Alicia Keys is corny. Not slickly schmaltzy like Leona Lewis (who I love), but corny. Occasionally it makes her insupportable in outfits and a few songs, standing while she plays the piano. But mostly (at least musically) the corniness is perfect, as in her hook for "Empire State of Mind" or her 2003 single (with Mos-featuring video) "You Don't Know My Name." This new track, "Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart" (off a record called [ahem] The Element of Freedom) is that exact kind of perfect corn, sweetly, Reunion-ly old-school, making obvious choices with total earnestness. I would be terrified to write a chorus that goes, "So tonight I'm gonna find a way to make it without you/ I'm gonna hold onto the times we had..." But thank goodness Alicia isn't, ever-ready to soundtrack rolling credits and homecooked New Moon montages.