Alicia Keys “Doesn’t Mean Anything”
Fresh from penning Whitney Houston’s surprisingly irresistable “don’t call it a comeback” entry “Million Dollar Bill” and co-celebrating the Big Apple on Jay-Z’s anthemic Blueprint 3 highlight “Empire State of Mind”, Alicia Keys steers the focus back to her own solo career with the newly leaked ballad “Doesn’t Mean Anything”, the first taste of her as-yet-untitled upcoming fourth album and one that’ll surely garner her some more award gold come 2011 Grammy night.
Built on a steady drum/ piano pounce that initially hints of a “No One” re-do before evoking more of a Fray/ OneRepublic adult-pop feel, “Doesn’t Mean Anything” presents Keys growing even more comfortable in her position as one of today’s most reliable timeless pop creators, delivering a moving “true love > material things” lyric that pierces the soul in all the right ways and an utterly gorgeous musical arrangement and poised diva vocal performance that both slowly swell upward until they seem to break through the clouds above.
Some may balk at the track’s decidedly non-urban stamp (and to be honest, we might not be fully on-board with this project, if we start to get the gist that the rest of the album will follow this somewhat VH1-ish formula), but it’s hard to easily deny the level of class and universally-appealing popcraft on display here.
Consider her “can’t do any wrong” streak extended for at least another year with this one.
It really “Doesn’t Mean Anything” when your 4th CD sounds just like your first… still whining over some guy who dumped you 8 years ago? Initially we felt sorry for you, Alicia… now get over it already!