Mariah Carey Discusses “Portrait”: “Here’s Some Misery, Hope You Like It!”
After much anticipation, Mariah Carey released her Audible Words + Music episode “Portrait of a Portrait,” available starting today. Additionally, Mariah Carey has also dropped a 4-track EP for the song, featuring three new remixes.
In this hour-plus episode, Mariah Carey takes a deep dive into the songwriting process behind “Portrait,” the final track on her 2018 album “Caution.” She openly shares her feelings of being stuck in an inescapable situation and reflects on how writing the song helped her understand and cope with her experiences.
“I was completely isolated by myself and saying, let me get this off my chest and we’re going to end the album with this, it’s still kind of a deep song to listen to.”
Reflecting on the creation of the “Caution” album, Mariah emphasizes the importance of “Portrait” to her: “For each song on the ‘Caution’ album, I collaborated with different people, and I enjoyed that. But when it came to ‘Portrait,’ I decided to write it the way I used to, by myself,” she shared in a recent interview with Variety Magazine.
With nearly 5 million streams on Spotify alone, the release of the new EP is set to propel the song to new streaming heights.
The episode explores several of Mariah’s intimate tracks, including “Outside,” “Looking In,” and “My Saving Grace.” After spending considerable time discussing the trials and tribulations of creating “Portrait,” she humorously lightens the mood by joking, “Here’s some misery, hope you like it!”
She also delves into her history with remixing and her collaborations with David Morales, sharing snippets of her iconic Morales remixes of “Anytime You Need a Friend” and “Dreamlover.” Using this opportunity, she introduces one of her “Portrait” remixes, which is part of the EP released today and available on all streaming platforms and digital download stores.
In discussing the remixes, Mariah reveals her entire remixing process, which includes recording new vocals and transforming the song into a completely different dimension. She also mentions that, with David Morales in the conversation, they are working on another remix for an upcoming 25th Anniversary project for her “Rainbow” album.
“People would ask me, why didn’t you finish the song “Rainbow (Interlude)? I don’t know what I said, we’re going to do it again one of these days. And we did! I reached out to David and said, hey, are you available to work on the Rainbow Interlude and take it to another place? And so he did and I sang the vocals over. It’s coming out, but there’s a lot of other things coming out too”.
As June approaches, Mariah Carey’s social media announces the arrival of new Pride merchandise alongside the commemoration of the 25th Anniversary of her seventh studio album, Rainbow, scheduled for the same month. With anticipation building among fans, it’s evident that special events and releases are in store to mark this significant milestone in Carey’s career.
In discussions about her forthcoming album, Carey unveils her excitement in the upcoming project. Having already penned 10 songs for the project back in November, Carey reveals her excitement now that she has written additional songs. However, she acknowledges the challenge of selecting which songs will ultimately make the final album, emphasizing the meticulous consideration she applies in curating her musical repertoire.
With all these new projects in the works, Mariah admits that she hasn’t given much thought to Christmas yet due to the many non-Christmas endeavors on her schedule this year. However, she assures that there will definitely be celebrations in Mariah’s world.
In the meantime, let’s savor each Mariah morsel as it comes. Yesterday saw the release of Muni Long’s remix “Made for Me (with Mariah Carey),” and today brings us the new episode and Portrait EP. There’s plenty to enjoy over the weekend. Dive into Portrait on Audible, stream and download the songs, and embrace the “misery.” Pride month is approaching, bringing with it an entirely new Rainbow!
