Beyonce distinguished herself as one of the brightest highlights during “American Idol’s” season finale last night, due in part to the debut of “1+1,” the first ballad to be introduced from her forthcoming album “4.”
While we’re playing the numbers game, this will mark the second single from the set, as “Who Run the World (Girls)” continues to struggle with airplay and mass adoption on a “Single Ladies” scale. But upon viewing Bey’s live take of the song for “Oprah” earlier this week — despite the borderline hilarious handing-out-of-diplomas bit — plus this spectacular vocal performance, Beyonce is aiming for entertainment perfection.
If only it didn’t seem the lyrics to “1+1” were penned by a second-grader.
[More after the jump…]
Queen B takes this slow-burner back to the ’90s, with a little mix of rock guitars and ridiculous synths that somehow end up making a cohesive whole. The starts at around a 7 or an 8 and blasts through the end, both in the recorded version and the “AI” live version (the latter of which seems to have her singing from a pit of lava, arms of the living dead reaching from the ground’s burning core). She growls and demands her lover to make love to her, a wanting of desperation and thirst. But what does a gun do? It shoots! Will you fight for me? Yup! What is one plus one? Two!
There’s elemental, and elementary, and while I enjoy the rawness and pleasures of the track, I get a little tripped up with the weak analogies and simplicity of language and schemes. But then you hear her take those big breathes — like something is coming — and you forget all about it again. It should and could be her “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.”
Meanwhile, the tracklist to “4” has been revealed, and the sole guest vocalist seems to be Andre 3000, on track “Party” produced by Kanye West and Consequence.
Here is the tracklist to “4,” out on June 28:
1. ‘1+1’
2. ‘I Care’
3. ‘I Miss You’
4. ‘Best Thing I Never Had’
5. ‘Party’ feat. Andre 3000
6. ‘Rather Die Young’
7. ‘Start Over’
8. ‘Love On Top’
9. ‘Countdown’
10. ‘End Of Time’
11. ‘I Was Here’
12. ‘Run The World (Girls)’
What do you think of the song? And her performance?