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.
Mitski — ‘Heaven’ ★★★★★
Part of her most recent album “The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We,” the song “Heaven” is a refreshing new track from Mitski. After pondering retirement, the new album feels like a new leaf for the singer, with a warmer and more comforting sound than her previous music. “Heaven” in particular, has a wonderful blend of country guitar and orchestral strings that work surprisingly well together. Paired with her airy and beautiful voice, the song brings such a warm feel to the listener. I truly enjoyed all three minutes and 44 seconds of this track. I loved this new lyrical side of Mitski, with verses like “As I sip on the rest of the coffee you left, a kiss left of you,” highlighting a happier feel than the majority of her discography. The album as a whole is a great listen, but “Heaven” is definitely a new favorite of mine.
Drake — ‘Slime You Out’ ft. SZA ★★★☆☆
In the days leading up to the release of his highly anticipated new album ‘For All The Dogs’, rapper/singer Drake put out a new single. The new song ‘Slime You Out’ was featuring another crowd favorite, SZA. The song resonates with Drake’s R&B sound rather than rap, reminding me more of SZA’s style of music, but it’s nice nonetheless. The beginning of the song didn’t start off strong for me, as Drake’s lyrics towards women were extremely off-putting. Lines like “You b*****s really get carried away” and “I don’t know what’s wrong with you girls” were oddly placed, and just not pleasing to hear, especially coming from Drake’s heavily autotuned voice. The vapid lyricism and just plain bad singing paired with this ballad-like sound made me question how much I was going to like this track. But once SZA’s lines started, I immediately started to enjoy the song much more. Her melodic voice improves any feature she is a part of, including ‘Slime You Out’. She had the same criticism of men as Drake had women, highlighting men’s shortcomings with lyrics like “F****d out of pity, it’s cute that you lame”. But, unlike Drake, her voice made up for the lyricism immensely. And following her verses, Drake’s finishing lines completed the song in an enjoyable way. Although this song won’t be making it into my usual rotation, I will give it a listen here and there.
Madison Beer — ‘Sweet Relief’ ★★★★☆
The track ‘Sweet Relief’ from young singer-songwriter Madison Beer’s latest album is a beautiful listen through lyricism, beat and vocalization. The song is a bit more upbeat compared to the rest of her album, ‘Silence Between Songs’, however it still has a mellow vibe. Beer’s voice is always something I’ve enjoyed, but her talent really shined in ‘Sweet Relief’. As she sings about being smitten for someone, her voice carries weight throughout. So much so, it made me a bit sad that the song had finished because I wanted to hear more of her. Lyrics like “It’s so reckless of me but this feeling is deeply profound” and “Baby, I can’t help myself, I’m seein’ you everywhere I go” adds so much meaning to the song, and continue to add more and more likeability to the track. Overall, I really loved this new song from Beer. All aspects of the track are very well-executed, and blend together to create a chill, yet moving song about having a crush. I have already added ‘Sweet Relief’ to my music rotation, and I’m looking forward to hearing a live version of the song.
