After being announced to be hosting the Grammy’s again in 2020, Alicia Keys has dropped a new song that is expected to be the lead single from her forthcoming seventh studio album.
‘Time Machine’ is a song all about living in the moment and making sure you are present to all the things that are happening around you. “No, we can’t rewind, life ain’t no time machine. But once you free your mind, there’s beauty in everything” she sings during the thought provoking hook.
With a really socially important message at the forefront of this track, I wanted it to have more of an impact. Because sonically the groovy production annoyingly stays at one tone for 3/4 of the track. Once it hits the minute mark she starts to layer new synths, guitar riffs and vocal harmonies over the base to give the listener something a little experimental. But is it too late? This song needed to have an earlier evolution that kept surprising listeners instead of making them a little bored.
I was really hoping this song would be the captivating lead single she deserves to have like ‘Girl On Fire’ or ‘No One’ which both have respectively remained as some of the biggest songs of her career. But instead this is a really forgettable track which tries hard to immolate the groovy nature of Michael Jackson and Biggie but fails to reach a dazzling pinnacle.