It's been a while since "Single Ladies" ruled the world. And neither of the first two singles off this album - "Run the World (Girls)," "Best Thing I Never Had" - have commanded the sort of attention Britney Spears and Lady Gaga enjoyed when their first singles hit the streets from "Femme Fatale" and "Born This Way" respectively.
Top 10 Beyoncé singles | New CD releasesThe bad news is, there's not much here that feels like it could put Beyoncé back on top, where she belongs. There's no "Crazy in Love," no "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" - although that's clearly what she's gunning for on "Run the World (Girls)" - and certainly no shameless bid to keep up with the Ke$has of the world.
It couldn't feel more out of step, in fact, with current trends in R&B or big dumb pop of the Ke$ha variety, as though she honestly bought into Jay-Z's "Death of Auto-Tune."
The good news is, it's timeless that way, overstuffed with soulful ballads. There's even a ballad called "Party" (which features guest appearances from Kanye West and André 3000 with harmonies silky enough to give some listeners flashbacks to the '70s).
In a pop scene that's hell-bent on keeping it frivolous, Beyoncé brings the drama, setting the tone with the slow-rolling gravity of "1 + 1," where she pleads for someone - we're assuming Jay-Z - to make love to her. Not for the sexual healing so much as the sexual therapy, whether the world is through, like it is in the opening verse, or just at war (see second verse).
There's more frivolity, in fact, on U2's latest record.
But Beyoncé sells that drama, investing her vocals with a sense that everything is hanging in the balance, whether the love of her life is still around to hear her plead, "Make love to me" or, in most cases, long gone, leaving her alone to pour her heart out in moments as wounded as "I'm crying and deserted, baby, but you don't care" (on "I Care," a song whose vocals venture into the Mariah zone) or "I thought that things like this get better with time/But I still need you/Why is that?" Even when she finds the inner strength to mock the fool who got away ("Best That I Never Had"), her heart sounds just as broken as she rubs his nose in it.
This is serious business, grown-up soul that may be best enjoyed by an audience old enough to understand why anyone would see the romance in a line as sad as "Nothing's perfect, but it's worth it."
No comments:
Post a Comment