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 of writer, reviewing recent single releases from a variety of artists.
Skrillex – ”hit me where it hurts x” ★★☆☆☆
This week, I listened to the new song by Skrillex called “hit me where it hurts x.” The song is a part of the EDM (Electronic Dance Music) genre and consists of a fast-paced 120+ bpm tempo. The song features the artists Dylan Brady and Caroline Polachek. I don’t believe this song contains any particular message; At least not the kind that I would be able to pick up on. This is mainly because the song doesn’t have audible lyrics. The song also remains relatively calm throughout, making it easy just to sit back and nod off. Whenever I thought the song was leading to a potential base drop, which would change the vibe, I always felt disappointed that it never happened. As I said before, the song is very consistent throughout, but I didn’t enjoy what it was consistent of. While I didn’t enjoy the track, if you’re a person who doesn’t like listening to singing as the main focus of a song, and who wants something that you can listen to and vibe along with while doing something else, like studying, then I can totally see why this song might appeal to you.
BigXthaPlug – “Cold” ★★★☆☆
The next song I listened to was BigXthaPlug’s “Cold” featuring Post Malone. The song combines elements of various genres, including rap, country and hip-hop. The song has a more relaxed tempo of around 80 bpm. The lyrics talk about heartbreak and the emotions associated with distancing yourself from someone you loved. The track does a good job of transitioning between BigXthaPlug’s rapping as the song’s verses and Post Malone’s singing as the chorus. The song definitely isn’t bad; I rate it as being above average, but I wouldn’t go much further than that. The rapping sections weren’t particularly excellent, and the chorus got repetitive. The only aspect of the song I would say is good is the background instrumentals, and even then, they weren’t mind-blowing. While “Cold” isn’t for me, this type of song definitely has an audience. If you like hip-hop/country music songs like Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” then maybe this song is for you.
Converge – “Love is Not Enough” ★★★★☆
The final song I listened to this week is “Love is Not Enough” by Converge. The song is a fast-paced heavy metal rock song. When it comes to the song’s meaning, I believe the lyrics, “We learn nothing without gaping wounds, We must grow to stomach the taste of our own blood, We have to accept that love is not enough” provides a good example for what the song is about. Love is never enough to deal with all the issues that can arise from it. The song consisted of what you would expect from heavy metal music, namely heavy drum use, a fast tempo and a lot of screaming. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a heavy metal head or anything of the sort. I just think this song did a good job of showcasing what heavy metal music is about. When I think of heavy metal, a song like this is exactly what I would expect. If you’re a fan of heavy metal music or just want to hear something intense and in your face, then I think this song is definitely for you.
