Although Alicia Keys’ talent on the piano is obvious, her skills can’t save her cliche lyrics.

To sing about breaking free and moving on is an overused gimmick in the girl power, lady-pop-laden R&B industry. On her fifth studio album, Girl On Fire, Alicia Keys uses this tactic to create songs about her “rebirth” that fall a little flat — solely because they are so boring.

Keys opens the album on her own set of keys, demonstrating her talent on piano with a short introduction titled “De Novo Adagio (Intro).” While it is nothing special, the song sets the stage for much of what is to come on the album — rather uninteresting music that still shows off Keys’ skills.

The songs dither on, as Keys presents incredibly obvious “inspiring messages” to listeners. “Listen to your heart,” she urges on the track of the same name; you have “one life, live it up,” she reminds listeners on “New Day.”

Unfortunately for Keys, her return as a “brand-new me” is bland. Her vocals are still soulful and strong and her skills on the piano complement her singing well. Yet she has reduced herself to a dime-a-dozen pop goddess, overtly focused on vindicating herself as a woman rather than singing about something more meaningful. It seems Keys was simply too busy finding herself to sing about much else.

There is, thankfully, one shining moment on the album for Keys: the title track “Girl On Fire (Inferno Version).” On it, Keys pairs up with Nicki Minaj to create a bombastically soulful piece of music that, unlike many of the other songs on the album, actually resonates with listeners. Not to mention, it’s catchy, and it’s one of the few tracks on the album that actually seems genuine, which, amid all the album’s girl power babble, is refreshing.

While Girl On Fire does not live up to the standards we’ve come to expect from Keys, it’s still not terrible. The music itself is enjoyable, but Keys singing nonsense words or even cursing could be enjoyable, so long as she banged away on the piano. That being said, Girl On Fire does not live up to expectations.

The album is not going to set the world on fire. It’s an unused match waiting to be lit.