The Queen of Remixes, Mariah Carey, has released an EP dedicated to her 2018 ballad “Portrait.”
The four-track ensemble features a special house remix of the heartfelt track, including a 16-minute Hopeful Child Remix, a radio edit of the remix, and another edit. The EP also includes the standard version of the song, which Carey co-wrote with Daniel Moore.
The release of Carey’s Portrait EP comes just a day after the premiere of her Portrait of a Portrait installment for Audible’s Words + Music series. In the hour-long episode, Carey unpacks the meaning behind “Portrait” and previews the never-before-heard remix.
“Portrait of a Portrait is an in-depth journey into my inner life as a songwriter, and I’m excited to welcome listeners into the Butterfly Lounge for a unique, unfiltered exploration of my creative process and the meaning behind some of the songs closest to my heart,” Carey said in a statement.
In an interview with Variety, Carey revealed what inspired her to revisit “Portrait” for Audible and the remix.
“It’s just something that felt so strong to me the way I wrote it, because it was really about the strong feelings that I had,” said Carey.
“So to go from such a slow, kind of very sad song to this uptempo, upbeat — still sad, because of the lyrical content — but much less sad because we whooped it up. I don’t know, I really, really enjoyed the whole process of making ‘Portrait.’”
The standard version of “Portrait” is the closing track on Carey’s 2018 album Caution. The album was ranked No. 1 on Rated R&B’s 25 Best R&B Albums of 2018 list.
Carey has confirmed that she is working on a follow-up to Caution. “I’ve written some new songs,” she confirmed to Variety. “I have to figure out which songs I’m going to do and which songs I’m not going to do.”
Carey has more festive moments lined up for her beloved Lambs, a nickname she gave her fans. On Thursday (May 24), Carey went on X (formerly Twitter) to hint that she has plans for the 25th anniversary of her album Rainbow.
Portrait remix tonight
Pride merch next week ️#Rainbow25 next month https://t.co/nc2WpmCRxG— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) May 23, 2024
In other Carey news, the Songbird Supreme recently joined Muni Long on the remix of her single “Made For Me.”
“When I got the call from [Jermaine Dupri] to work on the ‘Made For Me’ remix, I said yes immediately,” Carey said. “Muni is an amazing writer and performer, and this collaboration is a match made in heaven!”
Stream Mariah Carey’s Portrait EP below.