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.
Ryan Gosling — ‘I’m Just Ken – In My Feelings Acoustic)’ ★★★☆☆

We’ve all heard of the “Barbie” movie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, but you might not know that an EP (extended play) of the movie was released on Dec. 20. The EP is called “Ken the EP,” and features three new versions of the song “I’m Just Ken” performed by Ryan Gosling. The song I chose to review is “I’m Just Ken (In My Feelings Acoustic).” It has a much softer tone than the original version and doesn’t show the same passion and anger that the original has. However, it does seem to show more vulnerability and sadness, and I like that it gives a new perspective to the character of Ken by showing more of his emotions. It starts out quietly, but gets progressively more passionate, then leads into a minor key to give off sort of a sadder and almost haunting feeling to the song, which is not a twist I had expected. I gave the song three stars, since I thought it was cool to see how the original song was changed to give a whole new feeling. That being said, I don’t think it was necessary for this EP to be released, since I didn’t feel like anything really needed to be added to the original song from the movie, and I don’t know what the point of the EP was.
Charlotte Plank — ‘Redline’ ★★★☆☆

Charlotte Plank is an up and coming musician. I hadn’t ever heard of her before, but as I was listening to her new song “Redline,” released on Dec. 22, I wondered why she isn’t more popular. “Redline” starts out with soft guitar music and calming vocals. As the song goes on, Plank’s voice gets stronger and more soulful. In “Redline,” Plank sings about trying to get over a relationship and the struggles that come with that. In the intensifying pre-chorus, Plank sings “Forgetting you in someone else, at least that’s what I tell myself, but he don’t feel like home.” Throughout the song, you can see her desperation to move on, but that she’s having more trouble with that than she’d hoped. However, I gave “Redline” three stars because I felt like it was very repetitive, and I also didn’t feel like it was very original. Other than that, I thought it was a decent and relaxing song, and I would recommend it if you like quiet or calming music.
Oliver Cronin (With Topic) — ‘1, 2, 3’ ★★☆☆☆

Oliver Cronin is a newer musician, having released several songs in 2020, and continuing to release songs to this day. He is a singer, songwriter and producer from Byron Bay, Australia. I had never listened to his music before, so I had no idea what to anticipate from his new song “1, 2, 3,” released on Dec. 22. It was a very short song, lasting little over two minutes. The last 30 seconds or so of the song are mostly just instrumental, making the song feel even shorter. It starts out by jumping straight into the long and repetitive chorus. This song doesn’t have much more than a chorus that is repeated a couple times, which doesn’t make it very engaging. The song is very upbeat and bubbly, but I didn’t feel like it was very unique or original. Although it told a story, it wasn’t very profound and didn’t have any deeper meanings. The narrator sang about being in love, but not thinking he was good enough for his significant other. I also felt like the song was lacking emotion, as it was a super perky song that was singing about something sad. “1, 2, 3” is a song that is kind of in your face and overwhelming, so if you’re looking for a song to study to or just have on in the background, you might want to look for something more relaxing. While I thought Cronin had a decent voice, I just didn’t love the song. I gave it only two stars since I felt like it was thrown together quickly and shallowly. To be fair, it wasn’t a style of music that I really enjoy, so I might be biased.