Can you spot Mariah Carey on her “Almost Home” single cover?

Forget about the the numerous snippets and excited chatter among her dedicated lambs because Mariah Carey’s new song, “Almost Home”, has been released in its entirety. In fact, it has hit the web one day ahead of its officially scheduled radio and iTunes debut. Damn you, internet!

“Almost Home” stands as the lead single from the Oz the Great and Powerful motion picture soundtrack. However, don’t expect to hear brassy horns or magical strums of harps on the track because the Stargate-production is geared toward modern radio airplay. If you want that classic Disney sound, then purchase a copy of Carey’s Merry Christmas II You album of 2010 instead.

Listen to Carey’s “Almost Home” below and brace yourself for the verdict:

Although Carey’s is clearly singing freely in “Almost Home” and her usual breathy stylings are kept to a minimum, the incredible amount of reverb and adjustments were quite distracting at points. Indeed, the editing made her voice sound almost robotic at the intro as it distorted her tone and I even thought that someone had fiddled with the pitch before I realised that the echo was the real issue.

Still, “Almost Home’ is a solid effort by Carey and it’s great to hear her using her voice like this again. I won’t jinx the tune’s success by calling it her 19th #1 single so let’s just hope for the best. If it does well, then it might provide Carey with the incentive to make similar material to this instead of another homeboy/thug Mrs. anthem like “Triumphant (Get ‘Em)”.

You hurt my feelings with the truth, Trent.