Dhaka’s soundscape: a year of breakthroughs

It almost feels like a golden age for music in Dhaka. Well, it did, until this strange kind of cultural oppression on music began. That aside, it has still been a solid five years of our favourite rock and pop artistes ruling the roost. From Karnival to Level Five, from Pritom Hasan to Xefer, a wave of new names has ripped up the concert scene and delivered impressive numbers on streaming platforms.

For an industry to be truly robust, good songs need to come out on a regular basis, songs with strong songwriting, meaningful lyrics, interesting compositions, and polished production. If you leave out Hatirpool Sessions, Firoze Jong, and Kaaktaal, who else has delivered on these fronts consistently over the last two to three years? One could point to Coke Studio, of course, but I prefer to leave them out, simply because almost no one can match the budget behind those productions.

So while excited faces turned up at concerts (often badly managed, ironically) and social media feeds buzzed about music like never before, I couldn't shake a sinking feeling—a kind of "yeah, it's a good run, but the well might be running dry" feeling.

Until, of course, 2025 came around. I don't know if anyone else has picked up on this yet, but the standard of original music released over the last 12 months has been off the charts. Whether it's a money-starved independent songwriter or a rock veteran coming off a dry spell, great music has graced my ears throughout the year, at least in terms of quality. We still have some work to do on the quantity side of things.

With all that said, let's take a look at some of the best music from the class of '25. Note that this is a personal list, featuring only Rock, Metal, Singer-Songwriter, or Pop music from Dhaka. It does not represent other dominant forms in the city, such as folk, hip-hop, EDM etc.

1. Aseer Arman & Shuvro – Aranyak
2. Modernotaku – Jete Pari
3. Netbaby – Bechara
4. Arekta Rock Band – Bhera
5. Kaaktaal – Gaan Bajna Bhalo Na
6. Bay of Bengal – Keuba Kothay
7. Conclusion – Nite Paro
8. Shohojia – Obhinoy
9. Tapesh Chakraborty – Maya
10. Samageet – Dhormo Jar Jar
11. The Rehman Duo – Unmukh Angshik
12. Arnob and Sunidhi – Bhallage Na Kichu
13. Torture Goregrinder – In the Slam/On the Gang
14. Vintage Theory – Kaata Ghaye Noon
15. Antonogor – Chup Kore Bosho
16. Nine – Telling You To Give Up
17. Quiet on Purpose – Sober Again
18. EIDA – Rodeo
19. Achar – Kolpona
20. Chitropot – Hothat Ghumie Thaka Gaach
21. Ex 8 – Alphard
22. The Seesaw and Rupakalpa – Bhanga Chand
23. Ishaan – Gulbahar
24. Nemesis – Dour

2025 will be remembered as a year of political turbulence. But once everything settles down, we will hopefully look back on it as the year that kickstarted another wave of incredible music, one that lasts for a while, until the next inevitable boom-bust cycle begins.

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12 mainstream musical hits of 2025

Special shoutouts to The Rover and Post Office Society for their albums, and to Gemini Sol, who dropped their amazing debut Slow Dance just as this piece was being compiled.