Alicia Keys - 'Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart'
Oh no, you're not catching me out like this again, Ms Keys. Credit where it is due, you did a very good job of sneaking your way into the record books by putting out the un-hip hop version of one of the biggest hip hop hits of the year. And yes, what that did was to force cultural commentators such as myself (I've got a badge and everything) to either review the same song twice, or pretend it isn't happening.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me any more than three times, and you have to wonder if I'm deliberately pretending to be fooled because you're being filmed for Facejacker or something.
(No video, sorry.)
That's the trouble with Alicia's careful confections; they get under the skin. Oh sure, it's all there on first listen - the thunderous drum loop, the classical piano breakdown, the stacked harmonies that swoop and dip like a flock of starlings (see the for details) all hit hard from the start. But it's the way they linger which is interesting.
I mean, plenty of songs come across like they're the spawn of a couple of Power Ballads Of The '80s compliations. Heck, Glee are waging a one-show war to resurrect the originals in any case. What you need is a touch of strangeness to seperate the inspiration from its source. You need something which sounds NOT like an '80s power ballad, so that the power ballad bits sound fresh.
You also need the power ballad bits because, well, that's what Alicia does. It's that kind of a song. She's down, but she's gonna find a way to make it without you, swine that you are, and while she does it, have you noticed she's a dab hand at the ol' joanna? Nifty, eh?
Now, should some enterprising hip hop producer seek to issue a rapped-over version of this song, I declare all future review correspondence to be closed until further notice.
See also: songs from Glee, mashups of hit songs from awards ceremonies, anything by Owl City*...
Download: Out now
±«Óãtv Music page
(Fraser McAlpine)
* Only kidding. OR AM I?
Comment number 1.
At 30th Apr 2010, Craig wrote:What happened to the vid?
I have seen a vid of alicia keys as a superhero, which doesnt really fit the song...infact, she has done a song called superowman on her prev. album, which this would have been better for. I suspect there was an opprtunity for miss keys to show off her acting skills in a way her recent move into films hasnt allowed...but i may be being sceptical.
however, it's always good to see alicia looking amazing, which she does in this vid.
The song...this is my favourite from the album (yes, more than empire state of mind II) and up there in my list of favourite alicia tracks ever. How is this 4 stars? surely 5 stars!
i thought this was already released, but had been overshadowed by the sudden excitement over Empire state of mind II, so had been pushed to the side. I'm glad its getting a proper release which it deserves. I also know she has recorded the vid for Put it in a love song with Beyonce, which is a very chart friendly, poppy track form the album...looking forward to that.
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Comment number 2.
At 30th Apr 2010, RandomEnigma wrote:Yeah this was released as the second single from The Element Of Freedom in the US back around December. It didn't chart very well over there which is a shame because I'm in agreement with Craig. It is the best song on the album. Fingers crossed it does better here. I love the video for the song which shows Alicia Keys dressed as a superhero. She's a bit like Rogue from X-Men as she can use her powers to help the public but can't be in contact with her lover because her powers will only hurt him.
I like the concept for the video. It puts a nice supernatural twist on this song, which is lyrically a generic song about heartbreak but its above average because of Alicia's breathy vocal style and the '80s style synths which work well with Alicia's trademark piano.
I know that Unthinkable (I'm Ready) featuring Drake is the next US single from the album which will then be followed by the Beyoncé duet Put It In A Love Song. Hopefully Alicia's team avoid releasing Unthinkable here because all I can see it as is very strong filler from the album. I would like to see the video for Put It In A Love Song but I'm kind of getting sick of Beyoncé at this stage.
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Comment number 3.
At 30th Apr 2010, Radioactive wrote:pah
quite good...ploddy tempo...will get airplay...will probably hum along to it in about two weeks time even if i don't want to...list is endless but it's just that the same thing is true for EVERY Alicia Keys single
She must try some new directions to survive
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Comment number 4.
At 30th Apr 2010, RandomEnigma wrote:@ Radioactive,
I get where you're coming from. Alicia isn't the most versatile or exciting artist out there but her new album does actually show some growth from her. Like the slight '80s sound of this track or her club banger Put It In A Love Song or the Prince influenced funk of This Bed. You didn't hear that kind of music on her previous three albums.
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Comment number 5.
At 30th Apr 2010, kookie25 wrote:I heart the drum loop on this - love the concept of the song too.
wondering if I'll regret not seeing her tour this time around because its at the soulless evil of the 02 arena......
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Comment number 6.
At 3rd May 2010, OddOne wrote:WAIT A COTTON-PICKIN' MINUTE!
What happened to the release of 'Put It In A Love Song' with Beyoncé? COUGH COUGH EXCUSE ME FOR THE RANT but it's much better than this.
Not that this dosn't deserve it's lovely four stars right there, but isn't there something slightly odd about how the 'Put It In A Love Song' video was constantly being delayed and now we get this? I'm sorry but it just seems like she put this out to fill the gap. A song this good should not be treated like this.
Mind you, it is brilliant isn't it?
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Comment number 7.
At 3rd May 2010, RandomEnigma wrote:This was scheduled as a UK single months ago back when Empire State Of Mind (Part II) was released. You may remember Alicia performing this song months ago on Jonathan Ross.
Put It In A Love Song was postponed as a single in the US because it only peaked at Number 60 on the chart. I guess Alicia's team thought it would flop without using common sense that music videos generally heighten a song's success and now they're going with Unthinkable as the next single. Put It In A Love Song will be late Summer over there...and hopefully here also.
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Comment number 8.
At 5th May 2010, kookie25 wrote:Put It In A Love Song is probably my least favourite track on the album. Don't think I need to bear Beyonce when I bought an Alicia Keys album. I also think the line "text me on my cell phone" is hideous and will date the song terribly - like all those songs in the late 90s/early 2000s that talked about 2 way pagers and stuff before texting really took off in the States. I say leave that song out of being a single release.
my opinion.. obviously...
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Comment number 9.
At 6th May 2010, jonesybcfc wrote:The album bored me terribly. That's it, really.
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Comment number 10.
At 12th Jan 2011, U14750494 wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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