The queen of pop makes a triumphant return to the music scene
Spears says that “Britney Jean” is her most personal album, and, in a way, it is. Britney doesn’t make music for herself, she makes it for other people.
Spears may be lacking in vocal talent, but she makes up for it in star power.
She’s been Miss American Dream since she was seventeen, it didn’t matter if she stepped on the scene or snuck away to the Philippines, but that was 2007. It’s now 2013. In the six years since Britney Spears released “Blackout,” people have not only forgotten why she was such a big deal, but also who she even is. Spears’s new album, “Britney Jean,” quickly remedies the six years of near-Britneylessness, letting the world know that she is indeed the fiercest of all those not named Beyoncé.
Technically, “Britney Jean” isn’t a great album––it’s mediocre at best––but there’s something about it, perhaps a Britneyness, that makes the album so listenable –– an album that not even will.i.am (who served as executive producer), try as he might, can ruin. The album is typical Britney, lifted straight from the early 2000s, five danceable tracks, one torch song, one ballad, and the rest being fillers.
The album’s lead single, “Work B**ch,” is Britney’s best track she released since “Toxic.” Curiously, it’s a song where Britney takes the backseat to thumping beats and killer drops. She simply asks the listeners if they want a Bugatti in a British accent while motivating them to get to work. It’s classic Britney, yet it doesn’t feel as though it was released in 2003. It makes the listener want to dance like crazy––a type of crazy only a woman who shaved all of her hair off her head at two in the morning can inspire.
“Britney Jean’s” other high points include “Body Ache,” “Til It’s Gone,” “Passenger,” and “Perfume.” “Body Ache” and “Til It’s Gone” are both club thumping anthems that demand instant choreography and are worthy of entering Britney’s collection of dance club hits.
Alternatively, “Passenger” and “Perfume” are both mellower (but by no means mellow) power-ballads that give the listener a plethora of feelings.“Passenger” has Britney talking about letting that special someone take control and trusting them, while paradoxically, “Perfume” tells the story of a cheating boyfriend (possibly her ex-fiance Jason Trawick) and how she wants his lover to smell her perfume on him. She sings about “marking her territory” and basically equates men to the corner fire hydrant. It’s her most personal song since her “Everytime,” her response to Justin Timberlake’s breakup jam, “Cry Me a River.”
Spears says that “Britney Jean” is her most personal album, and, in a way, it is. Britney doesn’t make music for herself, she makes it for other people. Maybe that’s why through all the relentless autotuning, flawless lip syncing, and intricate choreography, Britney still has it. There’s something about Britney that has the world coming back for more, and, with “Britney Jean,” she proves she’s back on her game again, because she got to work…