Okay. Hi. Hello, everyone. Anthony Fantano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. I hope you are doing well. It's time for a weekly track, Roundup, where I go over what I felt were the best and worst and in between tracks of the week.

All right, worst tracks of the Week.

We have several.

We have a few.

They are as follows.

Bam.

This first one over here from Pale Waves, "Gravity". It is just such bland, generic pop rock. What is even the appeal? Is there an angle? Is there anything to this? I listened to it several times, and I did not commit any of it to memory, sadly. Yeah, just not really feeling this one at all.

I am committing a bit more to memory this new Meghan Trainor track, "Make a Move", but for all the wrong reasons. Of course, once again, it's overproduced, annoying, throwback pop that is obnoxiously flirty in a way that just makes me feel like I didn't ask for this. Just stay back. Do not consent. Not interested. Thank you. Moving on.

All right, moving on from there, we have a new one from Halsey, "Lonely is the Muse". Yeah, just some very spaced-out, flavorless, kind of sad girl indie rock on this one. I just don't really feel like this is… hollowed-out guitar, bedroom guitar sound is really Halsey's strong suit, especially with all of the martyrdom-type lyrics going on on the track. It's just a little over the top.

Moving on from there. Pop's new It Boy and songwriter, Benson Boone. "Pretty Slowly", brand new track from him, which is exciting conceptually, considering how hot of a commodity he has been as of late. But with this new song, he's just given us some really bad stomp clap garbage. What is this? It's this like, this is just bad millennial pop, but we're just Xeroxing it once again, somehow making it worse. No, thank you. Passing.

All right, meh, the tracks that I was on the fence with, they are as follows.

You might like them a little bit more than me.

We have a new one from Peggy Gou, "Find the Way". If you're looking for a piece of like late '90s, Y2K dance pop with some endless grooves and vintage synth patches, you're going to dig on this one. I mean, the tune isn't really standing out to me, but the throwback nostalgic aesthetics are there, that's for sure.

All right, we also have a new one from the forthcoming Skin Care soundtrack, Orville Peck, "Permanently Lonely". It's a dramatic sad boy country ballad, per usual from him. Not one of his best, but it's fine. It's passable. It's cool.

We also have Lupe Fiasco under a pseudonym in promotion for his upcoming tour. Throwing a bit of a freestyle out there where he's wrapping over a Radiohead sample, which is actually a pretty cool... "Shrink" is the name of the cut. It's rough around the edges. It's nothing crazy, but it's just fun to hear him rap in this context. We can just leave it there.

All right, we also have new one from Lisa, featuring Rosalia. I feel like the throwback pop vibes on the beat here are a little stale, but I am liking Rosalia's vocal contributions to this track a lot. So I don't know. There's pros and there's cons to this one. I'll say that.

Also, pros and cons to the Jean Dawson track, whose string sections and sung chorus are incredible, actually like epic and mind-blowing, quite refined as well. One of the most elegant productions he has ever put out. But the entire thing is slowed down by this very energy-sapped Lil Yachty feature that's just super basic, and I think one of the most thankless features he's put out in a while. "Die For Me" is the name of the song. I mean, really, so many things about it are incredible, but the Yachty feature is just...

Moving on from there. We have Hozier who has come through with this batch of tracks under the title Unaired. In this mix of a couple of songs, he has this one with Bedouine, "That You Are". It's a bit of a very string-kissed, low-key, bit of a duet moment. The tune is just okay. But again, if you're looking for something forlorn and very subtle and very nuanced, this is your ballad.

Also, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, "Die With A Smile", just sounds like a a bit of Silk Sonic, a bit of A Star is Born, with anything that was exciting about two of those two projects canceling out in the process of mixing them together. It's just okay.

We also have Cash Cobain, who has come through with a very interesting collaboration that not only features Laila!, but it's a bit of a posse cut. A lot of different rappers, a lot of different artists on this song, including Flo Milli, as well as Black, as well Big Sean, and that's just a few of them. I'm not going to say it goes over the most cohesively because there are definitely some features that pale in comparison to others. But for sure, as far as this almost like deconstructed, low-key, dance-rap, hybrid concept goes and turning that into a longer multi-feature moment, it's an interesting angle. It's an interesting idea.

Best tracks of the week, we have quite a few of those.

They are as follows.

Starting off with Xiu Xiu, who has actually seen fit to give us two brand new tracks in the lead up to this forthcoming album, which I am very appreciative of. One of them being the opening track to the entire record, which is very forlorn, which is very almost like droney and moody. It is titled "Arp Omni". And then the second of the two, "Veneficium", I'm not even going to try to pronounce that correctly, is a crazy intense rocker that actually reminds me of way older Xiu Xiu, like crazy dark post-punk era Xiu Xiu. Yeah, it's, again, a bit of an incredible throwback. I'll say I'm enjoying it a lot. So, hell yes to getting two songs for this forthcoming record. And so far, as far as singles go, it's three for three. It's three for three. It's three for three with Xiu Xiu. All right.

We also have The Blessed Madonna, producer and DJ, the blessed Madonna, has come through with a brand new single featuring none other than Kylie Minogue, and it is a dance pop banger with great vocals, endless grooves, soaring chorus. You're going to like it.

All right, moving on from there. We also have this total and utter, complete ripper from Ripped to Shreds. "Force Fed" is the name of the song. If you're looking for something that has an old-school death metal flavor to it, but it's very speedy, it's very thrashy, it's very intense, you're going to dig on this. This band's next record is on the way very soon. Looking forward to that.

Also liking Backwood Studios, putting out yet another track from OKSE. "Skopje" is the name of the new track featuring none other than Elucid. And of course, it is a grimy, weird, dark, abstract hip hop hop with some great vocals and a strange lumbering beat that I am messing with quite a bit.

We have quite a bit more here to go through.

We have Nubya Garcia, "Set It Free", featuring Richie. It is a gorgeous and jazzy and wonderfully-sung and performed bit of neo-soul that is quite wondrous and mind-bending. That's great.

Also liking this new Nilufer Yanya track. I mean, she just keeps dropping one fantastic bedroom rock pop tune after another for this forthcoming record. Every single one of them is enchanting and beautiful and strange and wonderful. She just can't seem to miss with any of these teasers. "Mutations" is the name of the cut.

Moving on from there, we also have That Mexican OT who is teaming up with Le$ as well as Curren$y on this song, "1982", where he is just rolling his Rs like a motherfucker on some crazy flows. He's got a lot of personality, a lot of charisma, liking his teasers for this forthcoming record quite a bit.

Also, The Jesus Lizard are back. New album on the way. Some of the cuts for this new record from this infamous - not infamous - but legendary noise rock band. It's been a little bland. I would say this song, this teaser over here, "Moto(R)", is the most rocking of all of them so far. The guitar layers are incredible. The vocals are intense. The tempos, actually, are there, the riffs are hard-hitting, too. Maybe it's not as explosive as the old stuff, but it's pretty kick-ass all the same.

All right, we also have Jamila Woods over here, "Teach Me", which is not only beautiful, but lyrically, I would say one of her heaviest tracks. Yeah, a lot of food for thought laced into this one. So please give this track a spin for sure.

Also messing with one of the tracks that have come from this forthcoming Black Notes EP from Ibibio Sound Machine. They are really, really, really in their electronic dance music bag on this one over here. "Black Notes" is the name of the song, and the groves are just incredible.

Also digging on this new collaboration and crossover from Frost Children as well as Danny Brown. Danny Brown is just messing with all the right artists right now. This is chaotic. This is electronic. This is insane. This is hype. This is danceable. And the Danny Brown feature really puts it over the freaking top.

Also, Flying Lotus. Yes, it's psychedelic. It's weird rhythmically. It's off-kilter. There's lots of layers to it. It's very lush. It's very strange. And most importantly, and most interestingly, FlyLo has seen fit to put his vocals on the track, which I mean, he's rapped and put his vocals on songs before, but he's singing on this track, strangely. I'm not going to say it's the most stunning vocal performance in the world, but it plays into all the layers of instrumentation really well, and I think adds quite a bit. So it's cool that he's exploring, going down this road with some of his new stuff. I'll say that.

All right, Fievel Is Glauque, the once very, avant, lofi, jazzy, cutesy, experimental music project, has a new record on the way. But the production value has gone up and up and up and up and up seemingly on this brand new song over here, and it's sounding very quaint. It's sounding very adorable. "As Above, So Below" is the name of the song. And yeah, liking it quite a bit. It's just a fun little summary jam with some quirky interesting little compositional nuances that I think are really cool.

All right, we also have Fashion Club. If you are looking for some stellar dreamy and lush art pop with this song that features Perfume Genius, of all people, you want to listen to this. You most definitely do not to miss out on this one over here, as well as the new album on the way. "Forget", is the name of the track.

And finally, Elias Rønnenfelt, of Ice Age fame, is going solo. New single, new album on the way. "No One Else" is the title of the track. Actually, surprisingly good little semi-acoustic cut that really does fit that solo singer-singer songwriter mode and aesthetic. It's very frank, it's very upfront, and it's a little folksy, and obviously not as explosive or as aggressive as Ice Age's stuff typically is, but I feel like that gets swapped out effectively with something that is a bit more approachable and sing-songy and quaint. Actually liking this new single quite a bit.

All right, a weekly track roundup is done, is over, is finished.

Anthony Fantano. Weekly Tracks. Forever.