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.
“Thinking About You” — Faye Webster ★★★★☆
After taking a three year break, Atlanta indie star Faye Webster released her fifth studio album, “Undressed at the Symphony,” on March 1. The album is full of songs about a breakup, and the track “Thinking About You” highlights just that. The repetition of the lyrics “I’m thinking about you” paired with the twangy guitar creates the feeling of post breakup-blues. The layered guitars have a nice melody and Webster’s harmonies are perfect. My only critique of the song is that it felt slightly repetitive. The song is around seven minutes long and half of the song is repeating the same line: “I’m thinking about you.” When I thought the song would be over, another couple minutes of the same line played. I think Webster could have cut down some of this part, but it does emphasize the emotion of the song. Overall, the instrumentals and lyrics all blended well in the song. While I didn’t enjoy all of the songs on the album, this track stood out to me and I’ll definitely be adding it to my playlists.
“true story” — Ariana Grande ★★★★☆
On March 8, pop icon Ariana Grande released her seventh album “eternal sunshine.” Fans have been anticipating the release of the album since leaks of multiple of Grande’s songs have blown up on TikTok. Songs like “fantasize” and “true story” quickly started spreading across platforms and fans loved the 90s girl-group-esque sound. Grande decided to rework these tracks since the leaks, and that is just what she did on “true story.” While the song is similar to the leak, it has newer, reworked elements — specifically her vocals. Her voice is soft and clear, and her vocal range is exemplified in the bridge of the song. The instrumental is a classic Timbaland sounding R&B beat, which I love. Grande sings about the media’s perception of her — likely after facing recent controversies — singing, “I’ll play the villain if you need me to.” The song is addressed to the media outlets who speculate about her life and relationships. This is evident in the chorus, where she sings: “This is a true story about all the lies you fantasized ’bout you and I.” I enjoyed this release from Grande and I like how it captures the 2000s pop vibe I’ve been craving.
“Goddess” — Laufey ★★★★★
Icelandic singer-songwriter Laufey is the queen of jazz-pop love ballads. Her songs are lyrically beautiful and her voice is soothing to listen to. She released her single “Goddess” on March 6 and the release took me by surprise. Laufey’s songs are usually soft love songs, and while this one included her ethereal vocals, it also showed us a new side of her. The majority of the song is slow and quiet, just Laufey singing with a piano in the background. It all builds up until the anger spills out at the end. She pours out all her emotions and sings: “You took me for a fool, you stole my youth… I’m not your f****** goddess.” I loved this track. In the song, she reveals her heart wrenching experience of being in a relationship with someone who idolized her and only fell in love with the image of her, not her true self. Laufey herself said this was her “most honest song” she has written, and this is clear by the amount of emotion and vulnerability packed in the lyrics of the song. I would love to see more of this kind of sound from Laufey.
