Welcome to “Cut Through the Noise,” an Entertainment column from the St. Louis Park Echo covering new music releases. Every week, a different Echo staffer takes on the role as writer, reviewing recent single releases from a variety of artists.

Shawn Mendes ft. Khalid “Youth”  ★★★★☆

Shawn Mendes and Khalid teamed up to write the inspirational song “Youth.” With an acoustic guitar backing the artists, they combined their voices to send two beautiful messages: pain is different from hate, and you are in charge of your youth. Along with the great messages it gives, the song is full of beautiful voices, a catchy chorus and lyrics that flow together perfectly. I could listen to “Youth” all day long. The rest of Mendes’ album will be released May 25.

Kanye West “Lift Yourself”  ★☆☆☆☆

Kanye West fails to show any of his talent in his new single “Lift Yourself.” The song is full of annoying whale sound beats that repeat for over two minutes. The instruments at the beginning tricked me into thinking this was a catchy song, but when the vocals started the entire song went downhill. There is a limited variety of words used in the song including “lift yourself up on your feet” over and over again. Kanye only makes a vocal appearance for the last 20 seconds of the song when he repeats the words “whoop, scoop and poop.” Kanye West definitely surprised many fans with the turnout of this odd song.

Mason Ramsey “Famous”  ★★★★☆

11-year-old yodeling boy Mason Ramsey released his first single ever “Famous.” All eyes were on Mason after he went viral on YouTube for his yodeling, and haven’t left him since the release of “Famous.” The 11-year-old sings about love and how he is over being famous. The yodeling boy surprised me with his confusingly good voice. The guitar that plays along with him is all he needs to make a good country song. I typically don’t like country music, especially when it is cheesy like “Famous,” but I have to make an exception for Mason and his song.