By Michael McGrath, The Houston Chronicle
Rob Thomas is back with his second single, "This Is How a Heart Breaks", from his first solo project away from Matchbox Twenty. His previous single, "Lonely No More", helped sales for "Something to Be" and earned him his first pop hit away from his hugely successful band.
"Heart" found early success as the theme song for this year's NBA finals and now it has set its aim on pop radio.
With an immediate release of hard drums and a soft guitar rift, Thomas' famous voice comes in and starts to sing about his broken heart.
As if trying to transform from a rock tune at the beginning of the song to a high-energy dance song, Thomas jumps directly into the hook. Although its hard to understand why anyone would want to get on the dance floor after heartbreak.
The best part of the song, lyrically and vocally, is found in the bridge as Thomas gives a breakdown of the problems with a former flame. "You're not the best thing that I knew / Never was / Never cared too much / For all this hanging around" fill the beginning of the bridge and give Thomas quite a vocal workout.
While the song might not match up to the funky and more original "Lonely No More, Heart" is a step in the right direction as Thomas tries to show that he knows how to blend a bit of soul with a lot of energy in his pop rock singles.