Mariah Carey - 'Touch My Body'
However I might feel about her music on any given day, I always maintain that we need more people like Mariah Carey in pop music. She's iconic in a way that so few people these days are: she's eccentric in the best possible way (I will always adore her for calling two of her albums 'The Emancipation of Mimi' and 'E=MC2'), she's unpredictable (personality-wise at least), and while the precise state of her sense of humour may be up for debate, she's sufficiently game to make music videos that send her up as the cartoonish male fantasy she might possibly be, and with Kenneth from 30 Rock in them to boot:
Another thing that's great about Mariah Carey is that she's pretty much a genre in her own right - others have followed in her footsteps and tried to imitate her, but she's the archetype that you really have to beat. With that in mind, you know pretty much what to expect from this - R&B-lite with a lot of trilling on the side.
This is a little low-key for a lead single from the new album - it lacks the sassy funk and cheerful ridiculousness of 'It's Like That'; instead, it feels more like one part 'We Belong Together' and four parts water. It's not that it's actively bad, it's just that it's disappointingly formulaic and sanitised. And it falls into the rather unfortunate trap of would-be sexy songs with utterly mood-killing lyrics:
Touch my body
Put me on the floor
Wrestle me around
Play with me some more
I mean, it's a little indifferent, isn't it? It's not exactly Fanny Hill. I will, however, give her kudos for the bizarre yet improbably well-placed YouTube shoutout in the bridge. That sort of thing is not easy to pull off.
Ultimately, it seems a little pointless to critique this very much, since this is Mariah being Mariah doing Mariah in the key of Mariah. It works, and there's absolutely no reason why she should change it. I just would've liked something a little more off-script for the opening single, but I can see why she'd prefer not to mess with a winning formula. As long as she's still as crazy as a knapsack full of teaspoons, it's all fine with me.
Download: Out now
CD Released: March 31st
(Steve Perkins)
Comments
Have to say the Youtube line makes the whole song for me. And Kenneth makes the whole video for me
It's strange how the British media portray Mariah as some kind of loon, whereas the International media set treat her with some semblance of respect. Ok she's worn some skimpy outfits in her time but thats no reason to says she's bonkers. I've never seen or heard of Mariah going to court for drug charges (Winehouse, Doherty) or generally disgracing herself (Spears) or even purposely antagonising religious groups to get media attention(Madonna). From the snippets i've heard of her new album Mariahs gonna be just fine, as one of the only remaining artists out there who can still achieve multi-million album sales
[I think the 'Mariah's a loon' angle comes from all the AMAZING stories which circulate about her diva demands - not doing stairs, needing puppies to stroke, all that stuff. We'd rather believe these are true stories because they are great stories, and much better than whatever drab reality Mariah might want us to believe. - Fraser]
I think the song is average, the video shamefully amateur and immature; Mariah needs to be told, she is not a twentysomething anymore and to grow up. Yes she is atrractive but please, why not use her talent of singing more than flaunting around in kids clothes in all of her videos?
this song is awesome mariah carey is a legend in the music buisness and its good to see shes still producing good songs