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.
“Strategy” — Twice ft. Megan Thee Stallion ★★★★☆
“Strategy,” the song, was released Dec. 6 in concurrence withTWICE’s album “Strategy”. The K-pop group has been releasing music since 2017 but has yet to work with Megan Thee Stallion until this song. Though I have heard their music, I have never been a huge fan of this girl group’s songs. The artist I was more familiar with in this collaboration was Megan Thee Stallion, so I was excited to see what she would bring to the song. If someone asked me to describe this song in one word, it would be fun. Its upbeat tempo makes you want to dance all day. The song starts exactly how it ends, with very little build-up or build-down in between, so I would not want to listen to this song on repeat. “Strategy” is consistent with the music that TWICE has been releasing for their entire career and is immediately recognizable as a song of theirs. Although the song is fun, after a while I started to find the lyrics and musicality boring, but TWICE had a solution to this problem: a rap collaboration. Megan Thee Stallion’s rap verse does a good job of breaking up what would otherwise be a fairly monotonous song. The two artists combined make for a very clean, homogenous product that has plenty of variety.
“Empty Bench” — David Kushner ★★★★☆
You may know David Kushner from his songs “Daylight” and “Miserable Man.” Kushner released his first album, “The Dichotomy,” earlier this summer, and I am happy to see that he is releasing music again this quickly. The beginning tempo immediately let me know that this would be a sad song. The wistful lyrics made me get caught in the moment of this song and I loved how the opening drew me in. I was worried that this song would stay sad all the way through, but I was happily surprised when I heard a build-up. The instrumental build-up elevated this song and turned it from a good song to a great song. The instrumentals get more powerful as Kushner’s voice becomes more powerful, which is the perfect combination for a sad love song like this. In “Empty Bench,” Jushner creates an atmosphere along with a story. His lyrics, along with his musicality, invite you into the world that he has created. I have not heard many of Kushner’s songs, but I am excited to listen to more after hearing this song.
“Personal” — Khalid ft. Normani ★★★☆☆
I was unsure what to expect when I first listened to this song. I recognized Khalid from his songs like “Young, Dumb, & Broke” and “Location,” and I recognized Normani from her time in the girl group Fifth Harmony. These two had previously collaborated on the 2018 song “Love Lies,” so I was intrigued when I saw they were making music together again. This song was a lot more chill than I expected, but not in a particularly good way. Khalid starts this song off with his verse, while Normani ends it with hers. I was disappointed when there was no real build-up throughout the song. I didn’t hate it, but I would have liked more variation than this song had. Khalid and Normani’s voices blended well, and their respective styles mesh fairly seamlessly, but I was let down by their lack of instrumental creativity, and the song almost sounded like I had heard it before. If these two artists collaborate again, I hope they show more creativity and ingenuity.
