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 by a variety of artists.
Polo G — ‘Barely Holding On’ ★★★★★
Polo G recently released his new single that has resonated with me especially, as it deals with the death of friends and family. The song is about the struggles of life in its entirety. About how life is scary and we all deal with issues, but we must be strong because we are lucky to even be alive. He mentions the death of one of his friends in the song to exemplify his point, “sometimes I miss them days when me and bro was off it, tweaking. I hate Sept.18, that’s when we lost a demon.” The lyrics in the song embody the idea of stoically making it through the pain. The music video attached to this piece is no different. It shows people who have dealt with the extremes of pain, from being a recovering crack addict to a paralyzed child, and how they still move forward. The song also has a great beat to match the vibe of the lyrics. The beat stays very calm and fades to the background, so the listener can focus on the hard-hitting lyrics. While this is a fantastic song on its own, it is only a teaser for his upcoming album “Hood Poet,” which will be coming out on Sept. 15..
Mitski — ‘Star’ ★★★☆☆
After six studio albums, Mitski is coming back with another called, “The Land is inhospitable and so are we.” She has released a couple of singles off the album to ease the excitement of her fans. Mitski’s single, “Star,” is about love fading out between people. It tells the story of a star slowly going away and fading out. It never burns out in the song, but it drifts away, becoming dimmer and dimmer. The star slowly drifting away represents the emotional distance between people as they slowly fall apart. The song also says that it is worth holding on and not giving up, no matter how distant people become. The lyrics are poetic and express the theme quite well. The song is good in my book just based on that alone. However, the backing track falls flat. While it has a nice crescendo building up to the end, it feels very empty and hollow. However, my opinions on this might change when the full context of the song is released with the full album “The Land is Inhospitable and so are we,” on Sept. 15.
Apashe — ‘Revenge of the Orchestra (ft. Magugu)’ ★★★★★
After killing the orchestra a year ago on his album “Renaissance,” Apashe is back with more singles that contain heavy brass instruments and loud bass. The single “Revenge of the Orchestra” is a teaser for the album “Antagonist” that will be released in the coming months. A big aspect of this artist is his variety of sounds, and this song is no exception. As a producer, he brings in some intense electrical sounds, but also pulls in the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra from Prague with Magugu chanting over the abrasive sound. The song uses primarily brass instruments, which creates a feeling of tension that builds up ‘till the end of the piece, where it all comes together in a dissonant chord. Magugu sounds amazing and his voice fits in well with the electronic and classical aspects of the song. All of these aspects just blend beautifully together showing the skill of the artist. Apache will be coming to Minnesota to perform his new album at the Skyway Theater on Nov. 3.
