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 various artists.
“Malibu” — Mumford & Sons ★★★★★
Mumford & Sons broke out onto the folk rock scene in 2007. Since then, they have seen success with multiple albums like “Delta” and “Wilder Mind.” Most recently, they announced the release of a new album, “Rushmere,” and with it, the second of two promotional singles, “Malibu.” To put it briefly, Malibu is a phenomenal song. The steady beat immediately immerses you in the world that the song creates. The vocals are strong and emotional, tying the slow lead and rhythm guitars together perfectly. The only criticism I have for this song is that I do not see how the title plays into the rest of the song, as the lyrics do not mention anything about Malibu. Despite that, this song is a deeply emotional piece that gives insight into the emotions of the singer. My favorite part of this song is the slow build. The music is written in such a way that the build is gradual and does not feel sudden at all but instead ties into the sad story that the song tells. After listening to this single, I am excited to hear the rest of the album when it is released March 28.
“BUTTERFLY” — MARINA ★★★★☆
You may know MARINA from her songs “Oh No!” and “Primadonna” released in 2010 and 2012 respectively. In the early 2010s, MARINA released her two best-performing albums, “The Family Jewels” and “Electra Heart,” but has not seen that level of success since. “BUTTERFLY” is MARINA doing what she does best. The fun synth of the music distracts from her emotionally weighted lyrics in a way that forces you to really contemplate the song. The biggest criticism I have for this song is that the synth music can get slightly annoying at times with its overly repetitive and, at times, too high-pitched melody. Other than that, however, this was a very fun song to listen to. MARINA does a good job of switching up the tempo of the song every time it starts to get too boring which makes the song easier to listen to and more auditorily interesting. I would recommend this song to anyone who likes a fun beat tied with lyrics that have a deeper, more sad meaning.
“ExtraL” — JENNIE ft. Doechii ★★★★☆
I have only recently become familiar with Doechii’s music after hearing the song “DENIAL IS A RIVER” from her most recent album, “Alligator Bites Never Heal.” JENNIE, on the other hand, I had never heard of but I was excited to see how the two artists would blend together. “ExtraL” was released as a promotional single for JENNIE’s upcoming album, “Ruby.” This song did not disappoint. The beat and fast tempo of the song make for a fun listening experience and music that is easy to dance to. While this song does not have a lot of lyrical complexity, it makes up for it in how fun the lyrics are. Doechii’s rap verse does an excellent job of breaking up the song and adding another layer of verity. What I was most impressed with was how well these two artists’s vocal styles blended together to form a cohesive product. I hope to listen to further collaborations by these two artists in the near future.
