Many musical artists make comebacks: from Madonna to Eminem, and most recently Duran Duran. But, after the debut of her newest album, Femme Fatale, one can easily say that Britney Spears is the unofficial queen of reinventing her musical image. She has transformed over the years from innocent baby-fat crooner, teenage tease, flawless sex symbol, tabloid troublemaker, to a confident and iconic pop artist. Brit’s image is not the most drastic change that has been made; her music has taken on a new edge as well, leading to its rampant popularity in the U.S. and as far as New Zealand. The CD’s success can hardly be surprising, being that it was produced by Max Martin and Dr. Luke, the same hit-makers responsible for famous American boy bands such as the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC, as well as female solo artists including Kelly Clarkston, Katy Perry, and Pink.
Like the production duo’s work on Ke$ha’s hit single, “Tik Tok”, Britney’s two biggest hits on this album (“Hold it Against Me” and “Till the World Ends”) are heavily laden with bass wobble suggestive of the current dub-step craze. Breathy purrs of suggestive lyrics such as “You feel like paradise/ and I need a vacation tonight” (from “Hold it Against Me”) heighten the listeners’ realization that we are being sung to by a seasoned and mature temptress, not a seventeen-year-old virgin. This album has a grittier feel than Spears’ last; Circus, with many industrial beats and fewer up-beat sing-along style choruses. The instruments that can be easily picked up on the tracks include synthesizers, electronic beats, piano and even flute. The pop princess’s voice has been auto-tuned, but I’m pretty sure we all know by now that Brit’s voice has never been lacking; the augmentation is less about correction and more about altering the sound to evoke a more futuristic vibe.
Although she is generally considered a one-woman show, this comeback kid isn’t the only voice who can be heard on the album. The second single, “Til the World Ends,” was written in part by Ke$ha, which is no surprise considering the tune’s eerie similarity to her latest, “Blow”. It may not literally display the artist’s voice, but it clearly seeps through in the song’s theme (a never-ending dance party), bass-wobbling breakdown and thirty-second interlude of “wo-o-o-o-ah”s. The song, “Big Fat Bass,” was written by and features banter from the Black Eyed Peas’ Will.I.Am. It definitely connotes a more playful tone than both singles and one could easily imagine Fergie’s voice instead, but hearing Brit’s voice with Will’s is a much more refreshing combo. This only further solidifies that Femme Fatale has proven to show a new facet of Britney.
The new release’s lyrics are generally just as shallow and hormonal as the last few albums’, but hey, bubblegum is popular for a reason; it’s easily palatable. No one wants to step up and argue that “I wanna go/ back downtown where my posse’s at/ because I got/ nine lives like a kitty cat” (from “How I Roll”) has some kind of deep and philosophical meaning, but there are plenty of tweens to twenty-somethings that are going to shake their booties off to it – including yours truly.
