Things are looking way up for Beyoncé and her new album 4 right now: the release of first single “Run the World (Girls)” underwhelmed, but she salvaged that with a virtuoso performance of the track at the Billboard Music Awards, so much so that it didn’t end up bothering anyone that the routine was heavily “inspired” by an Italian pop star. Her next release, the ballad “1+1,” wasn’t the radio jam some pined for, but it did flex the vocal range to great effect and kept the positive vibes rolling. (This video Jay-Z recorded of a perfect-sounding Beyoncé’s practice session helped.) Now here comes the next official single, and it could be a problem: “Best I Never Had” gets title inspiration from Drake’s first single “Best I Ever Had” but borrows more heavily from Bey’s own 2006 smash “Irreplaceable,” and that can’t be a bad thing. Once again, our hero takes her time dismissing a former lover, this time in language (“Sucks to be you right now”) agreeable to a nation of tweens and in a manner agreeable to anyone who likes yelping along in unison to ascendant pop choruses. It’s still not a dance song, yeah — but could this be the breakout single?
