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.

“Voices In My Head” — Ashley Tisdale ★★★☆☆

Ashley Tisdale, also known as Sharpay Evans from High School Musical, released “Voices In My Head,” a track that discusses her struggle with mental illness. The former childhood star attempts to inspire and encourage fans, but the teenybopper aesthetic paired with watered down lyrics falls short. Nothing in the song stands out. The monotonous electronic beat keeps the song moving but distances the track from a potentially deep meaning. Tisdale’s intentions are good, but the lyrics don’t do justice to the experience of anxiety or depression. This song will get lost in the constant drones of pop radio because it is neither bad enough nor interesting enough to give it a second listen. Tisdale attempted to distance herself from her Disney channel path by tackling a difficult topic, and even swearing in her song, however, the basic pop track still reminds me of Sharpay.

“Wake Up” — Tee Grizzley ft Chance the Rapper ★★★★☆

After the first section of “Wake Up,” which included a very repetitive beat and fun yet lazy lyrics, I was skeptical. This song is easy on the ears but doesn’t leave a large impact. With a simplistic chord progression and a beat that gives me deja vu, I wasn’t expecting much more. Chance the Rapper uses his iconic style to truly resurrected the song. The beat falls off and melodic organ chords play under his featured rap. Although this is similar to most of his other work, it contrasts Tee Grizzley’s chorus well. As the song continues, it grows into a jam. By the end of the song, I was thoroughly convinced I would be listening to it again. It ends somewhat abruptly after a final chorus, but this cut off just leaves me wanting to hit ‘replay.’

“White Christmas” — OneRepublic ★★☆☆☆

If you’re craving to get into the holiday spirit a little early this year, I suggest you don’t look to OneRepublic for your Christmas music fix. The band’s cover of “White Christmas” is an absolutely unnecessary addition. This classic song was originally sung by vocal giants like Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, and it should stay that way. The melodic changes are distracting and don’t feel sentimental at all. The vocalist modern raspy voice and intentional cracks may fit in a pop track, but these style choices mar the classic beauty of this song. That said, I did like the jazzy drum beat as well as the sound effects that mimicked howling wind. However, when a song’s strongest feature is its unique sound effects, the band didn’t actually make a very good song.