In the new track superdiva Mariah Carey released the other day, she professes love to her beloved. She has mastered these types of love songs, releasing one after another in recent years. The new song itself is pretty straightforward and self-explanatory. The title says it all--"You're mine (Eternal)."
The breathy ballad is a bit of a beautiful contradiction. At one part, the song has really nothing new to offer. The song seems like a retread of many of her songs--lyrically, thematically, and vocally. Lyrically, the song is a rehash of "Don't forget about us." Thematically, the song isn't very far from "We belong together." Vocally, as much as I enjoyed her still potent pipes here, I feel she didn't give us something we haven't heard before.
BUT. And because this is Mariah-freaking-Carey we're talking about, there's a huge BUT.
There's much to admire in "You're mine." For one, the intro fades in beautifully, letting listeners know they're in for a cutesy ballad that's perfect for Valentine's Day. Mariah has been criticized for singing too much using her "whispery" voice, so it's nice to hear she utilizes her "full voice" for the most part of the song.
I'm also glad to see that Mariah has shun the usual song structure of "intro-verse1-chorus-verse2-chorus-bridge-chorus-outro". As a friend of mine noticed, "You're Mine" is one of those songs where there are more hooks than actual verses. It works.
Though, at this point, a big note at the end of the song is to be expected from any Mariah release, it's still musical candy to hear the diva's powerful chest voice towards the end, belting like only she can (which she knows sends the lambily to bliss!). What's more, she transitions effortlessly--without losing a single breath--from chest voice to a whistle register like she was just eating ice cream. No sweat!
This is reminiscent of her live rendition of an album cut from her debut album, "Vanishing," which gave us a taste of this technique. It would mean the world to me to see her sing this part live, with no backing track whatsoever when her promotional appearances kick into high gear.
The remix, which she released simultaneously with the original cut, has a lot more elements in play, which isn't necessarily a good thing. With R&B singer Trey Songz as a featured artist, there's a lot more going on. To appeal to a younger crowd, there's more electronic-sounding factors here which, at first listen, I find quite noisy.
With repeated spins, however, I find there are a lot more good in it than I initially gave it credit for. For starters, we hear more verses from Mariah. But the money shot here, of course, are the harmonization that the singer did towards the end of the song, which is spine-tingling to a tee.
Overall, "You're mine (Eternal)" isn't at all a perfect song. Yet it's Mariah's most mainstream song in years, which shows she is equally hungry to snatch that 19th Billboard Hot 100 #1 as much as her salivating lambs. In fact, I was hoping Mariah would re-title the remix "You're mine (19th!)" or something!
Let's face it, Mariah's career was built on her chart successes (thanks to that heavenly voice and efficient songwriting prowess), so if this song does not fly, Mariah would really have to rethink her strategy, so to speak.
For now, as a hardcore fan, my hunger for a new album has been somewhat placated. After all, I don't have to wait for too long--the upcoming, yet-untitled album drops on May 6. The music industry seems to be ready for new material--and Mariah is ready to give it to them. Bring it on, Ms Thing! Show us what you've been cooking for us. Like I said, we're hungry for some Mimi! :)
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