Mariah Carey releases new single, ‘Almost Home’

Remember when Mariah Carey was, more than anything else, a singer?

Today, music is just one of the pop/soul diva’s many pursuits, an occupation on equal footing with her judge’s gig on “American Idol� and the hours she spends posting tubby-time pictures on Twitter. (She’s also expected to appear this year in “The Butler� by director Lee Daniels, who cast her in “Precious.�)

As recently as the mid-2000s, though, Carey seemed fully invested in the business of making (and promoting) hit singles. Even in 2010, when she touched down at the Gibson Amphitheatre for a pair of highly entertaining concerts in support of 2009’s highly uneven “Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel,� she made sure to demonstrate that she can still flatten a room with “Hero.�

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In contrast, last year’s “Triumphant (Get ‘Em)� had an almost non-musical vibe, as though the single, featuring Rick Ross and Meek Mill, had been created solely to reveal that Carey had befriended two of rap’s current stars.

“Triumphant� failed to chart on the Hot 100.

Carey’s new song, “Almost Home� -- it’s tied to Disney’s “Oz the Great and Powerful,� scheduled for movie theaters next month -- feels like a return to that earlier time. Produced with characteristic electro-pop precision by the Norwegian duo Stargate, it’s not quite a killer -- certainly not as great nor as powerful as “Emotions� or “Always Be My Baby� (or “Breakdown� or “We Belong Together�).

But the midtempo song seems entirely built around Carey’s vocals, which arc upward until they crest in a key change that delivers the thrill we’ve grown to expect from her. It’s an old-fashioned appeal to think of Carey anew.

Listen to “Almost Home� below.

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