Osupa 20 November 2009 Featured Artist, Music No Comment

The Guardian

By Alex McPherson

A new Mariah Carey album, a new promotional psychodrama: the jaunty, wisecracking lead single Obsessed exhumed an old beef with Eminem, received a lukewarm reception and was hurriedly replaced by a safe, typically bombastic Foreigner cover.

MARIAH CAREY FT GUCCI MANE OBSESSED REMIX VIDEO

Photo by James White

It is not surprising that Carey’s label is nervous: Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel is a sprawling, 17-track epic with few obvious singles – but it is loaded with creativity. It’s an astonishingly intimate listen. Songs unfold lavishly and gradually, with typically verbose internal monologues (“I was oh, so acquiescent – but I learned my lesson,” Carey muses on It’s a Wrap). For Carey, intimacy is inextricably bound with luxury. Her voice is layered like plush, velvet cushions and backed by swooning, subtle production (courtesy of R&B producer The-Dream) that gets increasingly odd and abstract as the album progresses. Though her midrange may be increasingly ragged, she navigates her flaws with panache – impressive for a singer whose reputation has been built on perfection – and age has only sharpened her ridiculous sense of humour: “Love me like a sugar daddy, love me like a pimp Caddy,” she pleads on the feather light Candy Bling. You can’t help but do so.