Dork’s Top 9 EPs and mixtapes of 2025 (because that’s what we had room for in the magazine layout)

EPs and mixtapes tend to arrive without much fuss, which is usually a good thing. No grand positioning, no sense of being The Statement, just a handful of songs released because someone felt like now was the moment. They’re often quicker, sharper and more revealing than the bigger, shinier things that follow. You hear artists thinking on their feet. Ideas pushed out before they’ve been sanded down, instincts trusted, emotions left to do the heavy lifting. It’s where confidence starts to show itself, sometimes mid-song, sometimes mid-run. Messy in places, sure, but rarely boring.

So yes, this is Dork’s Top 9 EPs and mixtapes of 2025. Not ten. Nine. Because magazine layouts are cruel, practical beasts, and because these releases rarely care for neat conclusions anyway.

9. Rachel Chinouriri – Little House EP

’Little House’ is pure emotional sunshine with sudden sharp edges; an EP that flips from euphoric to “oh no, my heart” before you can blink. Rachel Chinouriri writes songs that make you want to run into the sea fully clothed just to feel something, and she’s utterly incredible at it.

8. Radio Free Alice – Empty Words EP

Radio Free Alice were born holding a very cool pair of sunglasses and a guitar that can predict the future. ‘Empty Words’ struts like the soundtrack to a film where everyone looks incredible and makes terrible, beautiful decisions. It’s nostalgic in the way your brain lies to you and says the past was cinematic.

7. Nxdia – I Promise No One’s Watching

This mixtape has the energy of standing in your bedroom at is-it-late-or-is-it-early-o’clock, having a life-changing conversation with your own reflection. Nxdia’s songs sparkle, sprint and occasionally grab you by the collar just to remind you that feelings are loud now. It hits with the accuracy of someone who has definitely read your diary.

6. Westside Cowboy – This Better Be Something Great EP

Westside Cowboy named their EP like a dare and then delivered it with a shrug. It’s gloriously scrappy, loud enough to wake the neighbours and bursting with the kind of raw charm that makes you want to follow the band van around the country. It’s like witnessing the exact moment lightning hits.

5. Alessi Rose – For Your Validation EP

Last year’s Hype List cover star Alessi Rose weaponises self-awareness in a way that should honestly count as a superpower. ‘For Your Validation’ is so relatable it feels illegal, stuffed with indie-pop firecrackers. She gets it, and she sings it louder than you ever will.

4. Djank – POOSHKA EP

’POOSHKA’ sounds like someone fed five different darkly seductive genres into a blender, forgot to put the lid on, and then decided that actually this was perfect and we should release it immediately. djank make music that kicks the door in, throws its coat on the floor and demands to know where the snacks are. It’s joyful, it’s messy, and it’s totally addictive.

3. Keo – Siren EP

Keo turn up with ‘Siren’ and just start rearranging your emotional furniture without asking. One moment it’s soft and floaty, the next it’s hitting you with a mood so intense you need to sit down and drink water. It’s a star-is-happening-right-now debut, and honestly, we should all be paying attention.

2. Florence Road – Fall Back

Florence Road make music that forces you to dramatically stare out of bus windows like you’re in the season finale of a very expensive teen drama. ‘Fall Back’ is all big riffs, bigger feelings and that specific kind of yearning you only get when you’re convinced you’re the protagonist of everything. They’re already dangerously good.

1. Chloe Qisha – Modern Romance EP

Chloe Qisha is writing pop songs for people who have 147 unread messages and absolutely no intention of opening any of them. ‘Modern Romance’ feels like glittery emotional CPR, the kind of record that grabs your face and says, “Look at me, we’re spiralling but we look fabulous doing it.” Genuinely life-enhancing behaviour; every song’s a hit.