Mariah Carey: Me. I am Mariah … the Elusive Chanteuse review – heroic self-belief and big songs
“Best thing to happen to your ass was me,” sings Mariah Carey on the track Thirsty, inviting you to applaud her heroic self-belief.
That quality permeates her 13th studio album, from the fabulously solipsistic title to her confidence as she outdazzles guests Nas, Miguel and even Stevie Wonder. Sure, Wonder can play a joyous harmonica – which he does on Make It Look Good – but can he trill and soar with Carey’s offhand elegance?
The indifferent commercial performance of her last album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, has left her grandiosity undented – as ever, Carey is often wildly overblown (see, in particular, Cry), but there’s a magnificence to the way her voice nearly bursts its banks, then reins itself back to quiet-storm mode.
Admittedly, there’s a good deal of clutter: not just 90s R&B throwbacks such as You’re Mine (Eternal) and a gospelised cover of George Michael’s One More Try, but an appearance by her three-year-old twins.
Yet she’s also at her most soulful and melodic, and the best of the bunch, such as the dreamy 70s disco of Meteorite, make this album a welcome return.
Rating: 3/5
Interestingly the reviewer, Caroline Sullivan, mentions in the comments section underneath her review that she ‘wavered between three and four [for the star rating]Â – she sounds great and there are songs I’ll be listening to a lot, but it’s big and sprawling, and could easily have lost a few tracks – thus three.’
Mariah Carey’s new album “Me. I Am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse,” is available for pre-order from:
iTunes by clicking one of the following links: Standard Edition | Deluxe Edition
Amazon is also offering pre-orders of the CD editions of the album by clicking one of the following links: Standard Edition | Deluxe Edition
Source: The Guardian