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.
Kygo ft. Khalid and Gryffin — ‘Save My Love’ ★★★★☆
Kygo is a record producer from Bergen, Norway who is best known for his remixes of various songs and features on songs of famous artists such as Ed Sheeran. You may know him from his 2017 song “It Ain’t Me” with Selena Gomez or his remix of the Whitney Houston song “Higher Love” which was released in 2019. I knew to expect EDM when I first listened to the song, but I did not expect to like it as much as I did. I was pleasantly surprised by the soft guitar that kicked off the song and immediately set the mood for a breakup song. After the first verse, there was a beat drop into the EDM style that I expected, but the blend was very nice and the transition was seamless. The lyrics were sad but overall lacked complexity, especially considering the chorus was just the same phrase, “Save my love for somebody else” repeated over and over again. The voices of Khalid and Gryffin blend very nicely with the song and create a polished final project that surpassed my expectations. While I enjoyed the song, I probably would not listen to it for the sake of listening to and instead I would use it as background music for studying.
Luke Bryan — ‘Word On The Street’ ★★★★☆
Luke Bryan released his first album, “I’ll Stay Me” in 2007 when he was 31 years old. Since then, he has gone on to release eight more albums over the course of his career. This album list includes “Tailgates & Tanlines,” which is a very iconic country album that includes well-known country songs like “Country Girl (Shake It for Me)” and “I Don’t Want This Night to End.” I am a fan of Luke Bryan’s earlier music but I have not listened to his more recent music, so I was interested to see if his style had evolved. “Word On The Street” ended up being almost exactly what I expected. The opening twangy guitar set the scene for a sassy country breakup song, and the beat drop into the chorus was very well done. I also enjoyed the addition of rock guitar towards the middle of the song which added some instrumental complexity that the song benefited from. Overall, this song was very typical Luke Bryan, catchy and fun but nothing new. I enjoyed this song a lot and I will definitely be adding it to my country playlist.
Lana Del Rey — ‘White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter’ ★★★☆☆
Lana Del Rey first started releasing music under the name Lizzy Grant in 2008 but by 2011, she adopted her current stage name. Lana Del Rey saw breakout success in 2011 with her hit single “Video Games” and has since gone on to release nine albums with her tenth album, “Stove” scheduled to be released at some point this year. “White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter” is Lana Del Rey’s third promotional single from her new country album, and it is one of the most unique songs I have ever heard. I am a fan of Lana Del Rey, so I was very excited to listen to this song but I was not expecting the horror vibes that came with it. The song opens with eerie sounds that reminded me of a horror movie set in a woods before a jump scare. These sounds then break into a low, dark beat that sounded more reminiscent of what I have come to expect from Lana Del Rey. The lyrics of this song were very typical for Lana Del Rey, romantic yet unsettling but the music of this song gave it a scary quality that freaked me out. Overall, the song is very interesting and I’m glad Lana Del Rey is experimenting with a new genre, but I did not enjoy the unsettling vibes of the song.
