Weekly Track Reviews (01/5/26): Best & Worst Songs of the Week
Hi everyone, it’s Anthony Stirford from Anthony XO.Music, and I’m back with another weekly track review.
This week had a wide gap in quality. Some releases genuinely surprised me. Others made me question whether the artists behind them were paying attention to their own output. Same format as always — five tracks that delivered, five that didn’t. No courtesy placements, no inflated praise. Just honest picks.
Let’s get into it.
Top 5 Best Tracks of the Week
5. Halsey — “Carry the Weight”
At five is Halsey with “Carry the Weight.” I’ll be upfront — this isn’t the most sonically adventurous track of the week. But there’s a weight behind it that’s hard to dismiss. Halsey has been open about real personal difficulty over the past couple of years, and coming back with something called “Carry the Weight” isn’t accidental. The emotional honesty in the performance earns its place here. Not everything has to be a production statement. Sometimes a track lands because the person behind it means it, and this one does.
4. American Football, Wisp — “Wake Her Up”
At four is American Football and Wisp with “Wake Her Up.” This is the pick on the Best list that I feel most strongly about. American Football is a genuinely significant name in the emo-adjacent space, and pairing them with Wisp is an interesting creative decision that pays off. The production has real texture, and the emotional register feels earned rather than performed. In a week full of straightforward commercial releases, this one rewards the listener who actually sits with it. I was waiting for their new album, and this song delivers the Americana vibes I expected from them.
3. Lady Gaga — “Glamorous Life”
At three is Lady Gaga with “Glamorous Life.” Gaga in full theatrical pop mode is a specific thing, and when it works, it really works. This track knows exactly what it is — ambitious, controlled, and built around a performance that most pop artists couldn’t pull off with this much conviction. It doesn’t overstay its welcome, and it doesn’t underdeliver. For a week where a lot of the mainstream releases felt safe and forgettable, this one stood apart.
2. Zara Larsson, Shakira — “Eurosummer Girls Trip”
At two is Zara Larsson and Shakira with “Eurosummer Girls Trip.” This collab makes sense in a way that a lot of cross-era pairings don’t. Zara Larsson is one of the most reliable pop voices of her generation, and Shakira brings a global energy that immediately widens the track’s reach. The production is built for movement — light, confident, and doesn’t try to be anything other than what it is. Replay value is genuinely high here, and this track extends the vibes of her triumphant return. A summer record that actually sounds like summer rather than just claiming to be one.
1. Kacey Musgraves, Miranda Lambert — “Horses & Divorces”
At number one this week is Kacey Musgraves and Miranda Lambert with “Horses & Divorces.” This wasn’t a difficult decision. Two of country music’s sharpest, most lyrically honest songwriters on the same track — the title alone tells you they’re not playing it safe. There’s a real voice behind this one, and the writing backs it up completely. Kacey has always been willing to go somewhere unexpected, and Miranda brings a grounded toughness that balances it out perfectly. It’s the kind of collab where both artists actually needed each other for the song to work, and that’s rarer than it should be. Track of the week, no question.
Top 5 Worst Tracks of the Week
Now for the other side. These are the five tracks this week that didn’t land. A couple of them are from names I genuinely respect, and that actually makes it harder to write — but it also makes it more necessary.
5. Madonna, Sabrina Carpenter — “Bring Your Love”
At five is Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter with “Bring Your Love.” I want to be honest about this one because honesty is more useful than a performance of objectivity. The dancefloor-pop direction Madonna has been leaning into doesn’t work for me personally, and Sabrina Carpenter — who is genuinely one of the sharpest pop voices of her generation — couldn’t shift that for me here. The dancefloor sound of the 2000s has become boring in 2026, and this is too easy to swallow and too easy to forget. This is a taste call more than a quality verdict. There’s an audience for this track, and they’ll probably love it. I’m just not that audience, and I’d rather say that directly than pretend otherwise.
4. Skrillex, ISOxo, Cristale, Teezaedos — “Smoke”
At four is Skrillex, ISOxo, Cristale, and Teezaedos with “Smoke.” Four names on a track should mean four distinct contributions pulling in the same direction. Instead, this feels like a production session that got released before anyone asked whether it was finished. Skrillex has made genuinely great music before, and the bar he set for himself makes something like this harder to sit with. Four credited artists and not one moment that justifies the credit.
3. Lil Tjay — “Gone”
At three is Lil Tjay with “Gone.” Lil Tjay had real momentum at one point, and this track is the latest reminder that momentum isn’t self-sustaining. The production is familiar in a way that feels like comfort rather than confidence, and the writing doesn’t push him anywhere new. Honestly, something about him rapping over an acoustic guitar gives me nightmares at this point. When the gap between what an artist is capable of and what they’re actually putting out is this visible, it’s frustrating in a way that a bad song from a nobody just isn’t. Potential makes underperformance harder to ignore.
2. NAV, Quavo — “MUTT”
At two is NAV and Quavo with “MUTT.” This is two artists going through the motions together and producing exactly what you’d expect from that situation — a track that sounds completed rather than finished. Neither brings anything the other doesn’t already have, and the combination doesn’t create something new either. It just exists. For artists at this level of profile, that’s not a neutral outcome. It’s a missed one.
1. Alex Warren — “FINE PLACE TO DIE”
The worst track of the week is “FINE PLACE TO DIE” by Alex Warren. Alex Warren has been leaning hard into emotional pop, and the problem isn’t the emotion — it’s that the songwriting underneath isn’t carrying the weight the delivery is asking it to. A title like “FINE PLACE TO DIE” sets an expectation that the track doesn’t meet. There’s a version of this song that works. This isn’t it. He’s walking the same path as sombr — a couple of global hits and then flop single after flop single, and that’s not what we want from our generation’s pop stars. This song feels like “Ordinary 2.0,” the hook is extremely familiar, and when a track tries this hard to feel significant and falls this short, that gap is impossible to ignore.
That’s the full list for the week. Five tracks worth your time, five that aren’t.
The Best side had real range — country songwriting, global summer pop, theatrical Gaga, emotionally honest indie, and a niche pick that rewarded actual attention. The Worst side had a pattern running through it — artists either going through the motions or setting expectations they couldn’t meet. Both things are worth saying out loud.
I’ll be back soon with more. Until then, keep listening carefully.
Listen To My Playlist of “Best Songs Of 2026” on Spotify:
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