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 explores the songwriting behind “Portrait.” The track closes her 2018 album Caution. She openly discusses feeling trapped in an inescapable situation. Writing the song helped her understand and process those experiences.
“I felt 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.
Portrait’s Streaming Momentum
“Portrait” has nearly 5 million Spotify streams. Therefore, the new EP could carry it to greater heights.
The episode also explores intimate tracks such as “Outside,” “Looking In,” and “My Saving Grace.” After discussing the difficult creation of “Portrait,” she lightens the mood. She jokes, “Here’s some misery, hope you like it!”
She also delves into her history with remixing and her collaborations with David Morales. The episode includes snippets of her iconic Morales remixes of “Anytime You Need a Friend” and “Dreamlover.” Using this opportunity, she introduces one of her “Portrait” remixes. This is part of the EP released today and available on all streaming platforms and digital download stores.
Mariah also explains her remixing process. She records new vocals and transforms each song into a different experience. 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”.
Rainbow 25 and New Music
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. Meanwhile, fans anticipate special events and releases marking this career milestone.
In discussions about her forthcoming album, Carey unveils her excitement in the upcoming project. Carey had written ten songs for the project by November. Since then, she has completed additional material. However, choosing the final songs remains difficult. Carey carefully considers how each track fits the complete album.
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!
