Absolutely the fuck not: Tekashi 6ix9ine and Nicki Minaj, “TROLLZ” – Can someone first please explain the purpose of Nicki Minaj continuing to collaborate with 6ix9ine?—and on a song that says absolutely nothing, no less. Tekashi’s lyrical ability is absent and instead of attempting to come up with something good, he reverts to his usual style of yelling words almost incoherently. Nicki is trotting out the same bars about how she’s pretty and too good for all men, yet somehow being too good for “corny” dudes didn’t include being too good for this song. The video is a call back to the wigged duo’s first collab, which was also not great. Who keeps giving Tekashi access to their rainbow rooms? —Shannon Melero
Y: Margo Price, “Letting Me Down” – What’s better than one Margo Price? Many Margo Prices, all equally lonely and conflicted in their own way—at least, that’s how she’s depicted in the video for her latest single, “Letting Me Down.” If her forthcoming album is anything like this track—existential, comforting country with gorgeous refrains of “Everybody’s lonely/Oh they just look around”—I’m fully on board. “Shit changes, baby,” she reassures her listener through her characteristically tongue-in-cheek and far too clever observations, “Nothing’s concrete.” That it is. —Maria Sherman
A very celebratory “hell yeah!” for the loners: Shamir, “On My Own” – Contrary to how they’ve been written about in the press (which, to my knowledge, is “the eccentric behind ‘On the Regular’” and little else), Shamir is a genre-defying eclectic musician with an undeniable ear for a pop hook. I’m sure that’s how “On My Own” came to be—a strong song about surviving a breakup and leaning into introversion, sure, but also a pop song filled with guitar and produced by indie rock band Thin Lips’ Kyle Pulley. It’s addictive and unexpected, and I can’t wait to hear more. —MS
Y: Jorja Smith, “Rose Rouge” – I wish I could remember what it’s like to sit in a sparsely populated lounge while a song like this floats through the air on a whim. It’s a soft but lively track embellished with the tickling of keys and Jorja’s crackling vocals between horn blares. Listen with lights off and eyes closed. —Clover Hope
Y: Noveller, “Effektology,” – Decades into her career, I still struggle to describe the ambient work of Noveller (musician Sarah Lipstate, whose work includes guitarist in Iggy Pop’s live band.) “Effektology,” from her latest album Arrow, is clearly a work of incredible composition—it’s meditative without losing engagement, like an orchestral coda in less than four minutes. I can’t recommend listening to it at the end of a long day enough. —MS
100 percent: Bully, “Where to Start” – Nashville’s Bully is back, and the first single “Where To Start” is as frustrating and enticing as frontwoman Alicia Bognanno’s idiosyncratic growl and simple hazy guitar indie rock has always been. Apparently, the song was written while Bognanno was trying to mimic Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping”—a band that few really celebrate as being the brilliant anarchic communists they were—which gives additional weight to the song. When she scream-sings, “I don’t know where to start/I don’t know where to start with you,” it could be a condemnation of anyone or anything—but these days, it feels impossible not to politicize. —MS
Y: Margo Price, “Letting Me Down” – What’s better than one Margo Price? Many Margo Prices, all equally lonely and conflicted in their own way—at least, that’s how she’s depicted in the video for her latest single, “Letting Me Down.” If her forthcoming album is anything like this track—existential, comforting country with gorgeous refrains of “Everybody’s lonely/Oh they just look around”—I’m fully on board. “Shit changes, baby,” she reassures her listener through her characteristically tongue-in-cheek and far too clever observations, “Nothing’s concrete.” That it is. —Maria Sherman
A very celebratory “hell yeah!” for the loners: Shamir, “On My Own” – Contrary to how they’ve been written about in the press (which, to my knowledge, is “the eccentric behind ‘On the Regular’” and little else), Shamir is a genre-defying eclectic musician with an undeniable ear for a pop hook. I’m sure that’s how “On My Own” came to be—a strong song about surviving a breakup and leaning into introversion, sure, but also a pop song filled with guitar and produced by indie rock band Thin Lips’ Kyle Pulley. It’s addictive and unexpected, and I can’t wait to hear more. —MS
Y: Jorja Smith, “Rose Rouge” – I wish I could remember what it’s like to sit in a sparsely populated lounge while a song like this floats through the air on a whim. It’s a soft but lively track embellished with the tickling of keys and Jorja’s crackling vocals between horn blares. Listen with lights off and eyes closed. —Clover Hope
Y: Noveller, “Effektology,” – Decades into her career, I still struggle to describe the ambient work of Noveller (musician Sarah Lipstate, whose work includes guitarist in Iggy Pop’s live band.) “Effektology,” from her latest album Arrow, is clearly a work of incredible composition—it’s meditative without losing engagement, like an orchestral coda in less than four minutes. I can’t recommend listening to it at the end of a long day enough. —MS
100 percent: Bully, “Where to Start” – Nashville’s Bully is back, and the first single “Where To Start” is as frustrating and enticing as frontwoman Alicia Bognanno’s idiosyncratic growl and simple hazy guitar indie rock has always been. Apparently, the song was written while Bognanno was trying to mimic Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping”—a band that few really celebrate as being the brilliant anarchic communists they were—which gives additional weight to the song. When she scream-sings, “I don’t know where to start/I don’t know where to start with you,” it could be a condemnation of anyone or anything—but these days, it feels impossible not to politicize. —MS
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