The best guitar solo of 2025: Turnstile and ‘Seein’ Stars’
One of my least favourite things in modern music is when you have a band who say something along the lines of, “We’re bringing back the guitar.”
We saw it earlier in the year as Gene Gallagher (yes, Liam’s son) launched his new band Villanelle with the statement that he was looking to “Bring back rock music”. Statements like this are deeply dull, as those with eyes to hear and ears to listen could tell you that rock music is not only still present but thriving.
“It was a genuine passion and drive to bring back rock music again,” said guitarist Ben Taylor in an interview with NME. “Bands have been in the culture lately, but it was indie rock for a long time. Then it plateaued into an almost ‘pop’ band-y culture. We wanted to bring something back.”
The whole idea just seems poorly put together, as there are plenty of bands making great rock music (where Villanelle falls into that category, I’ll leave you to decide). Throughout 2025, we’ve been subject to some rock respondent ruckus bursting through the years’ seams, which has subsequently flooded current music with a litany of guitar solos.
I have been given the unenviable task of trying to pick a favourite from this pile, something which seems damn near impossible. I don’t have my finger on the pulse too much when it comes to metal music, so I fear some great offerings from that genre will have been missed out on. However, even dismissing a couple of styles doesn’t make this task any easier.
The first band that came to mind was Geese. It seems that anyone who knows anything about modern music is a fan of Cameron Winter’s outfit in some way, shape, or form. Their poetic lyricism, with a mixture of exemplary guitar work, has captured the hearts of fans across the world, and there are plenty of guitar solos I could have picked from their most recent record, Getting Killed.
One adored musician who has admitted to being a fan of the band is none other than Nick Cave. “The first song starts with Cameron Winter singing, in his lovely, plaintive way ‘I try/ I try/ I try so hard’ and I feel those simple words down to my soul, because we all try, because we all try so hard,” he said. “And when the band kicks into the chorus – I mean, my God, those drums – and Cameron Winter screams, again and again – ‘There’s a bomb in my car! There’s a bomb in my car!’ all worry is laid to waste.”
However, despite the acclaim that Geese have very much earned, I’ve decided to offer the top spot of best solo this year to Turnstile for their offering on the disco-infused track ‘Seein’ Stars’.
I feel like a lot of people will disagree with me on this, which is fine, but allow me to at least try and explain. What we hear on this song isn’t just a good guitar solo, it’s a good guitar solo laid bare for all to hear. There are no thrills or spills, just some excellent fretwork and a touch of distortion. Here, we hear a guitar solo stripped down to its bones and are reminded why we are so drawn to them in the first place.
The backing instrumentation that rests under the solo is pretty minimal. It’s just the same bassline we’ve been hearing throughout the track, as well as percussion. The solo itself is relatively straightforward, too, as it basically mimics the vocals and adds a few inflexions here and there. What I love is the fact that, despite this relatively simple approach to the solo, it still catches the attention of everyone listening and is an effective reminder as to why people love a good shredding session so much.
‘Seein’ Stars’ isn’t just a good solo, it’s a reminder as to why they remain timeless.
