As the year draws to a close, we are once again shortlisting our top five music videos—and boy, did 2025 deliver!
From the big-budget spectacles to the nostalgic underground finds, this short but punchy list lets you relive the defining music video moments of 2025. It’s the perfect cheat sheet for what to queue to light up your screens during your in-venue summer parties and events.
So, let’s jump into it—in no particular order.
Sabrina Carpenter – Manchild (Dir. Vania Heymann and Gal Muggia)
If you’ve managed to make it through the year without seeing this slice of chaos, that’s impressive, but you’re really missing out!
Packed with a slew of vehicle and outfit changes, this hilarious video showcases Carpenter’s charisma, humour and pop star aura. In under 4 minutes, directors Vania Heymann and Gal Muggia somehow manage to merge a 70s Terrence Malick film with Terminator 2—an impressive feat, to be sure.
The added use of special effects brings it all together to create a surreal road trip through the American Midwest, as Sabrina is let down by almost every man she meets.
Gelli Haha – Bounce House (Dir. David Gutel)
Moving away from global household names, we’re taking a moment to appreciate an ambitious and inventive debut music video from breakout alt-pop artist Gelli Haha.
This low-budget but high-imagination video is the perfect introduction to Haha’s make-believe world, and echoes many of the homemade, DIY-aesthetic indie videos of the 2000s. It features things many of us love, like vibrant colours, iconic dance moves and that one round parachute that was a staple in all our childhoods for some reason.
The video feels both nostalgic and modern at the same time, solidifying Haha as an artist to watch. They truly don’t make music videos like this anymore.
OK Go – A Stone Only Rolls Downhill (Dir. Damian Kulash & Chris Buongiorno)
Yes, it’s 2025 and OK Go are still making groundbreaking music videos!
This video stands apart from the rest in this list, primarily because of how it was made. Unlike the big production behind Manchild, this one was created almost entirely with 42 iPhones… and an incredible amount of creativity, patience and timing.
OK Go frontman (and video director) Damian Kulash said:
“We invested all this time and effort into this so that you could have three minutes of wow in your day and a real sense of joy about other humans in the world. That’s a very precious commodity now.”
Thank you, Damian. The video does just that!
The Weeknd – Open Hearts (Dir. Anton Tammi)
In a similar but also completely different vein, we turn our focus to the latest chapter in The Weeknd’s attempts to push visual and artistic boundaries.
Delivering a dream-like quality, this music video venture was designed by director Anton Tammi to be experienced on Apple Vision Pro’s headset—meaning almost nobody will see it as intended. Having said that, even on a standard screen, this impressive production gives us a dizzying, immersive ride into darkness.
Doechii – Denial Is A River (Dir. Carlos Acosta and James Mackel)
We may have said that this list was in no particular order, but if we had to pick a winner, this video would be sitting in the top spot!
A satire on classic American sitcoms, this creative masterpiece introduced Doechii as the next global star. It’s packed with cameos, genuine humour and artistic decisions that perfectly complement the witty lyrical storytelling.
The final scenes transition from the 1990s into a fourth-wall-breaking, current-day explosion (no, really) that will leave you sorely disappointed at the short 2:44 runtime. All we can say is, we’re on the edge of our seats for what’s yet to come from Doechii.
