BRITNEY’S BACK! Well, not 'back' as in returning to her former glory per se, but she has come out with new music. Femme Fatale is the third album where I’ve been biting my nails in anticipation. Will she have more hits? Will there be the club bangers we expect? Will they ever turn her headset mic on? With all the drama that happened after In the Zone, it’s a wonder that she’s still making music. And while her live performances and music videos and even lead singles certainly leave something to be desired (“Gimme More”, “Womanizer”, “Hold It against Me”… did anybody go crazy when they heard that the first time? Or second?), watching the circus that goes on around her at the time of an album release is never dull. The stakes were high on this project, and the whole world was watching.
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| image from zimbio.com |
When "Til the World Ends" came out, everybody was talking about “Britney’s song that Ke$ha wrote.” Turns out Ke$ha, who has primary credits on all her songs to date, has last credits on this song, but Dr. Luke & Max Martin (“Since You Been Gone”, “I Kissed a Girl”, and countless recognizable tunes individually as producers and songwriters), who worked closely with Ke$ha in the past, receive higher billing. This track has a sophisticated sense of pacing that's generally absent from Ke$ha's songs. “Til the World Ends” starts out mellow, gaining momentum in the pre-chorus and building tension in the second pre-chorus (“I can’t take it…”) by dropping all the percussion in favor of airy synths. The hook comes in, but not quite with full force til the second round of "oh"s (there are a few times on this album where I would distinguish between a hook and a chorus... on this track, I'd argue that the chorus starts with "see the sunlight/ we ain't stoppin'"). It's a very successful style of writing that we've seen before. We get about 32 bars of repetitive material to sing along with (the average chorus is 8), and we don't even realize we haven't heard the title of the song til after the second verse, pre-choruses and 16-bar set of "oh"s. After, the song breaks down completely, which gives it a chance to build up the tension without a cumbersome bridge (most bridges are superfluous and poorly executed in dance-oriented songs anyway). This is definitely a late-night, too-many-drinks track for me. Or a good song to end a night when I haven’t had enough drinks.
“Hold It Against Me” is well produced, if boringly written. To keep the melody from getting too repetitive, background harmonies come in halfway through the verse, which also helps the progression and build-up. Max Martin and Dr. Luke make some interesting production choices on this track. Firstly, there’s no pre-chorus, and the chorus isn’t really catchy (aside from the pick-up-line lyric… reminiscent of Max Martin’s “If You Seek Amy”). Also, rather than building up the climax at the chorus, our producers cut out most of the instrumentation. The chorus starts as the release of the tension in the track, building as it goes. The bridge is perfect. We go from a kick drum on every beat under airy synths to a much darker sound, and it slows down to half-time. It doesn’t weigh us down weigh us down with lyrics or melody that tries to hard, and the non-dub-step fans get to trade the common-time beat for something harder and more syncopated. I love the unexpected harmonies and the chromatic line at the end of the bridge. Also perfect: the build up from the bridge to the end of the 2nd half of the last chorus. All of the elements are there, and, while this wasn’t love at first listen for me, I have an appreciation the elements in this track.
Putting out a clip from the chorus of “Inside Out” was probably the most brilliant think Dr. Luke has ever done, but I should start at the beginning. The harpsichord-like synth by itself made me wonder what was next, and the arpeggiating synth that fades in over it adds to the mystery. The verses give me exactly what I need over the heavily produced yet not-overwhelming instrumental, though the end of the verse could have used a slight variation in the words (repeating that same phrase seems a bit lazy [but understandable] from a songwriting point of view). Rhyming is obviously not a priority in the verses, but its absence not grossly distracting. The pre-chorus’ repetition paired with the slow-down-to-a-cappella effect at the end are the perfect set-up to an epic moment. Her pick-up to the chorus ("So come on") is a D5: have we ever heard Spears hit this high of a note? Like ever?! If so, it’s been a while, and it’s perfectly done (and from what I can tell, it’s not one of her sound-alike background vocalists). The second pre-chorus adds subtleties that add just enough variation. The electronic echo during the pauses and a super-subtle chromatic line in the harmony at the very end of said pre-chorus make simplistic music theory freaks like me so excited! And the instrumental of this song is a goddamn force of nature! Each measure alternates between a completely square “boom-tat” and various elements that sustain and fill in the space between the counts. It’s an amazing contrast that has a dramatic effect. And I’m in love with the flute synth in the pre-chorus that goes from doubling the melody to descending arpeggios!
"I Wanna Go" has a fun dancey vibe, starting out with a kick drum on every beat and a low synth line. There's a very subtle funk bass in the mix that adds a cool percussive element. The structure of this track really makes it stand out. The verses are written in two 5-bar halves rather than typical 4-bar halves. Also, the pre-chorus is 7 bars rather than 8. Strangely, the adding of the extra bars gives the verses more forward motion and a sense of urgency. The pre-chorus is actually my favorite part of the track. I love how the end of each vocal line is flipped up, and the whistle riff reminds me of Duck Sauce's "Barbara Streisand". The chorus gives us a bit of a Ke$ha feel with Dr. Luke's failsafe formula of starting the chorus with airy synth chords and little percussion, but it gets more euro-house/trancey in the second half of the chorus. This chorus is written in 10-bar groupings, an interesting choice since the 10th bar is pretty much empty. Nobody was expecting a bridge in this one, but I do love Spears' sustained notes over the chopped melody of the chorus towards the end. The penultimate chorus breaks the pattern, cutting itself to 8 bars to help move it along to the last chorus, a smart choice on Max Martin and Shellback’s parts.
The percussive samples at the beginning of "How I Roll" made me expect a dark, sexy dance track. I was holding out hope about halfway though the first half of the verse, especially with the robotic percussion that led into it. But the piano chords reveal what the monotone melody wouldn't: this song's in a major key. The track is bubbly in a literal sense with the percolator pops in the instrumental. The end of the second verse is a nice variation that moves the track along. The bridge is unremarkable but appropriately different from the rest of the song without coming out of left field.
"Drop Dead Beautiful" gets back to the dance focus we expect from Spears. The track's intro is dramatic, but it wastes no time getting into the first verse, which is in Spears' typical low register. The vocals are extra throaty (even for her) and distorted. The pre-chorus follows the formula of airy synths with little percussion to build tension before the hook (the syncopated snare in the latter half is a nice touch). But for some reason, it just doesn't quite pay off as much as other applications. I live for the deep "Drop. Dead." in the hook, which is spoken more like a command independent of the “beautiful” it’s meant to modify. Though after the 5th or 6th repetition, it gets a bit stagnant. Spears' voice is pretty much unrecognizable in most of the chorus, either because of the range (it goes up to the unfamiliar territory of a D5), the distortion or because it's not her voice singing. It's quite possible that her voice is the octave below and a background singer is singing the higher part. Having background singers take higher parts on non-solo vocal parts is something stars like Madonna have done (e.g., "Express Yourself"), though it’s usually clear that their voice is doing the main part. Regardless of whose voice sings it, this chorus falls a little flat. And while I like Sabi's voice (especially the distorted harmony over her rap), her verse, which is only 8 bars, was no Nicki Minaj. Or even a Trina. Hell, I would have settled for a Missy Elliot verse (come on, you know she's been off her game since This Is Not a Test, in '03).
"Seal It with A Kiss" shows of it's most catchy piece from the very beginning: "Oo oo oo oo!" The instrumentation under the verse stays simple with a syncopated kick drum doubled with a buzzing bass. The repeated phrases seem a bit elementary, but it makes the song catchy. I like the smooth "uh huh" that bookends in each half of the verse. The chorus brings in chords and a descant in the synth, some airy strings and a hi hat. We get more of the "uh huh"s, but sonically, it stays pretty simple without sounding sparse. The background vocals are a perfect blend: so perfect, in fact, that I had trouble picking out the parts. They work in a chromatic line that makes for a delectable (but quick) crunch in the chords. Substituted for the bridge is a predictable instrumental breakdown in half time (exactly what the percussion did in "Hold It Against Me") with some light oos and part of the whispery “uh huh”s sampled and pitch shifted. Just before a reprise of the chorus, the bassline drops out to bring back the most memorable line: “Say I’m just a friend; I’m a little liar.” The chorus’s return in its full harmonized and instrumental glory is sufficiently satisfying after the pause that precedes it.
I really don’t want to be a Will.i.am fan. I really don’t. But “Big Fat Bass” is really fun. It starts out with Will.i.am’s distorted chanting vocal over a percussive bass note and kick drum. It’s not clear where this track is going. The piano comes in, bringing a bit of soul/house flavor, but it quickly (and cleverly) arpeggiates as a lead into the dance/trance kick drum on every beat and the distorted 80s-feeling bass synth. The high hat on the off-beat gives the track a hint of disco. This track is all about contrasts. Spears’ vocals go from cooing a playful melody in heavy auto-tune to a heavy handed, monotone “It’s getting bigger/ the bass is getting bigger.” The flow of the house beat moves along under the verse but is interrupted to highlight the aforementioned monotone line with a syncopated snare. The second iteration of the chorus gets more synth chords to move it along before everything drops out but a portamentoed synth line and what literally sounds like someone knocking on a piece of wood in a fun rhythm. After this, the song basically turns into “Boom Boom Pow.” But on his verse, Will.i.am does manage to be less annoying than he’s been lately.
Is anyone else getting Kylie Minogue from “Trouble for Me” (pre X)? This upbeat track brings a refreshing change of pace, featuring stronger vocals from Spears and a fancy-free instrumental. The pre-chorus chant is cool, but the instrumental feels slightly like it was spliced after-the-fact in to make it more radio friendly or current. Really, there’s almost nothing catchy about this song, which is part of the reason why I like it. Everything’s very wordy. I love the flips between head and chest voice in the chorus, and the unexpected flatted dominant (the first note of “trouble for me”) is a distinctive touch. Plus the bass line seems to dance as much as I do! And the bridge reveals one of my favorite lines on the album: “If you want my love, you can only find it on the dance floor!” I really kind of hate how the pre-chorus chant is dragged out as a transition out of the bridge, but it’s all good once it gets back to the hair-swinging, driving-with-the-windows-down chorus.
"Trip To Your Heart" presents a mellow Euro sound from half the duo that blessed us with "Toxic". Bloodshy's instrumental has an early '00s dance feel, but he chops it a bit (hear how it seems to stop and start and stop intermittently with a bit of a slowing-down/speeding up sensation?) to modernize it. Then there's the punctuation of that electronic frog-croaking sound. Britney's vocals stay just above a whisper for the whole track, and the instrumental is probably the one that plays with tension the least on the album. Everything just kind of sails through at more or less the same level the whole way through. I'd be interested to see if this track is popular in Europe (I don't see it making much of an impression stateside).
"Gasoline" starts with a tease of an intro with the seductive guitar riff goes into an almost acoustic verse with simple percussion, a one-note guitar vamp, and (for the second half) the guitar riff from the intro. This carries us through the pre-chorus, which ends with the same slowing-down effect Dr. Luke used in Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" and Spears' "Inside Out". To fill in the gap between the parts, Spears shows off a bit of vocal agility with a short double-tracked run (it's not easy to do that type of line and then repeat it as a perfect match to achieve the double-tracked effect). When the chorus comes in, it takes on a touch of metal with heavy-handed octaves in the guitar, bass, vocals and synths. The only thing not matching is the snare. It's embracing of the electronic is a stark contrast to the laid back feel of the verses. One of the songwriting elements that I love (more in the 2nd verse than the 1st) is the lack of full sentences. Spears paints a picture with short phrases and even single words. Furthermore, ending each verse with "gasoline" adds an effective terminal punctuation. And I love coupling the spaced-out phrases of the verses with the fast-paced lyrics of the pre-chorus. The (lack of) bridge manages to do nothing more than not totally fuck up the forward-motion of the song: neither great nor horrid.
"Criminal" is a midpaced ballad is a classic young-dumb-love song (dumb describing the love, not the song). It's got an old-school western flavor with a mostly acoustic sound, which is an interesting juxtaposition to the pitch-shifted effect on the low vocal notes at the end of each phrase. The second verse adds a few elements that distinguish it from the first, the first of which is a light synth descent to the instrumental (a move away from the acoustic sound). Bars 9-12 of the second verse almost completely drop the acoustic feel that the rest of the song carries and seems to go into a bridge-like change of melody. It almost works until the final four bars go back to what was done in the beginning of the verse. It feels incongruous. After a chorus with added synths, the song makes a slightly abrupt jump right into the bridge. I would have done an ascending synth (or vocal) line to help transition (like R. Kelly did in "Outrageous" from In the Zone). The bridge works well, and while it could have easily ended at 8 bars, but they go for a full 16. However, it feels a bit unfinished, ending on a line that doesn't rhyme followed by almost a full 2 bars with no vocals. What I do like is the subtle repetition of the out-of-place section of the 2nd verse under the last chorus.
The tease of a synth line and the filtered vocal in the intro to "Up 'n Down" brings the listener back to the dance floor once again. The chromatic line we hear in the intro doesn't give an immediate sense of tonality (i.e., what key it's in or where it's going) and creates an "I don't know what this is, bit I like it" anticipation. When Spears' vocals come in, the mystery of tonality quickly dissipates because she stays on the same (tonic) note for the whole verse. The pre-chorus does exactly what a pre-chorus should do: it makes a tension-building transition into the chorus. The repetition of "again and again" on the dominant towards the end is particularly effective. The instrumental adds a buzzing bass that matches the synth that carried the verse, and I kept thinking, "This is so familiar... I've heard this before." The last bar gives us a foreboding whoosh before Spears narrates what happens in the chorus: "The beat just dropped [all percussion has dropped out… same formula, Mr. Martin!], and the room got sexy [all the gay boys in my head only know the words to this part, so they all give their best pose/lip synch/duck walk]." The half-square-half-syncopated theme that played a secondary role through the track so far now takes over the synths, bass line and even the melody. About halfway through, I realized why this track sounded so familiar: imagine Samantha Mumba, who has obviously been cryogenically frozen since the mid-90s, was thawed out and somehow convinced she could make another hit. This would be that song! But it works! Especially when that tribal beat comes in out of nowhere, teasing us for a cruel 3 bars in the chorus. After a short hook to come down from the climax, the verse comes back with a predictable a cappella first two bars. This verse adds an intermittent vocal harmony a 5th (or 6th) above the melody, which works in its first instance. The second application of said harmony leaves the end of the verse feeling a bit awkward. Harmonies find their way into the pre-chorus, which totally goes along with the 90s pop genre and adds some good variation to the previous instance. However, just like the end of the verse, the commitment to the chromatic lines in the chords just doesn't quite work (I would have done an a cappella line and left it on the tonic chord with the vocals). In fact, I would argue that the background vocals' following the instrumental's descending line almost brings the song to a halt, and the tension hits a low where it's aiming for a climax! This time, after the chorus, we get the hook twice with a short ad lib from Spears in between. But can we have a short conversation about how the lyrics to the bridge (“I can almost feel my lace/ slipping off…”) sound like she's talking about her lace-front wig coming off?! It's the perfect drag queen song! After a mellow bridge with softer vocals in two-part harmony, the instrumental breaks down to the main theme in a single synth for 4 bars before coming back full-force with some hard-hitting percussion that has the same effect as the "jungle beat" from the chorus but substitutes a building snare line for some of the hits. Everything drops out for the first 3 beats if the chorus before a dam-breaking snare+cymbal hit brings in the full-fledged instrumental (the first time we hear it over the first part of the chorus). And we end on Dr. Luke's favorite slow-downer effect.
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| image from zimbio.com |
"He about To Lose Me" combines a strumming guitar with the percussion of Ne-Yo's "So Sick" and the buzzing bass synth that made producer RedOne so successful (most of Lady Gaga and Kat de Luna's singles). But production comes from hip-hop and R&B veteran Darkchild (Lady Gaga’s “Telephone”). The track builds as the first verse goes on, and the full synths come in halfway through when the melody changes slightly. It's an unusual choice, but it doesn't take away from the quality of the song. And props to Darkchild for making the verses 16 bars and not taking the easy 8. The synths vamp under the pre-chorus, which has a driving harmonized repetition in the melody. The tension builds until we hit the chorus. I'd bet money the voice we hear belting the C#5 is not Britney's. Sure, she's singing the octave below, but this alleged mystery background singer (with an astoundingly generic voice) seems to be the main vocal we hear. If this is the case, wonder why they didn't just record it in a different key. Under the vocals in question, the synth bass and guitar match each other in a new melodic line to make a great counterpoint with the vocals. The second verse starts predictably with a pause in the percussion in the first two bars. A voice double's Spears' vocal line an octave above for the first half, a very nice variation on the first verse. The next iteration of the pre-chorus employs a similar variation, adding an octave above the lower harmony rather than doing the typical 3-part harmony. The synths vamp and syncopate through a well-written bridge that repeats halfway through as the backgound vocals subtly revive the "eh ah eh eh" from the verse. And after a couple of rounds of the chorus, the song closes with the first line under just the guitars, almost exactly as it started. It's effective without being melodramatic.
When I heard the high pitched synths in the intro to "Selfish", I assumed it was going in the direction of "Low" by Flo-Rida. But the instrumental that comes in is much more laid back, blending euro-loungey synths with simple but hard-hitting percussion. Britney's subdued vocals on the verse, which come in over background vocals, fall on the seductively loungey side of the spectrum. The structure of this track is a bit unusual. We start with a 12-bar verse paired with a 4-bar chorus rather than a more typical 8 bars for each. Also, the verse is harmonized, and the chorus is mostly unison on the first go-round. However, the track does build as one would expect for the chorus, adding airy synth chords and a faint electric guitar line with an 80s vibe to it. The later iterations of the chorus find an unexpected sophistication in the crunchy harmonies that compliment but don’t follow the melody. The bridge shakes things up by going for a rock acoustic sound: even the clap-like snare is ditched for a rock-kit snare. Background harmonies punctuate the melody for the first half. The second half of the bridge repeats almost exactly in the main melody and words (a bit disappointing), but the track drops the background vocals and adds harder percussion and an electric guitar ad lib. Oddly, the only time Spears isn't singing over another singer's vocals on this track is during the short breakdown after the bridge.
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| image from ohthescandal.com |
"Don't Keep Me Waiting" basically sounds like Spears was in the studio with a live rock band. To give her voice a more powerful sound, they double her lead vocals on the verse. But to give the phrases even more punch, they bring in background vocals to triple (or quadruple) the end of each phrase. It juxtaposes nicely with the airy, heavily reverbed vocals in the pre-chorus. The simple chorus adds aggressive guitars and unison background vocals (Spears' vocals appear to be layered over a similar vocalist's rather than her own). After the second verse/chorus cycle, there's an interlude with chopped samples of what we soon learn is the beginning of the bridge. It serves as a good way to spice up the rather dull bridge. And when the chorus comes back in (the background, syncopated "heys" are a nice variation), the instrumental breaks down to a guitar strum with some simple synths, bringing back elements as it goes. By the next round, the instrumental is back full force, and there's an upper harmony in the background vocal. It's a classic example of how to keep a listener interested through the end of the track.
In a recent interview, Spears told Rolling Stone, “I wanted to make a fresh-sounding album for the clubs or something that you play in your car when you're going out at night that gets you excited”. I think she hit the nail on the head with this project. While there wasn’t a song that instantly grabbed me as the top 5 songs I will hear this year, the tracks are consistently great. I could play this album at the gym or before a night out and rarely hit the skip button. Sure, she doesn't have a single writing credit. Sure, she leans on background vocals and double-tracking a lot. These factors won't stop me from drunkenly swinging my hair and lip-synching these tracks on the subway in the club this summer. And maybe that makes me look like yet another gay boy who thinks Britney can do no wrong. And maybe I don’t care.
Suggested Tracks for Individual Download:
“Inside Out”
“(Drop Dead) Beautiful”
“Seal It with a Kiss”
“Big Fat Bass” *
“Trouble for Me”
“Gasoline”
“Up ‘n Down”
“He about to Lose Me”
Maybe:
“Hold It Against Me”
“Til the World Ends”
“I Wanna Go”
“Criminal”
“Selfish”
*ugh, I really didn’t want to like this one!
Click here to check out my review of Christina Aguilera's Bionic.
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