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.

“If My Heart Had A Heart” — Cassadee Pope ★★★☆☆

Cassadee Pope, well-known in the country community after winning season three of “The Voice,” continues her classic country-sound in her latest single “If My Heart Had A Heart.” Pope released the emotional single ahead of her second studio album “Stages,” which is set to be released Feb. 1. The song starts out with a beautiful, soft instrumental that becomes stronger as the percussion builds up during the chorus. The strong drum beat creates a powerful backdrop for Pope’s heartfelt lyrics. The opening line of the chorus, “If my heart had a heart, it would go on and leave me alone,” perfectly explains the song’s message of dealing with heartache. The lyrics flowed well and lacked any choppy, awkward verses. One highlight of the song was definitely Pope’s outstanding vocals. Pope’s voice blends elegantly with the beat, but her vocals shined when the instrumental died down for apart of the song. However, I would have liked to see a wider vocal range. Pope seems comfortable in her voice, but I think a variety in notes — especially more high notes — could really expand her sound and make her music more interesting to listen to. Overall, “If My Heart Had A Heart” is a passionate country song, but would likely not captivate any non-country fans.

“Love Me & Let Me Go” — Ashley Tisdale ★☆☆☆☆

Ashley Tisdale’s newest single “Love Me & Let Me Go” is another example of why actors and actresses should stick to acting. This is the second single released from her upcoming album “Symptoms” — her first since 2009. If you were expecting anything like her hit songs from the “High School Musical” series like “Fabulous” or “I Want It All,” you will be extremely disappointed. The song has a prominent techno-sound that by itself wouldn’t be terrible but is a terrible match with her voice. Tisdale’s powerless vocals can barely be heard over the loud beat drops. In addition, the unimaginative lyrics aren’t any better. I couldn’t even keep track of how many times she said “let me go.” Since the whole song sounded the same, no part really stood out. The chorus was only vaguely distinguishable when I looked the lyrics up online. “Love Me & Let Me Go” might appeal to you if you can ignore the vocals and the lyrics and just enjoy the instrumental, but I would recommend avoiding any of Tisdale’s songs released in the last ten years. Based on this song and the other single released from the album, “Voices In My Head,” “Symptoms” will likely not succeed in becoming Tisdale’s comeback album.

“Think About Us” — Little Mix (feat. Ty Dolla $ign) ★★★★☆

Originally released in late November last year, Little Mix’s single “Think About Us” was released again this month with the addition of Ty Dolla $ign as a featuring artist. Artists are often featured on songs unnecessarily, but not in this case. When I first listened to the original song, the lyrics were repetitive and boring by the middle of the song. With several creative bars from Ty Dolla $ign’s feature, the track is reborn into something worthwhile. The single was fairly typical of the band’s previous releases — a pop song with catchy lyrics and an energetic beat. Little Mix once again showed why it is one of the most vocally talented girl groups today. Perrie Edwards’ vocals stand out as she masterfully hits high notes throughout the song. However, they all have unique voices that blend together brilliantly. “Think About Us” is another song by Little Mix that is great to sing along or dance to, with a chorus that you won’t be able to get out of your head.