Hey, hi, and hello, everyone. Anthony Fantano here, Internet's busiest music nerd. Hope you are doing well, and it's time for a Weekly Track Roundup. My thoughts, my feelings, my ideas, my expressions, everything that I have felt about a bunch of songs that have dropped over the past week or so.

Heck, yeah. All right.

Worst Tracks of the Week.

We have a handful of those. They are as follows. Let's do it. Bam.

First, we have this Royel Otis track, "Car", new album on the way. I'm just not really getting this song or this sound. I feel like this sound happened. It's like a glossier, blander version of the twangy, atmospheric, lofi, indie rock revolution of the early 2010s, which when it happened, it was okay. But now I feel like we're getting it, but just with less edge to it now. What's the point? Let's keep going. All right.

We also have Rick Ross teaming up with Pharrell for "For The Money". And I feel like this is not really Rick Ross's beat, nor is it Pharrell's beat. It's got a vaguely reggaeton or dance hall thing. But then the bass is super aggressive. It doesn't really complement implement the rhythm all that well. Yeah, I just don't really feel like either artist is playing to their strengths on this track. Undoubtably, both very talented artists, but an experimental song for each of them. This is not their usual sound, and I feel like neither of them are doing it much justice.

We also have Shaboozey and BigXthaPlug teaming up on this "Home" track, which – it's just a super, just offensively bland rap and country hybrid. I don't know why we're getting these completely soulless, just formulaic combinations of rap and country all over the place right now. They're so inoffensive, and they're just so... I don't know. It feels like I'm listening to the musical equivalent of a Madlib. It's just the same generic thing, the same generic sound over and over, and we're just plugging in slightly different words and terms, just to fill in the gaps each time, just to make each variation of this same boring formula just slightly different each time. I'm done with it. All right.

And we also have Logic, "Bleed" from his forthcoming Sidequest project. And he is sidequesting. He's doing a bunch of stuff that we wouldn't normally hear him do. And he's doing what feels like a bad Carti ripoff or something on this track. Again, another artist who is undoubtedly talented, just not really playing to his strengths and doing something goofy instead.

And we also have, speaking of goofy and also speaking of rap country combinations, this track, "White Noise", off of Joyner Lucas's forthcoming ADHD 2 record. Just sounds like a goddamn Dax song. What is this? I mean, I see where he's coming from with the lyrics of the song, which are fairly focused around attention deficit disorder and needing distractions and white noise and constant distractions in everyday life. But man, I'm just so over this sound, this rap-sung country sound. It's pretty awful.

All right – meh, meh.

Tracks I was on the fence with. Not in love with them, but hey, still thought they were worth shouting out, and you might like them more than me. They are as follows.

We have this new one over here from Wet Leg. Not super crazy about this single, but I have enjoyed a couple of tracks that the band has been teasing toward their next album with. This one, "Davina McCall", sounds like if you played chop shop with Smashing Pumpkins' "1979" and wrote ultimately a less memorable song with the parts you out of it. It's just okay. It's all right. It's passable.

We also have this one over here from Blood Orange, which – I'm blown away by the features on this track. We have Tariq Al-Sabir; The legendary art rock group, The Durutti Column; Caroline Polachek; and Daniel Caesar. I'm not entirely aware of what everyone's involvement or connection to this track is, so I can't really speak to that. But what I will say is the end result is not as varied or as interesting as you might expect looking at the features on the song. And in fact, I would say the track is quite bland, even by Blood Orange's, typically atmospheric and dreamy standards. It's just okay. But always crazy to see the Durutti Column getting a shout out here and there.

We also have over here a new one from Laufey, "Lover Girl". Still doing that jazzy, playful, bossa nova ballad thing. It's cute, it's adorable, but I wouldn't say it has much appeal for me beyond that, as the jazz chops are just like okay, the vocals are okay. It's a shame. I have been enjoying what I've been hearing up to this point with the teasers for this forthcoming album. But hey, I'm still looking forward to the record, and it does sound like a step up from what we did here on the last album, especially with some of those synced up instrumental breaks in between the verses and the choruses. I do like those changes and switchovers, but once we settle into the verses, I don't know, more or less neutral on it.

We also have Kesha, who, in all the teasers to this forthcoming album, has really been trying to go back and reconnect with that older, wilder version of herself that was like that brash pop badass from the early 2010s that just had an attitude that no other singer on the scene had. And for the most part, I think she's done a really good job of reigniting that fire. On the song, "The One.", I would say maybe she's flying a little bit too close to the sun because the instrumental, the vocals just feel so derivative of that time period. I mean, there's nothing inherently wrong with overheating your own nachos, but it just feels so close for comfort to the point where, I don't know, it's just going to be deja vu, and it feels like it's not really necessarily adding anything to her catalog and to her sound to be copying herself over so hard in this particular way. But I don't know. I'm not too crazy about it.

We also have Igorr, who's hitting us with a brand new single over here, one titled
"Infestis", which I think is one of the... I guess I would say, look, the singles for this album so far have been very kooky, very all over the place, quite varied, very frantic. And that's Igorr's appeal. You have these wild and outlandish mixes of metal and electronic music and sometimes opera and other goofy stuff that's thrown in randomly in a somewhat cheeky Mr. Bungle style. But I think this new one over here is actually maybe one of the more straightforward and strictly metal cuts from the forthcoming album. So far, it's got a lot of groove metal riffs, some death metal elements as well, some electronic flares here and there popping up. That read is tacky to me, but they are there in a much more subtle capacity than they are on other Igorr tracks. For the most part, I think it's fine. I think it's okay. I guess just expect a somewhat tamer single this time around if you give this one a listen.

We also have Haru Nemuri, who on this latest string of singles has really been experimenting. Sometimes I found it exciting, sometimes I've been on the fence with it. This track, "Symposium", is hitting us with elements of hardcore electronic dance music. We have rap verses. We have lush instrumentation surrounding it all. Some passages are really intriguing. Some, vocally especially, come across a little awkward. It's all over the place, but it seems like she's just locked into this experimental era at the moment, and we're just to see where the dust settles when all is said and done, I suppose.

All right, we also have a new one from IDK and Cordae, which is titled "Prince George", and it's fine. It's okay. If you like some decent beats and decent bars, nothing too mind-blowing, you're going to vibe with this one for sure. It's quite palatable, I'll say that.

We also have a track over here from Debbii Dawson, an artist that I'm just becoming familiar with through this single. Yeah, I mean, really bringing back some old-school '80s vintage synth-pop vibes on this one, but with a playful, cheeky, Sabrina Carpenter self-awareness about what she's doing as well. Very girly pop. Yeah, it's quite fun. It's pretty decent. I mean, it's not necessarily, I think, bringing anything super new or vibrant or exciting to the modern pop landscape at the moment. But there's definitely a lot of potential here. And as far as '80s as revivalism goes, it's done pretty well. It's done pretty well.

All right, we have a new one from Anamanaguchi over here. Their forthcoming rock album is going to be on the way very soon. And this latest single from it,
"Magnet", sees the band playing with a little bit of shoegaze, a little bit of grunge. I mean, the main riff of the whole thing just sounds very, very, very Nirvana, Nevermind-esque. I wish the vocals were a bit stronger, that there was more presence to the instrumentation. Once they switch out of that main riff, the track seems to lose its teeth once they go past that intro and the heavier passages on the song. But if you're looking for some vintage rock, this track definitely serves it up unabashedly, that's for sure.

All right. And also, Alex G has quite a sleepy new single on here, "June Guitar". It's chill, it's acoustic, it's nice on the ears, but definitely not doing anything as bold or as memorable as the first single. I'll say that. All right.

Best tracks of the week.

We have a handful of those. They are as follows. Let's do it.

We have a new one over here from underscores, who, with this new track, "Music", is once again embracing much more pure pop sound, not so much the rock influences, from the last album, which I thought were spectacular. I feel like these tracks are almost coming from a post-hyper pop framing, if you could even call it that. I feel like this project, again, sounds so much stronger as a blend of electronic music and pop and rock, but stripping it down to electronic music and pop and just being much more straightforward with those more accessible elements of the underscores sound... I feel like it's fine. It's okay. We've definitely had a banger here. I feel like this is the best single that I've heard since the project has taken a much more staunch pop stance. I'm just hoping that future singles have maybe a bit more bite to them. But hey, you guys know I mess with some music, so I had to get "Music" over in the best single section.

We also have a shout out to Snõõper, who has a brand new EP out. "In the Dark" is the first track from it. And on this new batch of tracks with this EP, the band is taking their very direct lofi, noisy synth punk sound and making it much more like heavy with effects and psychedelic and noisy and chaotic. And this track, I can at least say, is most certainly a banger from the EP. It's short. It's, again, chaotic. It's in your face. "In the Dark" is the title. It's quite fiery.

We also have Silvana Estrada, Mexican singer-singer-songwriter coming through with wonderful guitars, beautiful vocals, enchanting songwriting on this new track over here. "Lila Alelí". Beautiful, stunning tune. Loved Silvana's last full-length record. Very much looking forward to the next one. Surely is going to be one of the best and most beautiful singer-songwriter albums of the year. So take note, take note. Perk those ears up for Silvana Estrada.

We also have the Nia Archives remix of "Illegal". PinkPantheress. And it's even more badass and fiery and just filled with great beats and breaks, high energy. Very playful. Love hearing these two team up. They're quite the pair. I would love to actually hear Nia do some production on a future PinkPantheress single or record. This remix is so fire. I actually like this remix more than the original, which is crazy. Crazy! So pretty happy about that.

Shout out to Missouri Executive Order 44, who are coming through off of a new split with just a very raw, mutant, wild, all over the place, noise rock sound. If you enjoy hearing some frantic 2000s noisecore, maybe a little bit of Jesus Lizard, that thing, with the the nutty ass lead vocals, if I can characterize them that way, you're going to dig on what this band is doing. You're going to dig on this split. So give this thing a listen. "Twister of '79" is the name of the track. It's a badass cut. Short, sweet, fiery. Again, chaotic, all over the place. Loving the energy the band is bringing.

And Mac DeMarco coming through with his forthcoming album, Guitar, which doesn't actually just feature guitar. He has made albums that just feature guitar before, but this new single of his home actually does feature vocals and formal songwriting. And it's an interesting, intimate little ballad for Mac where he's going over the isolated state his life has been in as of late and how he just prefers it to be that way. He's getting up there in age. He's becoming an even more chill dude, and he just wants to chill at home with his guitar and be a chill bro. It's what Mac wants, so he's writing songs about it, and it's endearing for sure. And it's a lovely, chill little ballad, too. So I'm liking it.

We also have "Polo", brand new bop from freaking Kim Petras, who is embracing a production that definitely has a big, big SOPHIE influence, especially with those scraping metal samples and effects dropped into the beat. Some crazy vocal harmony work on the track as well. It is absolutely insane. It is quite explosive. It feels like she's borrowing a lot of influence from the Charli Vroom Vroom era, that thing. But just with more detail, more musical nuances with the harmonies, and just more explosivity, I would say. Just building off of a very interesting time for hyperpop. I'm liking it. I'm I'm liking it.

All right, and we also have this new track from Sanguisugabogg. "Abhorrent Contraception". Listen, I've heard a lot of tracks from this band before. They are quite notorious in the extreme metal scene for being a little out there, having a sense of humor, being some crazy boys. I felt like prior, up until this point, their material has been okay. It's been passable. It's been fine. But this new track over here, I feel like, is the best they've ever sounded. The drumming on this track is absolutely insane. The riffs and some of the riff transitions in the second half, the is like some crazy shit that you don't usually hear a band of this genre, which you've got a lot of extreme elements in this thing between the spectrum of grind and death metal and so on and so forth. And not usually a groove you hear from a band like this, and they pull it off so well. A lot of details, a lot of transitions. Plus, there's an interesting music video to this track that calls back to Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" video, which is pretty hilarious. But shout out to these guys. Sick track, sick video, and it's actually got me legit excited for their next album.

And last one over here, shout out to bbno$, who is teaming up with Ironmouse for this "1-800" track. A lot of cute, endearing refrains on this cut. bbno$ is doing his usual laid, back, rap, monotone style. And while it's very simple, it sounds real cool. And you have a very bumping, straightforward dance beat with some hip hop elements in there as well. It's your usual bbno$ formula, I would say, up until this point. But I feel like those added extra elements, especially from Ironmouse, do break things up a bit, make it quite fun, make it quite silly and colorful. And yeah, it's a bop. It's a bop of a bop.

And that's going to be that weekly track roundup, everybody.

Anthony Fantano, Weekly Tracks, forever.