Hey, everyone. Anthony Fantano here, Internet's busiest music nerd. Hope you're doing well. It's time for a weekly track roundup, where I give my thoughts, my opinions, my feelings on a bunch of tracks that have dropped over the past week or so. I give my thoughts on them, positive, negative, or somewhere in between.

So the worst tracks of the week.

We have maybe more of those than I personally would like, but we have Tears for Fears, sounding utterly disappointing with this very bland new track over here, "The Girl That I Call Home", which apparently is attached to just some very bad AI art. This is just very tacky. Don't really get it. What is going on? Astronaut, sunflower field, wiener clouds in the background? Yeah, I don't get it.

Anyway, we also have Pharrell, who has come through the new track, I guess, in tandem with his forthcoming Lego biopic movie thing. It's an obnoxious song. It's quite obnoxious, actually, even by Pharrell standards. And I like the song "Happy", mind you. But this is just grating as heck. I'm not looking forward to hearing more of this, to say the least.

We also have one from Tate McRae. "It's Okay, I'm Okay". Who is sounding as bland as ever on this new track over here. Ripping off Britney Spears a little bit instrumental sounds like something that Timbaland would do back in the day, but not really anything in terms of a standout chorus or memorable vocals either. Just very unimpressive pop.

And speaking of unimpressive pop, jeez. Katy Perry misses again. She cannot seemingly get on the ball with these new singles, even with somebody who, music-wise, talent-wise, is as on fire as Doechii is currently. I was looking forward to this track just based off the Doechii feature alone. "I'm His, He's Mine". But what we have here is just a very bad, stale combination of pop and Southern hip hop with an interpolation and the chords borrowed from that classic house track from Crystal Waters, "Gypsy Woman". There's something about hearing these chords at this tempo that just feels really weird, like it just shouldn't be. Yeah, it's an awkward rehash, and I'm just tired of the pop industry, continuing to dish out these lesser versions of classic songs. And again, Katy Perry is the latest to make an attempt at that and fail miserably.

We also have the industry refusing to just let Juice WRLD rest and continuing to put out clearly mediocre songs from his vault that just shouldn't see the light of day. I'm not even going to say the name of this track. It's not even worth your time. Just let the guy rest.

We also have a Playboi Carti, pretty much just sounding like Future on this new track, "All Red". I've had some people on Twitter getting mad about this comparison and talking about how it's unfair, and I'm holding him to some ridiculous standard just because he is taking inspiration from another artist. This is not just merely a case of an artist being inspired by another artist's work. This is literally a Future song. He's just sounding like Future, with a Future ass vocal inflection, with a Future ass flow, over a Future ass beat without even a good hook attached to it. That's it. It just sounds like a Future throw away. If Future made this song, it would never make an album because there's nothing catchy about it. If this was just in Carti's normal voice, it wouldn't be catchy either. The only thing that makes this track stand out or memorable in any way is that he literally sounds like a dead ringer for Future on this song in such a way to where it's not even just inspired, it's a blatant and utter rip-off. It's just a rip-off. It's a rip-off. That's what it is. There's nothing interesting or special about it. He's just ripping off another artist because apparently, he's out of his own ideas. All right.

The songs that I was on the fence with.

Not crazy about myself, but you might like them more than me. They are as follows.

We have a hard style producer, Yosuf, who's come through with a bit of a banger over here. I'm not going to say that it's as fireworks as it could possibly be as some other hard style stuff out there. I think the chord progression and vocal sample could use a bit of work, but it's very visceral. It's got some good builds. And as far as hard style goes, it's not corny or anything like that. It's not going to get the hard style rave moving. I'll say that.

All right, moving on from there, we have The Weeknd with a brand new single from his upcoming album cycle, a track that I'm not super excited by, "Dancing in the Flames". I mean, once again, Abel is doing the '80s thing, the new wave and synth pop thing. But it seems like this time, as far as vocal melodies and lyrics goes, he's not really going above and beyond, and the production isn't really that cinematic either. It seems like he's cutting things down a lot on this track and just playing a super straight, very simple. To my ears, it's not really holding a candle to anything that has been nearly as epic or interesting from the past couple of records. I don't know. That's just me, though. I know a lot of fans out there were on the fence with Dawn FM. Maybe you'll like this more, but I don't know. I like the dark theatrical, cinematic direction that record and its many tracks took. And it seems like Abel is pulling back on that a little bit with this new cut, in my opinion. But who knows? It's just one single. Maybe the rest of the record will sound totally different.

All right, we also have one from the band Show Me The Body from their upcoming Corpus II EP II. Basically, they're dropping a couple of EPs of material this year, which is pretty interesting. If you're looking for those punky riffs and beats with a not too bad feature either on this track, "Stomach", you have certainly found it, so give it a spin.

All right, moving on from there, we have Men I Trust, who have come through with a new single as well, "Husk". While I have been warming up to this project lately through some of the new singles, this one I'm not super crazy about. It's just like some very jangly, soft, dime a dozen, indie rock stuff, very hollow and very washed out. I've heard more interesting stuff in this lane, though I suppose this track, by that usual, standard quality standard is not too bad.

We also have Eminem, who has come through with a version of the track, "Fuel", which some of you may remember, is off of his latest LP, The Death of Slim Shady. But now we have a new version of it that does not have Jid. It has Shady artists on it, Westside Boogie and GRIP, but they most definitely hold their own on this track, so absolutely no shade to them. It's just that delivering or redelivering it in this fashion, I just feel like it's, of course, not going to necessarily hold a candle to the version with Jid. I just wish he did a new or a different song with his label artist I think that would have been more interesting, honestly.

Moving on from there. Charlie XCX has come through with a remix of "Talk Talk" featuring Troye Sivan, which I'm a little on the fence with. It's very smooth, it's very soft, it's very cute. It spins the narrative of the track around a little bit, but it's not nearly as interesting as the original, in my opinion.

We also have Arca teaming up with Tokischa, which I was pretty excited going into it because it's been a minute since I've heard a good Tokischa, like crossover or collab. I believe the last one that really hit for me was that Sexyy Red one, honestly. And this one, frankly, did not do too much for me. It's like the both of them together doing this heady, slow, sensual, linear reggaeton track that doesn't necessarily have the strongest payoff toward the end. It's got a bit of a mild finish, in my opinion, but it's certainly experimental in its own right and heady if you I never wanted to hear the style done in a way that's more cerebral.

We also have the Alchemist and Schoolboy Q, who apparently are going to be collabing more this year. "Ferraris in the Rain", I guess, is our first big taste of this. And overall, I just I thought this was okay. It was fine. In terms of song structure, loops going on in the background, it's your usual Alchemist fare that, in my opinion, he didn't really switch styles up or sounds up at all to complement Schoolboy Q. It seemed like Schoolboy melding himself more to his style, but simultaneously not really going above and beyond lyrically to make this crossover more interesting than maybe just a normal solo Schoolboy Q record would be. But I don't know. I mean, maybe it'll get more intriguing as we get more material from these two when they work together more.

The best tracks of the week.

They are as follows. Let's hit it.

We have one from Whitechapel. I'm not usually that big on deathcore, but I just found the progressive song structure and super bassy, super heavy, pummeling mix of this new track from them over here, "A Visceral Wreck", to be pretty interesting and stand out for the genre these days.

Also liking this new FKA twigs track from the forthcoming album, the big single "Eusexua", is quite the very dark cerebral dance journey with soaring and very elegant lead vocals from twigs, of course, of course, of course.

I'm also digging on this new collab crossover from Mastodon and Lamb of God, who together, for whatever reason, however they're doing it, it sounds like both of them collaborating at their respective creative peaks years and years and years ago. If you could have peak Mastodon and peak Lamb of God, both making a song together at the same time and then melding their vocal styles in a way where it just sounds monstrous. Yeah, that's what this track is. "Floods of Triton" is the name of the song, and it kicks absolute frigging ass. The riffs are awesome. The tune itself is a frigging anthem. It's heavy as hell. It's sludgy as hell. Make sure to give it a spin.

We also have Kendrick Lamar, who has come through with a brand new track, "Watch the Party Die". It's being called. And I've done a full review of it. Over on the Fantano channel. And yes, I feel like this track is very compelling, very interesting. Essentially, Kendrick not doing a Drake beef reset, not doing a victory lap more stating his mission to shift the rap over to a window toward artists who have what he assesses as being work that has more soul to it, more purpose to it, more of a vision to it, more of an emotional ethos to it, as opposed to just stuff that is its party, materialism, hedonism, so on and so forth. At least that's what he makes clear in the lyrics on this track. You could agree, you could disagree, you could just vibe to it, but I would give it some thought. I don't know.

All right, moving on from there. Joey Bada$$ has come through with a sensual little cut featuring Chloe that I think works pretty well. He's experimented here and there with doing slower jams and stuff, but I feel like this is one of the better instances of him doing that. "Tell Me" is the name of the track, and yeah, it's a good rap and RnB hybrid.

We also have horsegiirL, electronic music producer, horsegiirL, coming through with a teaser track to the forthcoming EP from her that should be dropping very soon. And yeah, this track, as far as quirked up, strange, odd, fun, electronic music, eat, sleep, slay, repeat, is a bop, is a jam, is a banger and a half. And honestly, I can't get enough of it. It's just fun as hell. Yeah, if you give anything in this list a spin, make it this. This is fun as hell.

All right, we have one here also from a forthcoming collaborative EP between Frost Children and Haru Nemuri. What? Are you serious? What? How? I can't even believe it, honestly. I'm not even going to try to say the name of this track. I'm going to ruin it. It's the only track from the EP out right now. Soul Kiss is the name of the forthcoming project. And yes, I feel like this song over here is an amazing meld, both their styles. It's rocking, it's electronic, it's totally exuberant and thrilling. And bold, punchy, experimental, too. Really liking this explosive collision of styles. I would not expect a crossover between these two acts to be as thrilling as it is, and yet it is. Actually, again, pretty excited to hear more from this forthcoming project.

We also have The Garden, who's come through with a very punky, electrotype track with some very clubby driving kicks that's very short but very entertaining as well. "Ballet" is the name of the cut.

We have Franz Ferdinand, who is hitting us with a very ambitious, glammy, lofi 2000s garage rock revival rocker. "Audacious" is the name of the track. This is quite a creative anthem as well, while being very classic Ferdinand, too.

Also, shout out to A$AP Ferg, who is really bringing back that 2000s New York Club rap, bling era rap feel with some very dance floor-oriented beats and some hooky lead vocals as well.

Also enjoying this new one from Ms. Dev Lemons. I feel like this is one of her poppiest tracks in a while, a very 2000s pop-oriented, too. It seems like this era is just really coming back in a big, bold way on a lot of recent tracks. I like that it's being rehashed in a weird, alternative, playful way, especially on this track.

Finally, shout out to clipping., who is also bringing back some hip hop with a club feel on this new one, "Run It". Daveed Diggs is absolutely smashing it lyrically. It's just interesting to hear the band still deliver something that is grim, that is edgy, that is textured, while delivering some very club-oriented, very dancy rhythms coming off the instrumental. Respect to the experimental hip hop trio extraordinaire for coming through with a good strong single, "Run It". So awesome.

Weekly track roundup done in the can. Hopefully, you got some good recommendations out of this video. And you guys are the best.

Anthony Fantano. Weekly Tracks. Forever.