Britney Spears: Beat by Beat, She’s Done It Again

By: Alice Zalan

Britney Spears’ much awaited album Femme Fatale was finally dropped on March 29. This album is a “tribute to bold, empowered, confident, elusive, fun, flirty women and men” and Spears has been working on this new production for over two years. Since 1998, Spears has been constantly pumping out hot new songs and reinventing popular music. From her first single, “(Hit me) Baby One More Time” to the catchy “Circus”, from her previous album, she has been a force to be reckoned with.

For this new album, Spears joined up with Max Martin and Dr. Luke to create seven of the songs. Their previous collaborations included some of Spears’ most popular hits ever: “Circus,” “If U Seek Amy,” and “Oops! I Did It Again”. The first single released, “Hold It Against Me,” shot to number one on the Billboard Charts and is distinctly dubstep in sound. Her second single “Till the World Ends” is mellower, but still invokes the air of a dance club, with short bursts of only singing breaking through the never-ending beats. The music is perfect for dancing to at a party or just exercising. However, she is able to break away from club songs to more soulful songs, such as the track “Criminal,” where she sings about an unapproved love. The background features a flute along with a melodic beat and Spears’ voice blends in perfectly with the surrounding music. It is easily one of the best songs in the album and the closest to being a ballad.

However, Femme Fatale relies too much on digital synthesizers and Spears’ voice is often lost in the medley of autotune effect. She does not have particularly thought invoking lyrics and the majority of the time, it is the music that is most ear catching. We can see that Spears is trying to fit in with the new mainstream crowd (Lady Gaga and Katy Perry included) and just pumping out songs without regarding the need for quality over quantity. In “Big Fat Bass,” featuring will.i.am, it is evident that she relies on single lines to keep the songs flowing, such as “I can be your treble, baby/ You can be my bass.”

The electronic beats and deep bass give the tracks an electrifying lift. Femme Fatale is easily the best album that Spears has created to this day, incorporating her style of pop music with the present day club style. Although some of the songs are similar, Spears breaks through on certain singles. Fans will be excited to see that Spears is back in action and will definitely be around to stay. She proves she is a “femme fatale” and that she is not going out of style; rather she’s one of the artists leading the new way.

Rating: B+