It’s a bit exhausting to inform if M.I.A. is skewering the self-involvement of social media tradition on “Popular” or if she’s vying for a TikTok hit herself — however hey, who says you possibly can’t have it each methods? “Love me like I love me, love me,” she intones, because the skittish however totally hypnotic beat (from the producers Boaz van de Beats and Diplo) lulls the listener into nodding alongside. The accompanying video is a wild, creepy journey into the uncanny valley, as M.I.A. confronts and finally destroys her A.I. alter ego, the appropriately named “M.A.I.” LINDSAY ZOLADZ
Gayle, ‘Indieedgycool’
An idea track concerning the resurgence of anti-pop posturing rendered with the dryness of Nineteen Nineties alt-rock delivered by a singer whose breakout got here by way of a file label-initiated TikTok. It’s a catchy eye roll that’s an ouroboros of TikTok-addled hype-cycle collapse, meshing microtrend and backlash all collectively into one. JON CARAMANICA
Willow, ‘Hover Like a Goddess’
“Hover Like a Goddess,” from the upcoming album “<Copingmechanism>,” is additional proof that Willow has lastly discovered her lane within the area the place bouncy pop-punk and anguished emo-rock converge. “I’ll never be fine if you won’t be mine,” she sings with pent-up depth amid quite a few different lusty confessions (“Just meet me under the covers/Baby, I wish”), earlier than the track out of the blue transforms right into a dreamy reverie. That bliss is fleeting, although, and by the subsequent verse Willow is simply as shortly jarred again into her endearingly anxious actuality. ZOLADZ
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, ‘Burning’
Yeah Yeah Yeahs unexpectedly interpolate Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons’ 1967 model of “Beggin’” for his or her fiery new single “Burning,” from their upcoming album “Cool It Down,” increasing the unique’s feeling of romantic desperation right into a extra huge and ominous conflagration. Nick Zinner’s guitar riff snakes via the track like a lit fuse as Karen O croons devilish come-ons like, “Lay your red hand on me as I go.” The entire factor’s a bit bit retro, and a bit bit neo-apocalyptic. ZOLADZ
Nicki Minaj, ‘Super Freaky Girl’
As the title would recommend, that is merely a collection of intense, gum-snapping Nicki Minaj raps over Rick James’s “Super Freak,” a mixture so apparent and winningly bubbly that it’s stunning it didn’t exist already. CARAMANICA
Ice Spice, “Munch (Feelin’ U)”
Few issues have higher mouth really feel than a recent piece of slang. The means the lips, tooth and tongue contort to kind a phrase because the neural pathways join that phrase to a brand new idea — it’s invigorating. So it goes with “Munch (Feelin’ U)” by the Bronx drill rapper Ice Spice, who up to now week obtained a lift following an embrace by Drake. In a frenzied style, she’s a peaceful rapper, which is a part of what makes this track so frosty — the beat is skittish and portentous, however Ice Spice sounds at peace. She’s rhyming shortly, but in addition calmly and barely dismissively, most likely due to the subject material. That could be a person who may be helpful in some methods, however is definitely dismissed — somebody who’s on name, however barely wanted. He’s good at one factor, and when that’s accomplished, not a lot else — he’s a munch. Get used to saying it. CARAMANICA
Rex Orange County, ‘Threat’
A young tackle self-doubt by the goofily heat British singer Rex Orange County. “I don’t wanna keep you in a boring life/I can pick up when you’re calling/Keep it real with you always,” he sings, questioning if he’s worthy of the thing of his affection. It’s all delivered over a guitar determine that means the early Vampire Weekend revival is simply across the nook. CARAMANICA
Hoodies have by no means sounded sexier than they do on Ari Lennox’s slinky new homage to loungewear and no matter’s happening “underneath your North Face.” The observe from the R&B singer’s forthcoming album “Age/Sex/Location,” which comes out on Sept. 9, has a number of playful traces (“spread it like some queso”) however Lennox’s powerhouse vocal efficiency imbues the entire thing with a mature, pulsing sensuality. ZOLADZ
