Alexis Jordan - Happiness - Single Review

Could Alexis Jordan's Happiness be a late entry for Tune Of The Year? Yes, we're slightly late to the party with this review, but has there been a song in the last 12 months which stimulates so many feelings of...of...pure, unbridled happiness?

You know we're all cynical buggers here on Shout, but this tune - which seemed to come from absolutely nowhere - has melted our ice cold hearts. Why is that? It's because the whole tune is a stack of perfect R&B hooks. Old school R&B, like from the 90's. Alexis Jordan - an America's Got Talent alumni - has an outstandingly soulful voice, using it to climb to an impressive crescendo on the word "Happiness".

There's none of the fervent crotch-rubbing of other modern pop here. It's got an innocent, romantic vibe that's rare these days, preferring to go with the wonderful "through strength I found love" lyric. While the sentiment and vocal delivery are pure 90's R&B, the production has a modern shimmer with pulsing synths driving the track. Ideologically, it's a perfect companion song for Shanice's I Love Your Smile. 

Happiness comes with a pretty slick video in which parts of the set move in different directions. A bit like Jamiroquai's Virtual Insanity, but with whole streets and walls moving. There's definitely some link between "hurry hurry hurry, quick quick quick" and the roads traveling in different directions. Work that one out for yourselves!

As a tune, Happiness does exactly what it says on the tin. Even tough we can't work out what "through strength I found love" actually means, it's one of the most positive sentiments in pop today. Perfect feelgood factor, and amazingly just right for Christmas, giving us all the warm and fuzzies. Here's a terribly out of synch version of the video, because we can't get an embeddable version of the official one. Enjoy!