Listen: Alicia Keys unveils radically different sound on ‘New Day’

Has Alicia Keys been listening to Beyonce? The Grammy winner unleashed a new track today and the militant drum pattern definitely recalls Bey”s “Run the World (Girls).”

“New Day” is an upbeat, celebratory song is dominated by the drum beat, as Key delivers one of her most dramatic, lively vocal. Singing in a island-like patois, Keys heralds the coming of a “New Day,”  declaring “Take a look in my eyes, can”t you see I”m ready/If you want to touch the sky, hands in the air one time.”

[More after the jump…]

The song, possibly the first single from her forthcoming fifth studio album, is all about mood and feel, with little emphasis on Keys” usually prominent piano playing (although she is playing keyboards here). It”s a radical departure from previous hits like “No One” Or “Doesn”t Mean Anything,” especially on the breakdown at the end.

Keys unveiled the song via her Twitter page, teasing yesterday that she would have a surprise. She then posted the link early this afternoon. She has unveiled two other new songs in recent months: Last September, she played “A Place of My Own” in concert, and, more recently, “Not Even The King,” for an MTV presentation.

 Keys’ last album was 2009’s “The Element of Freedom.” 

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