless, glittering holiday tracks that capture the warmth, fun and glamour of the festive season in true Kylie style and includes not one, not two, not three but four brand new songs, Hot in December, Office Party, This Time of Year annnnnnnnd XMAS.
XMAS is giving your Christmas needs you and I love it! Manifesting that it'll be on Spotify and all other streaming platforms ASAP and I can't wait for the music video!
Jim Verraros - Good Boy
Whether you’ve been naughty or nice this year, here’s a little treat from me to you, yes YOU! Jim Verraros has slid down the chimney with Good Boy, a sexy comeback track that knows exactly what it wants to be. It’s sleek, sultry and a stocking full of empowerment, diving into queer identity while unapologetically leaning into its pop club DNA….utterly delicious and guaranteed to make your holiday season sleigh.
Taken from the album Explicit, Good Boy is a confident step forward from an artist who made TV and music history in 2002 when he became the first out gay contestant on American Idol season 1.
"In a time where our voices are being silenced, it’s more important now than ever that we put our art into the world with unwavering confidence and strength. I hope you enjoy it!"
As for the official music video, directed by Brad Hammer….well, I’ll let you unwrap that present yourself (but you’re welcome). Let’s just say Jim certainly knows how to raise eyebrows among other things, he’s not afraid to make things a little extra spicy this festive season.
Did you catch fellow out American Idol finalist David Hernandez making a cameo in the video too?! If not, you’ll want to give it another jingling watch and don’t forget to unwrap my interview with David from October HERE.
I really admire how both Jim and David have always embraced living authentically, spreading cheer with every move and it’s wonderful to see their continued success. Now all we need is a duet, maybe a festive duet?! If you’re reading this guys.... consider it your Christmas mission!
AOTM: The Pretty Reckless
Taylor Momsen's Pretty Reckless Christmas
OMG…Taylor Momsen's Pretty Reckless Christmas dropped on Halloween (which feels so perfectly on brand for The Pretty Reckless, right?). Honestly, such a smart move too because the moment Halloween ends, everywhere flips straight to Christmas music on November 1st.
I held off (impatiently!) until today to finally listen, since I refuse to embrace Christmas songs before December 1st. Anyone else the same, or just me? Anyway, the wait was totally worth it!
The seven track EP consists of the band’s previously released cover of Where Are You Christmas? as well as four original festive songs plus a cute short intro and interlude.
Of their Grinch cover, Taylor Momsen said, “Revisiting Where Are You Christmas? 25 years later feels like coming home to a part of myself I hadn’t seen in a long time. I was just a child when I first sang it, and I never could’ve imagined the way the song, and the film, would stay with people for so long and unknowingly shape my career path as an adult." and “Recording it now, with all the life I’ve lived in between, I hear it through a different lens….but the heart of it is the same. It’s about wonder, hope and holding on to the magic-something I think we all need more than ever.”
I loveeee that Taylor was up for this and the band delivering a rock infused reinterpretation of Where Are You Christmas?, a song as we know was originally sung by their frontwoman years ago as a child in my favourite 2000 Christmas film How the Grinch Stole Christmas (it actually is my favourite Christmas film btw, I'm not just saying it!) is now transformed into a powerful anthem that bridges the innocence of childhood with the weight of adult emotion. I'm just so glad that we have a new entry to the list of the greatest Christmas songs.
This marks the first time Taylor has revisited the song since How the Grinch Stole Christmas release 25 years ago transforming the heartwarming holiday ballad into a refreshed rock anthem.
What really works for me is how the EP doesn't just rely on nostalgia which it could easily have done. 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 always have to be saccharine to be heartfelt and is still distinctly The Pretty Reckless.
The Pretty Reckless have managed to inject genuine grit and soul into the Christmas genre and that makes this record one of the most interesting Christmassy releases in 2025 and I just think it's a genius and iconic move and I love that the band aren't taking themselves too seriously or thinking that they're above the most wonderful time of the year!
My favourite tracks are Where Are You Christmas?, I Wanna Be Your Christmas Tree, Christmas Is Killing Me, Blues On Christmas and Christmas, Why Can't I Find You?.
It really is Christmas past turned into a Christmas present naww and now we've got new Christmas music to listen to every year! Merry Christmas one and all. xoxo
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