It’s a particularly exciting chart this week as we approach the end of 2025, with a new #1 song and two fantastic new debuts, incidentally all by duo acts. Twenty One Pilots, my favorite music act for the past ten years, takes over the top spot with “City Walls”, marking their 14th song to top my chart, and their third this year alone, following “The Line” this past March and “The Contract” in August. Like “The Contract”, “City Walls” is from their eighth studio album Breach, which was released September 12th and serves as the final installment in their decade-long narrative arc explored by their previous albums Blurryface (2015), Trench (2018), Scaled and Icy (2021), and Clancy (2024).
(For those who’ve been living under a rock, Twenty One Pilots are based in Columbus, Ohio and consist of the dynamic duo of singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Tyler Joseph and power drummer Josh Dun. “City Walls” was written and produced by Joseph and his longtime collaborator Paul Meany, the lead singer and keyboardist for alternative rock project Mutemath, who opened for Twenty One Pilots on their Emotional Roadshow Tour that I saw in 2016.)
According to songsdiscussion.com, “‘City Walls’ delves into powerful themes of betrayal, reluctant leadership, and the immense psychological cost of rebellion, all set within the band’s established Dema and Trench narrative. The song’s core meaning centers on a protagonist who feels utterly abandoned by a trusted guide who was supposed to show him the way past the oppressive “city walls.” Now, he is forced to lead a dangerous and uncertain “breach” on his own, all while battling the severe fragmentation of his own mental state under the crushing weight of his new responsibility.“
The accompanying music video for the song, directed by Jensen Noen, runs for nearly ten minutes, making it the longest music video Twenty One Pilots have ever released. (The track itself is 5:22 minutes long.) Band frontman Tyler Joseph stated that the video serves as the proper conclusion to the story surrounding the conceptual city of “Dema”, a fictional location in the world of “Trench”, and its two central characters, Clancy (portrayed by Joseph) and Torchbearer (portrayed by drummer Josh Dun). With a production budget of $1 million, “City Walls” is one of the most expensive music videos of all time, as well as the second most expensive music video of the 2020s. Wikipedia
As I noted earlier, we have two marvelous new debuts, starting with “who’s your boyfriend” by Sydney, Australia-based duo Royel Otis. Comprised of Otis Pavlovic (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano) and Royel Maddell (lead guitar, backing vocals, bass, synthesizer), they’ve previously reached #1 twice on my chart, with “Murder on the Dancefloor” in 2024 and “moody” earlier this year. Like “moody”, “who’s your boyfriend” is from their third studio album hickey.
The second debut is “I’ve Got A Broken Heart”, the latest single by hyper-talented jangle pop-rock duo The Lemon Twigs. Based in Long Island, New York, they consist of brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario, both of whom are vocalists, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists. Their wonderful song “My Golden Years” reached #1 on my chart and ranks #5 on my Top 100 Songs of 2024 list (right behind “Murder on the Dancefloor”). “I’ve Got A Broken Heart” was released on November 25th as a double single also featuring “Friday (I’m Gonna Love You)”.
- CITY WALLS – Twenty One Pilots (2)
- THE WEATHER – All Time Low (1)
- DRACULA – Tame Impala (3)
- 12 TO 12 – sombr (10)
- DOWNSTAIRS – Matt Maeson (5)
- THE FATE OF OPHELIA – Taylor Swift (6)
- ORDINARY CREATURE – Of Monsters and Men (7)
- SPECTER – Bad Omens (9)
- ANOTHER LIFE – Alabama Shakes (4)
- SO FAR SO FAKE – Pierce The Veil (12)
- THE FEAR – Future Theory (13)
- LUCY – Mt. Joy (14)
- GET THE MESSAGE – The Paradox (15)
- WATCH ME GO – Lord Huron (16)
- ELEGANTLY WASTED – Hermanos Gutiérrez feat. Leon Bridges (8)
- ENSENADA – Sublime (11)
- ZOMBIE – YUNGBLUD (18)
- TANANA – Portugal. The Man (19)
- BY YOUR SIDE – Meltt (20)
- REMEMBER US? – Two Feet (21)
- RUBBER BAND MAN – Mumford & Sons w/Hozier (22)
- MADALENA – Goose (23)
- INFINITE SOURCE – Deftones (24)
- WHITE HORSES – Wolf Alice (25)
- HUMAN – Brandi Carlile (30)
- STAY IN YOUR LANE – Courtney Barnett (29)
- SUSHI AND COCA-COLA – St. Paul & The Broken Bones (17)
- WHO’S YOUR BOYFRIEND – Royel Otis (N)
- I’VE GOT A BROKEN HEART – The Lemon Twigs (N)
- DANG – Rainbow Kitten Surprise (28)
ECLECTIC MUSIC LOVER 
I have to tell you that the rock was really heavy😂, so thanks for the enlightened removal. They are really good!
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Thanks, North, though I’m not quite sure who you’re referring to, and what you mean by “removal”.
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Reference to “ for those of you who have been living under a rock!”
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Of course! Boy, am I dense or what!
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Haha! You know when you get older the first thing to go is the memory. Don’t ask me what the second thing is though…I don’t remember. I’m here till Friday.
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That Lemon Twigs song is straight from 1966 or 1972, or something.
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Yeah, they really do channel the Beatles, Byrds and Hollies on a lot of their songs.
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Twenty One Pilots’ “City Walls” is quite an opus. It’s interesting how it blends elements of hip-hop with rock and pop. Even though hip-hop generally isn’t so much my cup of tea, it does work for me in this case – yet another illustration how genres are secondary at the end of the day. The video is reminiscent of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” in terms of its massive production.
I like both of your new entries. You likely won’t be surprised that’s particularly the case with The Lemon Twigs. I just love their beautiful retro sound that takes you right back to the ’60s and bands like The Beatles, Byrds and The Beach Boys. Brian D’Addario and his brother Michael D’Addario are super-talented. I’ve covered them various times on my blog.
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It’s that fusion of musical styles and genres that so appeals to me with Twenty One Pilots music. And I love The Lemon Twigs for all the reasons you mentioned.
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