New Good Song: Triumphant by Mariah Carey featuring Rick Ross and Meek Mill

Here's a new good song -- "Triumphant" by Mariah Carey f/ Rick Ross and Meek Mill

OK. I have made no secret of the fact that, while I am a song-specific fan and thus not artist-loyal, I am interested in Mariah Carey and her output because I have observed 22 years of high quality. She has written, sung, produced and released good song after good song. Sure, there have been a couple clunkers, but the good has outweighed the bad.

So I was eager in anticipation upon learning -- through Facebook -- that her new single was released to radio last Thursday, and to iTunes yesterday. I sought it out as soon as it became available Thursday and was a bit disappointed, because the song so heavily features the "guest" rappers, and rap does a good song not tend to make. But upon repeated listens, I have grown to like it more, and although this is surely not her best output, it is good relative to what else is out there.

She has released a "Vintage Throwback Remix," not yet available on iTunes, that contains no rap and instead includes verses by Carey. This should mean a greater level of goodness, although the production (and specifically the pace of the production) are weaker than the original. So it's not a winning tradeoff.

I am looking forward to seeing the subsequent output from Carey's latest album.

New Good Song: Game Of Cards by Mason Brothers

Here's a new good song -- "Game Of Cards" by Mason Brothers.

The new offerings on the Alternative area of iTunes were so weak today that I had to take my hunt for new good songs to the Singer/Songwriter tab, which is sort of like not caring for anything on the menu at Ruth's Chris and going to Outback Steakhouse instead. Often, Singer/Songwriter is code for weepy and badly sung, but "Game Of Cards" stands out as a very pretty, clean, simple, old-fashioned folk-rock song. In 3/4 time, it has a nice story and melody. I think it will please.

But of course, this may not be the best new song of the week, as Mariah Carey fans eagerly await the Thursday release of her new song, "Triumphant." Mariah Carey's output is among the best, and she rarely disappoints with a studio-album lead single (see "Vision Of Love," "Emotions," "Dreamlover," "Fantasy," "Honey," "Heartbreaker," "Through The Rain," It's Like That," "Touch My Body" and "Obsessed" ... And, yes, I knew all that from memory). So hope for goodness come Thursday.

New Good Song: Without You by Monica

Here's a new good song -- "Without You" by Monica

I feel a little sorry for Monica because she's incredibly talented, but her body of work is boring. Perhaps that's why it's helpful when a talented vocalist can also write and produce, so her fate isn't in others' hands (e.g., Mariah Carey). Monica had a great out-of-the-gate song in 1995 with "Don't Take It Personal." "Angel of Mine" was good. Both her duets with Brandy were good. But if you look at her discography, you'll see lots of unfamiliar song titles and double-digit peak chart positions. Brandy has had better luck with her collaborators.

That said, I am pleasantly tickled by "Without You," her latest. Nice work here -- dramatic but not over-done, good melody, pleasant percussion-heavy old-school production and instrumentals. Well-arranged, well-performed. Cool outro.

Enjoy!

New Good Song: Bitter by Midian

Here's a new good song -- "Bitter" by Midian

One of the most popular pop and soul chord progressions is I vi IV V7, most famously called "Heart and Soul" and familiar to all pianists, or wannabe pianists. Examples are endless. Offhand I can think of a few: "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis, "Lucky" by Britney Spears and even a song a few posts down on this blog, "Secondhand" by Cassadee Pope. I believe this is referred to as an earworm.

Obviously this is a winning formula, and yet not all songs that follow this chord progression are good. Examples: "Friday" by Rebecca Black "Baby" by Justin Bieber.

Anyway, here's another, "Bitter" by Midian. It's the same chord progression, and with a production and instrumental arrangement that I believe is '60s. On both counts, it's quite similar to "Forever" by Mariah Carey. And the singing style is borrowed too. But the lyrics and melody here are good enough to stand the song up on its own. Quite a nice effort, with a few surprises to keep it interesting.

New Good Song: Wide Awake by Katy Perry

Here's a new good song -- "Wide Awake" by Katy Perry

How I found this song -- Most new good songs require effort to find; that's a main purpose and theme of this blog. But it's worth noting that not every new good song is hiding. Sometimes one gets pushed to you, like in the olden days before the Internet. "Wide Awake" will make its way to your radar through one channel or another. In my case, I first found it on Wikipedia, looking at Katy Perry's discography.

That this is the case suggests I am a fan, but as I've mentioned, I'm not really a "fan" of anyone per se. I'm song loyal. And I truly believe that through all the fashion, gossip and nonsense people discuss when they talk about artists, music careers are built on good songs. Yes, Madonna had innovative and provocative videos and built a captivating persona, but she also released good song after good song after good song. She would not be famous had she, in the early '80s, released awful songs like "4 Minutes" (named such, I believe, because that is how long it took to write the melody, then make a sandwich). And she is no longer as popular in part because nothing she has released in the past 10 years has been as good as "Don't Tell Me" in 2001. However, sometimes the audience will miss out on a good song because they have tired of an artist. For example, one of Janet Jackson's best songs (and possibly videos) ever was "Feedback" in 2008, but many people missed or ignored this good song when it was new because, perhaps, people had had their fill of Janet Jackson. Mariah Carey has enjoyed a little more consistent success than her contemporaries, but has also suffered from this phenomenon of having her new good songs ignored. She released, for example, a new good song in 2010 called "Up Out My Face," but it stalled on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart at No. 100. And one of her best songs is 2002's "Through The Rain," ignored in the wake of the harshly reviewed "Glitter."

The point is that you can miss some new good songs if you aren't willing to keep an open mind to popular (or previously popular) artists. They can have the very best new good songs. After all, they certainly have access to the best songwriters and producers. Similarly, don't tune out Katy Perry just because she's popular. I'm not a "fan" -- I'm not going to see her movie -- but this young woman has new good songs. "Teenage Dream," for example, is one of the best new good songs of the past few years.

What makes this song good? "Wide Awake," like "E.T.," uses synths, arrangements and production to create an atmosphere that fits and supports the melody and lyrics, a technique actively violated by, say, Rihanna, Britney Spears and David Guetta.* "Wide Awake" gets a little repetitive, since it's the same four chords over and over. But the melody holds enough interest to compensate, with a beautiful verse line closure ("so wrong" at 00:24 and "so long" at 00:36) and chorus lyrics that put a fresh twist on its cliches. And "Wide Awake" has a key ingredient to goodness that "E.T." lacks -- the absence of Kanye West.

*While one shouldn't discount an artist like Katy Perry just because she's famous, so too shouldn't one discount any artist whose body of work is mostly bad. For example, Coldplay's output of songs is a relentless embarrassment, but, lo and behold, "Paradise" has proved to be one of the best new good songs of 2012. Similarly, Rihanna will occasionally win with songs such as "Umbrella," and even the recent "We Found Love." Britney Spears has released nothing good since 2004, but surely the woman who brought us "Toxic" and "Everytime" is capable of goodness again. I'm still waiting on David Guetta.