Mariah Carey: E=MC2

Let's start with that title, which, even from a woman who named her last album The Emancipation of Mimi, is a bit of a clanger. Thankfully, E=MC2 isn't a direct reference to Einstein's theory of relativity, but rather a play on its words and digits, signifying the "emancipation of Mariah Carey to the second power". Once you've deciphered Carey's hopelessly clunky code, her message becomes clear: this is essentially a sequel to 2005's career-reviving Mimi, but with added, well, Mariah.

It's a formula that Carey really goes to town with. She's at her most diva-like on opener 'Migrate', sipping bubbly "compliments of the club" as the DJ plays her "jam", while the second track and lead single, 'Touch My Body', finds her fretting about sex tapes ending up on YouTube. What follows is often just as ridiculous, with Carey affecting a Jamaican accent ("He's the flyest ting when he be cruisin'"), shooting lyrical bullets at her ex-husband, sampling Michael Jackson and comparing herself to 2Pac and the Notorious B.I.G., before finishing off by quoting from The Bible. Phew! All in a day's work, eh?

Fortunately, as much as Carey indulges herself here, she never loses sight of the end goal. E=MC2 is as slick, polished and radio-friendly as Mimi, but with a touch more variety. Though the album more than fulfils its quota of gushingly romantic R&B ballads, Carey also finds time for a Danja-produced club tune ('Migrate'), irresistible disco candy ('I'm That Chick'), flashes of reggae ('Cruise Control'), a nod towards classic soul ('I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time') and her rawest, most personal track in years. 'Side Effects', on which she accuses an ex of "smothering every last part of me" until "I broke away and finally found the strength to leave", is as coruscating as it is catchy, Carey exacting revenge on Tommy Mottola, the record label CEO she divorced a decade ago.

At 14 tracks and 52 minutes, E=MC2 is a couple of songs too long, but even its filler, most notably the boring-as-bran-flakes 'We Belong Together' rewrite that is 'Love Story', is gorgeously-produced. What's more, those who've ignored Carey since her vocal excesses of the nineties will be surprised by her subtlety here. She uses her famed "whistle register" sparingly and resorts to the schlock tactics of old only once. 'Bye Bye' may be dressed up in modish beats, but its message for "my peoples who just lost somebody – your best friend, your baby, your man or your lady" is pop schmaltz at its most devastating.

Lapses in taste notwithstanding, E=MC2 is exactly the album we'd want from Carey at this point in time: well-crafted, expensive-sounding, packed with emotion, occasionally slightly uncomfortable, but ultimately thoroughly entertaining. It's safe to presume that the bubbly will be flowing "compliments of the club" for a good while yet.