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.

1999 – Troye Sivan & Charli XCX ★★★★★

The two skyrocketing artists Troye Sivan and Charli XCX came together to create a remarkable song that compliments both of them extremely well. The melody of “1999” is simple and I found myself singing along by the second or third time hearing it, yet it’s not boring in the slightest. The production on this song uses many musical aspects that were commonly used during the pop age of the ‘90s and early ‘00s, such as a bouncy bass and keyboards rhythms. The combination of the homage to that era of music and the lyrics results in a great song. This throwback feel may come from the artists’ own memories of that decade, but it also gives current listeners another reason to love the 90s.

Uproar – Lil Wayne ★☆☆☆☆

“Uproar” will be creating absolutely no uproar in any music community anytime soon based off this song’s atmosphere, if you could even say it has one. The song starts off with a voice recording of an audience and then leads into an annoying beeping noise beat paired with the occasional aggressive shout here and there. The song’s flow and delivery were very static, which left me bored. Besides that, the lyrics weren’t even that good and mainly centered around money, guns, drugs and women, which did not do justice for my ears. “Uproar” should’ve been named “Let Down” based off of what I felt whilst listening to this song.

Without Me – Halsey ★★★★☆

After a recent breakup with her boyfriend, Halsey released the song “Without Me” which doesn’t directly address the situation but definitely gives off a breakup vibe. My first reaction to the song, besides the slight tropical house feel and dreamy trap influences, was how she delivered herself lyrically and vocally. Halsey’s delivery in “Without Me” shows her growth as a more mature artist opposed to her past two studio albums. Overall I enjoyed the song, partly due to its connection to the artist and its enticing melody. I look forward to seeing what she does with her third studio album and expect a more mature sound all around.