Hey, hi, and hello everyone. Anthony Fantano here, internet's busiest music nerd. Weekly Track Roundup. It's time to round up all these tracks that have dropped over the past week or so.

Let's get into the worst tracks of the week.

We have a handful. We have a few, just a few, because just, just a few will do, honestly.

We are going to kick things off with this Sombr track, which I was not really huge on, "Potential." I have been kind of crossing my fingers that Sombr would reach fuller potential, (and yes, the song is "Potential") with some of these newer tracks, given that the recording quality seems to have improved since the release of the breakout debut album. But I feel like the songwriting is getting worse. The lyrics are getting worse. This track, for whatever reason, has some mushed-up vocoder vocals on the chorus that don't work at all, sound very out of place, and just, I think ruin the chorus entirely. I just don't know what he's doing. Some improvements on some fronts with how these tracks sound, but like somehow the content and the substance and the ideas going into these tracks are getting worse. It's going downhill. What's going on? I'm, I'm concerned.

We also have new one from The Kid LAROI, "I CONDEMN." I condemn this track for being a mid, weird trap song with some really bad vocal mixing that sounds like it could have come out in maybe the late 2010s, but it's dropping now for some reason, even though I feel like whatever wave this track could have possibly caught is long gone at this point. What is The Kid LAROI doing, especially after such a disappointing album? He should be scrambling for a way to bounce back, not dropping something as unmemorable as this.

And we also have Kacey Musgraves, who is also wrecking her new rollout with a track that is far more disappointing than even her last single, which was just okay. The transition into the chorus on this track is truly awful, like one of the worst chorus transitions I think I've ever heard. It feels like you've put on a completely different song just randomly. The tempo changes, slows down, the track just kind of like falls into a pit of molasses, and then all of a sudden it becomes so much less catchy. And somehow she expects us to continue on from there, even though the song is like lost all momentum, flavor, and interest. Really unfortunate track over here from Kacey. "Middle of Nowhere" is the title of this one.

Let's move on to the tracks I was on the fence with...

But still thought they were worth mentioning. They are as follows.

Bam, a new one from Weezer produced by none other than Kenny Beats. I'm not really crazy about the chorus on the track. I feel like the verses are strong, the pre-chorus is there, but then once it breaks into that hook, I think it kind of fails to muster up anything all that memorable. but I am liking the Kenny Beats production on this track. The band is sounding raw like they did, like, from their Maladroit era. You know, it's, it's definitely got an energy to it. But I know this wasn't a Rivers track. If the band maintains this kind of, like, you know, rougher around the edges sound, but snaps like just some catchier writing to it, I could see this new record going places. But, you know, maybe there are some people who are really digging the track. I don't know. We'll just see what happens when the album comes out.

All right, Tyla teaming up over here with Zara Larsson, who is seemingly everywhere these days with the features and the appearances. Not too bad of a track, even though it does kind of sound like a Rihanna song circa 2007, 2008, but still not a bad one for sure. Not a bad one. She did it again.

We also have "BROKE BITCH FREE$TYLE," sort of seems like a little bit of a loosey, an extra additional track from Slayyyter in the midst of this Worst Girl in America victory lap because the album is doing so well for her, garnering a lot of attention, which is cool. It's very, you know, demo-y, but still has a very fiery and passionate vocal performance, which makes it fun to listen to. So yeah, you know, give this one a spin if you've really been digging the Worst Girl in America era.

Also over here we have Tom Waits teaming up with Massive Attack for a track that is obviously like a very necessary reflection of our times. But I will say I was kind of hoping that the crossover between these two entities would sound like a little bit more than like a Bone Machine-era track with some moody synthesizers on it. Tom's vocals sound great, of course, but, you know, I was kind of hoping maybe for the Massive Attack production to hit a little bit harder. But, you know, I digress.

We also have Lana Del Rey, who is doing a song for a video game. And, yeah, it's for this, 007 First Light thing. And while I think the track kicks off well enough and really kind of like fits the tone for what a 007 song should be when the drums start hitting harder. It's like some heavy rock drums on this track, even metal a little bit, I would say. When the drums and horns really start firing up, Lana's vocals are not ready to meet the moment and sort of like match that energy and end up just like kind of getting smothered in the mountain of instrumentation, which I think really kind of prevents the song from like reaching its full potential.

Sadly, there's even like an extra vocal like whistle note in the background at some point, which like Lana did not do that vocal. Who is that? Who did that part? I have no idea. I don't know. Yeah, I mean, I'm torn on this one, honestly. As much as Lana's vibes fit the energy of this track, she doesn't have the vocal range to like really nail this kind of song, sadly.

We also have Evil Island, a new project that is connected to Blood Brothers. And, you know, given that connection, there are some wild, screeching, insane vocals on this cut. I wish the guitar work and songwriting itself were a bit more memorable and bold, but still I have been kind of waiting for a while for, you know, something Blood Brothers related to kind of like crop up. And this "Tiger Baby" track, you know, will be enough to kind of like, you know, keep me curious and happy looking forward to seeing whatever else Evil Island is going to be doing after this. Like, you know, not to sort of discount the track entirely, it didn't blow me away, but interest is piqued and I am curious. I would like to know more, sir.

Thank you. All right, we have one over here from fakemink who miraculously is kind of sounding like MC Chris on this new track over here. It's a bit of a dancier cut for him, strangely enough. "Night, Blooming Jasmine." It's okay. I feel like he had some bigger bangers on his most recent EP, but, you know, his new album is on the way very soon, and we will see sort of how the UK scene continues to measure up these days.

We have Broken Social Scene, who is back with a new track. "The Call" is the title of this one. I love the performance. I love the bigness. I love the dynamics of this track. And I love the positive vibes emanating off of it as well. Some real Hopecore indie energy on here, though the song didn't really stick with me at all. I will say I feel like the track really kind of failed to muster up a memorable tune, even with all of the layers of very jubilant instrumentation and vocals.

We have Anne Hathaway, who is basically taking part in this movie that is out now about a pop star with kind of like a gothy alternative bent and everything. It's an A24 thing. So if that sounds like the sort of, you know, film you'd be into, go check it out. There's like a little project of tracks, Mother Mary is the title of the whole thing. And Anne Hathaway, of course, you know, being the center of the film and being a pop star, she sings songs and this one in particular over here, "My Mouth Is Lonely for You," sounds kind of like a leftover from the new FKA Twigs album. Honestly, like, it's, it's, it's something that's worth trying if, you know, the sort of like moody abstract art pop is kind of like your thing. But, you know, this soundtrack sounds like a very watered-down version of that, but, still kind of interesting, you know, still an interesting crossover, still interesting.

We have the best tracks of the week.

They are as follows.

Let's hit it. We have Tori Amos, In Times of Dragons, new album out very soon. A very curious, funny little but catchy earworm of a piano lick on this track. Tori's vocals still sounding fantastic to this day as well. And yeah, it's definitely got my interest up for this new album. So shout out to the legend Tori Amos.

We have also Fire-Toolz, who is hitting us with another teaser, another single from this forthcoming project on Warp Records, which is, as I've said, a very interesting place for Fire-Toolz to land a project. "And Where Is the Heart" is a really interesting fusion with some guest vocals on it of, you know, the harsh underground metal vibes that Fire-Toolz usually brings to the table with elements of like, you know, pop and progressive electronic music too. It's a really interesting meld of sounds per usual. And, you know, I would say catchier than I would usually expect a Fire-Toolz song to be, which was pretty sweet and unexpected.

We also have one over here from Spellling, who has been dropping kind of a bunch of revisions of tracks from her most recent album, Portrait of My Heart, featuring sort of vocal input and maybe additional input from guests on these newer versions. This one over here has none other than Jean Dawson on it, on the track "Ammunition," which is one of my faves from Portrait of My Heart. But this version of the track is a lot less rock, has, you know, some bigger beats, more synths, and it is turned into like a little bit more of a duet format, which I think works really well on the song. And Jean vocally kills it on the track. It's a beautiful performance, and their vocals complement each other more than you might think, given maybe if you've heard like some of the punkier stuff Jean has dropped over the years. He has been, you know, diversifying quite a bit on some of his most recent releases. But still, even given that, I didn't expect him to smash it out of the park in the way that he did on this song. And yeah, Jean and Spellling, who knew? You know, really great, unexpected meld.

We have over here Olivia Rodrigo, who was hitting us with the first taste of the new album cycle, and this one is actually immaculately catchy as far as the writing and the melodies go, even if I would say the vibes at the start are a little derivative. I think without that kind of snappy, brash pop punk energy, how much Olivia is a child of Taylor Swift becomes so, so apparent. But then the song, I think, takes on a lot of qualities that you expect from a production helmed by Dan Nigro, of course. And we've heard so much of his work in recent years with Chappell Roan, so on and so forth. And while I wouldn't say it sounds like a Chappell track, there are certain vocal layering tricks and chords and instrumentation passages of keys and stuff like that, that's like, 'oh, that does feel like a little bit of something that's kind of been dominating the pop girly sphere recently.'

And maybe Dan is on his way to become like, you know, that guy, like the next Jack Antonoff type figure. Who knows, you know, if this track takes off, I feel like that's a real possibility. But, you know, still great vocal performance from Olivia, of course. And I think a very quality pop track all around, even if it's not quite as, you know, upbeat and rocky and as fun as like some of the initial tracks that kind of kicked off her last album cycle. It'll be interesting to see if she finds a way to divert from that in any way on this album, or if, you know, that's something that she'll kind of triple down on with this LP once she gets maybe kind of like a real clear pop anthem or two out of the way. We're just gonna have to see. But yeah, new Olivia Rodrigo record on the way very soon.

Also enjoying this track from Lucy Liyou, "Crisis (Identity)," a track that in the midst of its runtime claims it's not actually even music, it's a really strange kind of like experimental piece set to a beat with like a bunch of random musical ideas and spoken word bits and sound effects kind of like orbiting around this groove that just kind of calls out into oblivion. Really interesting song that's going to be making me dig deeper on Lucy's stuff because if there's more where this came from, surely I must know.

We have also one over here from Babyfather, Dean Blunt, hitting us with a really spacey, cloudy trap track with some great bars, awesome cold-blooded energy. Liking this a lot. Kind of reminds me of like some of the stuff that was ruling the blogs in the early 2010s. Very interesting, very moody, but still hits hard and has some real substance to it.

And finally, shout out to Oneohtrix Point Never, who is hitting us with this "Dim Stars" track post the release of Tranquilizer. Very much still in that futuristic progressive electronic vein, like much of the material on that album was. So, you know, if you were loving that album, you're going to want to hear this too, even though it's like, you know, nothing new. It's just like kind of an additional track that kind of still contributes to that same vibe. I mean, you know, we're even seeing like kind of the overlap in the cover art here, right? I mean, are we not? Are we blind? Please. Anyway, cool to have some extra music from Daniel, of course, so long as it's good. And it is.

And that is going to be it for the Weekly Tracks, everyone. Thank you very much for being being here, for listening, for getting some recommendations. Hopefully they were good, and I will see you in the next one.

Anthony Fantano, Weekly Tracks Music, hmm, forever.