The Singles Jukebox

Sorry, Mimi, no one’s ever scored that high and neither did this song…

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[5.56]

Ramzi Awn: The takeaway from Mariah Carey’s new single is that she can sing the word “infinity” like nobody else. The song’s ravishing intro features MC’s trademark coos and aahs over a plush beat, and the composition holds its own. Save for a few corny tricks and some dodgy vocal editing on the lower registers, “Infinity” takes its stand as a tasteful, bigger aggregate of past anomalies like “Triumphant” and “The Art of Letting Go.” 
[7]

Alfred Soto: Like most Carey singles since 2005, this new track recorded for a superfluous compilation relies on her force to hold its discrete parts together. The force is waning though. Where the tempo of “#Beautiful” allowed her to get sultry, here the wan chorus exposes her weathered pipes. Here’s hoping she writes and sings like Marianne Faithfull in a decade.
[5]

Micha Cavaseno: The production is possibly the biggest failing here; the grandiose parts on the chorus just overdress what’s not that strong enough to prop the song, and while it suits the verses fine its a bit too busy to savor its strength, which is Mariah’s off-key punchlines that would dazzle any DJ Green Lantern tape from 02 as much as any Jadakiss Freestyle.
[5]

Thomas Inskeep: Mariah co-produced and co-wrote this with R&B third-tier boardsman Eric Hudson, and definitely it sounds third-tier. “Infinity” is neither good nor bad; it’s barely even there at all. And from the song’s Wikipedia page: “One of the lines in the song, talking about Fritos, also received generally positive feedback, with fans ‘freaking out’ over the reference.”
[5]

Patrick St. Michel: Lyric videos imply the words to a song are the most important. Why else would they fire up Kid Pix to make them, with the focus entirely on what used to be left in the CD booklet? Mariah Carey’s “Infinity” might be the worst use of lyric video since the medium arrived. On its own, it sounds great, because Carey’s voice still works wonders, even over a slightly over-the-top musical backdrop. It’s not a particular highlight for her, but it’s fine. Unfortunately, the lyric video — and, as the three-million-plus views imply, this is how most are probably interacting with the song — highlights the very bad words, forcing them in the viewers face like “this is really vital!” They aren’t. It’s a mish-mash of awkward metaphors, Frito-Lay shout outs and Twitter memes. It isn’t even fun or ironically funny. And they went and bolded this part, when anything else about it probably would have been better.
[3]

Will Adams: While it’s certainly a cut above most of her past singles, “Infinity” unfortunately indulges in the same “LOL wacky Mariah lyrics” meme — I used to really like Fritos until I realized that they invariably taste stale, even when fresh out of the bag. It’s a bit like this track, which keeps up with the booming timpanis as if to assert the comeback, but doesn’t reach the highs it thinks it does.
[6]

Katherine St Asaph: After hearing Susanne Sundfør’s “Delirious” intro in all its sumptuous surround-sound, that violin swirl doesn’t cut it; after hearing Mariah’s vocals during her peak, neither do any of these. Granted, even subpar Mariah Carey singles retain quite a bit of largess, but this is no infinity. It’s barely even up the y-axis.
[5]

Josh Love: Hearing a stomping, horn-laden backing track go toe-to-toe with Mariah’s Hall of Fame pipes is powerful stuff. I don’t recall many similar examples in Carey’s catalogue of hits, but perhaps as she ages and her voice is treated less as an awe-inspiring colossus that must be granted the entirety of the spotlight, we’ll get more intriguing jousting matches like this one.
[7]

Michelle Myers: There are two seasons in Chicago: winter and road construction. Any potential route I could take to work is currently choked with forklifts and bulldozers. On a Friday evening, it takes me nearly two hours to drive twelve miles, which is exactly the right amount of time to listen to every Mariah Carey hit in chronological order. She’s tried nearly every pop and R&B sound to emerge in the past 25 years–from soppy 80s balladry to collaborations with Cam’ron. It’s like the Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat of singles’ discographies.The fact that her first single, “Vision of Love,” starts like an overture causes my recovering drama geek mind to construct some type of hellish jukebox musical out of her oeuvre. In this context, “Infinity” is a curtain call. Mariah has left the stage and the lights go down, and just as we consider reaching for the silenced phone in our collective back pocket, she returns, in her umpteenth costume change. She will be showered with roses and spotlight, magnificent, bowing graciously for the standing ovation that awaits her. This song is outclassed by at least a dozen other Mariah Carey songs, but it’s a damn strong note to end on. If she has any sense, this will be the last single she ever drops. 
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