Mariah Carey, ‘The Art of Letting Go’ – Song Review

Mariah Carey has unleashed her new single, the title track to Album No. 14 -- 'The Art of Letting Go.'

The track kicks off with the sound of vinyl crackling, which is such a gloriously old-fashioned sound. Then we hear that angelic voice of hers. The song is incredibly throwback-y and it's very "jazz club."

It's also the type of love-gone-wrong ballad that Mariah Carey has built her career upon.

Her opening lyrical salvo is that she is making a statement, and the song goes on to detail her leaving a relationship that has been crumbling and become a liability for her.

Unfortunately, there's something about the song that prevents it from sticking and feeling like a statement track at this point in her career. It's not nearly as memorable as '#Beautiful,' her summer-released duet with Miguel. While Carey has infused hip-hop and urban grooves into her music for much of the past decade, she smartly steered clear of that here. But she's still wandering a little aimlessly.

The song doesn't appear like it will appeal to Beyonce fans, but perhaps an older demographic. But it's modern when she says, "Go to Mimi in your contacts / And press 'delete.'" She makes it clear that she wants this relationship to be dunzo for good, but the song is too anti-climactic. It feels very adult-contempo and a little snoozy.

Listen to Mariah Carey, 'The Art of Letting Go'