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.
Noah Kahan ft. Lizzy McAlpine — “Call Your Mom” ★★★★☆
Noah Kahan has grown in popularity a lot lately since the release of his new album “Stick Season.” Now, Kahan has recorded a new version of his song “Call Your Mom,” featuring singer Lizzy McAlpine. Although the words of McAlpine’s verse are the same as the original, her vocals evoke new emotion in the song. “Call Your Mom” is a ballad of support and devotion for a person going through a dark time. It seems that Kahan is trying to help someone who is thinking of ending their life. Throughout the song,
he tries to explain that the darkness and pain they are experiencing is temporary, and that they shouldn’t make permanent decisions because of temporary circumstances. Kahan expresses this sentiment with the line, “Don’t let this darkness fool you, all lights turned off can be turned on.” He goes on to talk about how the person is loved by a lot of people, giving significance to the line/title, “I’ll call your mom.” The majority of this song is balancing validating feelings of depression and describing the experience of supporting someone who has attempted suicide.
“Call Your Mom” is one of Kahan’s more mellow songs, with the mood of the song matching the subject matter. Mostly composed of acoustic guitar, the song starts with Kahan’s falsetto, shifts to McAlpine’s vocals and ends with both singing a moving last chorus. I thought it was a really interesting concept that Kahan and McAlpine were singing to the person, rather than from their perspective or about them. The listener is put it the shoes of having a loved one in this position when Kahan and McAlpine sing, “Don’t wanna drive another mile wonderin’ if you’re breathin’, so won’t you stay, won’t you stay, won’t you stay with me?” The message combined with the vocals of two such talented musicians makes “Call Your Mom” an incredibly powerful song.
Bleachers — “Modern Girl” ★★★★☆
For those that don’t know, the band Bleachers is fronted by producer Jack Antanoff, who is known for working with popular artists such as Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey and Lorde. Although his personal musical endeavors are not as known as the records that he has helped write and produce, his band is still making a name for itself in the indie rock genre. “Modern Girl” is a fun pop song about having a fun night out. Antanoff sets the scene with the lyrics, “Friday night, killer queens, hop a train, on the scene, all the band is in the wild.” The lyrics match the melody, with upbeat rock tones and a peppy saxophone. There are multiple uses of ‘heart attack’ as a simile in the song, describing how passionate the band is for their music, saying “Play it like a heart attack for ya, We play it like a heart attack.” This and
other lines throughout “Modern Girl” feel a little out of place with the song being about dancing and partying, but I think Bleachers could be trying to connect the essence of the night of fun to their concerts, and how much work they put in to give their shows this vibe. There are many breaking-the-fourth-wall lyrics throughout, such as, “Evan Smith, tiny sax” talking about the band’s saxophone player, and, “I’m wearin’ a heart attack, baby, a Mikey Freedom heart attack,” a play on the bassist’s name, Mikey Freedom Hart. This could again be alluding to the band’s passion for their music and each individual’s contribution to the band.
Compared to Bleachers’ previous indie rock sound, “Modern Girl” feels vintage and less electronic. The best comparison I can think of for this song is the classic sound of Billy Joel. The production, use of saxophone, the specific inflection of lines and even Antanoff’s vocals are reminiscent of “Uptown Girl,” but with a slightly faster pace and more metaphoric lyrics. I haven’t really heard anything like this recently, so although it caught me a bit off guard, I appreciate what “Modern Girl” does both musically and lyrically.
Faye Webster — “Lifetime” ★★★☆☆
I don’t mean to start on a negative note, but the first thing I thought after listening to Faye Webster’s new song, “Lifetime,” is that this song feels like it goes on for a lifetime. It consists of Webster singing two lines, following them with, “In a lifetime, in a lifetime,” and repeating this about four times. Then, the rest of the song is just her saying “In
a lifetime” over and over for the last two and a half minutes. When she’s not using this line, Webster’s lyrics are seemingly very cryptic. From what I can tell, “Lifetime” is a love song about love that lasts a long time, signified with the opening lyrics, “Can’t imagine me before you in a lifetime, in a lifetime.” However, the song then diverges with every new couplet of lyrics. She next says, “When I said I knew him, I didn’t really mean it,” and then “Every minute, you are in it.” I don’t really know what to make of these lines, and the fact that the bulk of the song is Webster repeating, “In a lifetime,” does not help decipher the song’s meaning. Aside from the lyrics, “Lifetime” is a soft, jazzy song with light drums, delicate piano and acoustic guitar, atmospheric backing violin and a bass guitar riff that anchors the ensemble. I was surprised not to hear any slide guitar, as the instrument is used in many of her songs and has kind of become her signature. One aspect that felt very familiar, though, were Webster’s unique, melancholic vocals. Really nothing about the song sounded like a typical Faye Webster song other than her voice. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the instrumentation on “Lifetime,” the repetitiveness of the lyrics are what brought down my rating.
