Listen: Mariah Carey's new track 'Almost Home' misses by a mile

Credit: Island Records

Hear Mariah Carey like you’re never heard her...and that’s not a good thing.

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The diva’s new single, “Almost Home” from the soundtrack to upcoming film “Oz The Great and Powerful” dropped a day early, but, quite frankly, we could have certainly waited another day for this.

The Stargate-produced, mid-tempo track featured a highly-processed Carey vocal with her singing in her middle register over a cheesy synthesized track. She sounds  a little like  a Munchkin her voice is so compressed.  It’s not until the song hits the 3-minute mark that we get any kind of singing that remotely resembles her previous efforts..

The song is staggeringly generic and devoid of anything resembling a hook. When the most fascinating thing about it is the way Carey draws “go” out into four syllables, “go-oh-oh-oh,” that’s not a good sign.

The bridge brings in a buzzing that will have you checking to see if you just received a text. You did: it’s your phone letting you know the song is as dull as you think it is.  Even Carey sounds bored singing it.

Carey is one of the most talented  and successful singers of her generation. Why is she having so much trouble getting her groove back? Between this and last fall’s flailing “Triumphant (Get ‘Em),”  there’s nothing that makes me excited to hear a new Carey album, although I still have total faith in her talent and voice. We know she has heart, courage, brains. Maybe she needs to ask the Great Oz for better material.

If I click my heels three times, can I get the three minutes I spent listening to this back?

What do you think of "Almost Home?"