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.

Laufey — ‘From The Start’ ★★★★★

Jazz singer Laufey finally dropped a new song and “From the Start” is a pleasant surprise. Laufey is a popular artist among Gen Z who refreshes jazz while keeping it relevant and timeless — it wouldn’t be surprising if she stuck to the genre. In “From The Start,” she makes something unlike any of her previous music. The song is almost bossa-nova, making it perfect for an easy breezy tune for the summer. While branching out into an entirely new genre, “From The Start” is still sung in typical Laufey fashion — a woman is hopelessly in love with a man who obviously does not feel the same. She desperately sings “when I talk to you, oh, Cupid walks right through, and shoots an arrow through my heart.” One of my favorite things about Laufey is her creativity when making her music. You can hear the quiet guitar plucks, the soft piano and her “ba-da-ba-da-bas” mixed strategically throughout the song. If Laufey released an album in the future with songs that sound like “From The Start,” I couldn’t be more excited for it.

Ed Sheeran — ‘Curtains’ ★★☆☆☆

Following Ed Sheeran’s newest album, the pop single “Curtains” is underwhelming and doesn’t excite the listener for the rest of the album. We all know and love Ed Sheeran — a typical British singer/songwriter who has perfected his craft of writing simple, but effective pop love songs. Although this technique may have worked for him for a while, it may be getting old in “Curtains.” Like the rest of his other singles, “Curtains” is cheesy, but this time, doesn’t have anything to make up for it. He sings about a loved one wanting to see more of him, asking him to “pull the curtains, let me see the sunshine.” Sadly, I felt unaffected after listening to it a few times. The chorus is  catchy, but is too similar to all of the other songs in the british-pop-rock genre. Die-hard fans of Sheeran will love this song — if his song making technique isn’t broken, he won’t fix it. For people hoping for some sort of development in his sound, they won’t find it here. “Curtains” is alright, but ultimately, it sounds like a song that could have been on one of his albums from years ago. 

Peso Pluma — ‘77’ ★★★★☆

In light of his recent fame, Peso Pluma’s “77” surely will add to the list of hits racking up in his name. It seems that ever since Pluma’s Coachella performance with Becky G, every conversation has been revolving around him. His bigger songs like “Ella Baila Sola” and “La Bebé” have dominated the charts in the past weeks, making history as the first songs of the regional Mexican genre to get that high on the chart. “77” is no different than his others — the steady strum of guitar and constant trumpets is almost a trademark now in Pluma’s music. He is well known for his corridos, which shine in his new song — a traditional Mexican style of song that specializes in storytelling. Despite all Pluma’s current fame, I did find “77” to sound a lot like his other songs and it didn’t stand out to me. With standard lyrics and a simple melody, I felt that his other big songs did it better. Nevertheless, “77” is an upbeat tune, sure to get people up and dancing. I am glad to see the revival of traditional regional Mexican music, and hope that Peso Pluma continues making music in the genre.