Britney Spears - Femme Fatale

Mississippi-born popstar Britney Spears first rose to prominence when she featured as a child laborer in the New Mickey Mouse Club, one of Disney's many ways to construct and distribute prefabricated pseudo-happiness. In 1998 'Hit Me Baby One More Time' propelled her to stardom and from then on, her path has not always been a steady one. With In The Zone, she proved that with the right entourage she was capable of remaining a somewhat relevant artist in the pop scene once the initial fad had worn of - albeit clearly in the lighter regions of the genre. Songs like 'Toxic' were nothing less than perfect pop music, and Spears even took some creative control (although it's probably best not to overstate that fact). Unfortunately though, subsequent to her newfound glory, Spears crashed and burned the way only professionally made artists can lose grip. Years of intense marketing and industrial quantities of producers had failed to provide her with anything even remotely close to a personal identity and like so many former child stars, Spears had never had to care of think about anything involved with her stage persona. One thing neither Disney, nor mainstream record companies seem to consider as being very important is inserting some form resilience and personality into the their human money factories. And when that framework then all of a sudden disappears, they all succumb to disaster and tragedy at some point. It will happen to the Biebster as well.

The media jumped on the former sweetheart's demise and as things go, she found herself falling from grace faster than a speeding bullet. Until she was picked up again in 2007. By the time she had gone about as white trash as one can get, but nontheless her new album Blackout did put her back on the map and although it would still take a while for the singer to get things back on track, by the time she released Circus in 2008 it seemed as if the old Britney Spears had been resurrected. At risk of overstating things, one could even argue that Spears had established herself as one of the truly relevant pop artists of the decade, not just in terms of record sales, but also critically. And that is why I, in good conscience, can't ignore the release of her seventh studio album. Because at this time there cannot be anyone left who doesn't have some sort of affinity with her music. After all, there is not much that lights up a party like a Britney song. Whether it's an oldie everyone knows the lyrics to, without ever admitting to liking it, or one of her more recent songs, which have never displayed much depth, but nontheless have a undeniable irresistibility. 

But alas. Blackout and Circus showed promise, but unfortunately Femme Fatale doesn't leave much of an imprint at all. It seems that in the end the personal issues, the psychological exhaustion over years of being used up by a greedy industry and the crazy inherent to most everyone beneath the Mason-Dixon line have irreversibly caught up with her. The joy is gone - as is a significant part of her motor skills - and there is a certain sadness surrounding the singer. Not that Femme Fatale is not a perfectly polished pop product. But the songs sound dead and a similar tired and cold vibe comes from Spears herself as her voice is excessively auto-tuned, ridding it of any human emotion. Even though songs like 'Hold It Against Me' have potential, the record as a whole feels forced and mechanical. The agressive dance beats ('Till The World Ends') might get you dancing at first, but won't hold your attention for even the 45 minute duration of the album. Songs like 'Inside Out' and 'I Wanna Go' can just maintain a weak sense of experimentering, without ever really wandering of the middle of the road (and that is taking in account that the latter all too often reminds of something David Guetta could have thrown up). But the dreadful second half of the album, consistently ignoring the existence of 90's eurodance, is what really sinks the deal, with yet another Will.i.am carbon copy as a sad pinnacle. 

So all in all Femme Fatale does not live up to the expectations that could be held, albeit that that is only in part due to the interchangeability of the songs and sounds. The other part is the lifelessness on display here and the overtly impersonal feel of the record. In that respect Femme Fatale is very much in line with the work she did in her early days (Disney and Hit Me Baby) in that is just as fake, staged and overproduced. Sadly though, in this 2011 update, the underlying tragedy shimmers through. And in that way it should be a warning to soccer parents around the globe to take it down a notch. Musically the album is catchy at best, but at its worst, it is unbareably hollow and produced to the point of sounding dead. Much like Spears herself lately: bright and cheerful on the outside, but dead behind the eyes.

Tracklist

1. Till The World Ends

2. Hold It Against Me

3. Inside Out

4. I Wanna Do

5. How I Roll

6. (Drop Dead) Beautiful (ft. Sabi)

7. Seal It With A Kiss

8. Big Fat Ass (ft. Will.i.am)

9. Trouble For Me

10. Trip To Your Heart

11. Gasoline

12. Criminal