Alicia Keys: 'Doesn't Mean Anything'

"You are going to get lost," Alicia Keys says of her loftily-titled new album, The Element of Freedom. "A lot of it is going to be unexpected for what you probably would think I would do." Well, the singer's current US release - the atmospherically synthy 'Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart' - does suggest a certain broadening of her musical horizons, but if there's one word that doesn't describe this track, it's unexpected.

In fact, 'Doesn't Mean Anything' is pretty much vintage Keys: a midtempo piano ballad with a timeless-sounding chorus, classic, gimmick-free production and a Love Means More Than The Millions message. To call it a cross between 'No One' and 'If I Ain't Got You' would be far from misleading. Fingers crossed she does dip her toes into unexpected waters on the album, but for now this does its job admirably - it's as classy, well-crafted and comforting as a pair of cashmere bed socks.


> Click here to watch the 'Doesn't Mean Anything' video