The Cool Kids Like Mariah’s “#Beautiful”
Occasionally, the Pitchfork website has to gush about R & B-influenced new pop tunes, just to prove that indie folks have soul, too. The latest: Mariah Carey’s “#Beautiful.” To wit: “In a perfect world, the hashtag in the title of Mariah Carey’s new single is not some ham-fisted wagon-jumping or Twitter trending strategy, but a sly wink. “#Beautiful”, it turns out, is pretty much the anti-hashtag: it’s an artfully simple pop tune built around warm, crackly arrangements that could’ve been written before Jack Dorsey was even born. It’s free of gimmicks or anxiety, and the message is breezily uncomplicated. “You’re beautiful, and I can’t pretend that doesn’t mean a thing to me,” Carey sings alongside Miguel.”
