Alicia Keys has dropped ‘New Day’ and it’s a new sound for the piano-playing diva. It’s unclear if the song will be a single or even appear on her upcoming album.

Surprisingly, the tune doesn’t showcase her powerhouse voice like other signature hits in her catalog, namely ‘Fallin’,’ ‘No One’ and ‘Empire State of Mind.’ Instead, it’s all about the beats and the percussion. We can barely hear Keys or her keys. The drums, as opposed to her voice, drive this song.

If we had to pick the nearest relative to ‘New Day,’ we’d have to go with Beyonce‘s ‘Run the World (Girls),’ which was also heavily percussive.

This is a club banger, which is not something we expect from Keys. She sounds harder and tougher, and her vocals are heavily processed. That begs the question: Why not showcase what we love best about her, which is her voice? The beats (or is it Beatz, since she is married to Swizz Beatz) overtake her voice. It sounds like a rhythmic jam with some vocals tucked underneath. When you have a gift like Keys, why not use it to its full potential? There’s not much piano, either.

Lyrically, Keys shouts out the party people, asking them to put their hands up and celebrate. She sings about having “a feeling in my heart I can’t over,” so there is some level of emotion there. It’s definitely a backyard BBQ anthem and it’s fun to shake your bootaay too — especially at the 3:30 mark.

While the press release that accompanied the song stated that this upbeat banger is a glimpse into her upcoming album, it’s not been determined if this is a single or if it will even appear on Keys’ fifth disc.

What do you think of Alicia Keys’ “new” sound and ‘New Day,’ PopCrush readers?

Listen to Alicia Keys, ‘New Day’

More From HOT 99.1