Beyonce Knowles starts off her latest album 4 with the track 1+1. Before the actual release of the album, fans would have heard the R&B superstar sing this at the season finale of American Idol Season 10 earlier this May.

1+1 is a powerful ballad celebrating love. I’m not too much into the lyrics as there are parts that can tend to sound like they were written by a kid, “I don’t know much about algebra but I know 1 plus 1 equals 2″. But that aside, I am loving the vocals on 1+1 as the minimal instrumentation highlights how Beyonce can move us just with her voice. There is a reason why she is regularly nominated for female pop vocalist in awards show, and her vocal performance in 1+1 is just a sample.

Now if you think her uptempo single Run the World (Girls) just doesn’t do it for you, then go ahead and listen to a very breathy, raw and almost orgasmic vocal performance from Beyonce with 1+1. The song burns slowly in its intensity that whenever the pop diva ends her lines, you almost feel a small cathartic release.

You might also like:

1. “Best Thing I Never Had”: Beyonce is thankful for not ending up with the wrong guy
2. “Run the World (Girls)”: Beyonce leads the march
3. Kithara has another heartbreaking ballad in “Pangarap Ko’y Tayong Dalawa”
4. “Love Love” by Take That – official single from “X-Men: First Class” OST
5. Usher – DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love (feat. Pitbull)