Alicia Keys Just Wants to Be Loved

WHO: Alicia Keys
WHAT: "Like You'll Never See Me Again"
WHY: Few artists have the ability to flip rote sentimentality into fresh meaning, and while Alicia Keys can't completely salvage her new song's Valentine's Day-from-Hallmark-hell lines like "everytime you hold me, hold me like this is the last time," her delivery makes this mush-fest listenable. As the first single — the Akon-style pseudo reggae track "No One" — from her new album cracks the top 5, Keys continues to succeed with a vintage style that somehow attracts both Grammy devotees and MTV stalwarts. After the sometimes-tiresome vocal runs of "No One," "Like You'll Never See Me Again" finds Keys reigning things in, delicately pleading for a significant other to "love me like you'll never see me again," while "Purple Rain" guitars soar in the background. The gospel-tinged gratuitousness might get a tad overbearing by the end, but Keys puts her blatantly hokey case across without making us want to stick forks in our ears, which is something of an accomplishment.
WHERE: Listen to the track here.