Ne-Yo: 'Mad'

With everyone from The Guardian to Rolling Stone raving about his Year Of The Gentleman LP and the likes of Girls Aloud and Michael Jackson knocking at his door for collaborations, it's safe to say it's going to be a very merry Christmas in the Ne-Yo household. One of 2008's hottest stars, the man known to his mother as Shaffer Smith is rounding off his year with a fourth single.

Produced by regular collaborators StarGate, 'Mad' is a little underwhelming compared to previous offerings 'Closer' and 'Miss Independent', but it's still a fairly decent slab of midtempo R&B. "Girl I don't want to go to bed, mad at you, and I don't want you to go to bed, mad at me," croons the Arkansas singer over some hushed synths and tinkling piano. It may provide a rather subdued end to the year for Ne-Yo, but this is slick and soothing enough to show why he's so in demand at the moment.


> Click here to read our review of Ne-Yo's album