Britney Spears is back with a new song, a new album, and a new concert residency in Las Vegas. After almost two years away to focus on her two young sons and be a judge on ‘The X Factor’, Spears is ready to deliver new tunes.
The first single off of her untitled December 3 release is called ‘Work Bitch’. I was hoping and counting on getting another typical, but catchy, Britney song. This however, I just cannot get into. It’s almost completely spoken word, sounds very similar to ‘Scream and Shout’ a song she collaborated with will.i.am on last year, and is okay at best.
I’m not sure why this was chosen to be the lead single from the album, but I’m assuming her team was banking on it becoming an anthem for people everywhere. I mean, it is the perfect song for strutting down a runway, shimmying down a supermarket aisle, or twirling down the street. I’m not a Britney hater in the least bit, because she has turned out some songs in her day that I still sing obnoxiously. This song has yet to grow on me, maybe it will or maybe or it won’t.
I have high hopes that the new album, and the next single for that matter, will provide us with some of that old Britney magic that we’ve come to appreciate. Her last album, ‘Femme Fatale’ was decent, but definitely not my favorite. It was definitely nothing as the likes of ‘In the Zone’, ‘Blackout’, and ‘Circus’, my favorite Britney albums. Now those three albums are some damn good Britney Spears music. From top to bottom they each were filled with great songs, much more than what was released to radio. I’m staying positive that this new album will deliver just as those did. Fingers crossed.
Last week Spears also announced her residency at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas starting Dec. 27. The two-year residency will include 50 shows each year with each one lasting 90-100 minutes. Ticket prices will rang from $59 to $179 dollars for the 4500-seat theater. With any luck she will keep the lip-syncing to a minimum and really go for it in the show. Her concert would not be my first choice to see while in Vegas, as Shania Twain holds that position, but it would be fun to see nonetheless.
With Spears making all of these new announcements, the best take away from it all is that she seems to be in a great state of mind and self. After her hot mess of a break down in 2007, she has been under the conservatorship of her father, Jamie. With the releases of her last two albums, tours, and media appearances Spears was not the once bubbly, sweet talking Louisiana girl we all knew. She was almost robotic in a sense that she was probably being fed all of her lines to say and she really looked uncomfortable. Last week though, Britney looked healthy, happy, bubbly and was generally engaged with interviewers and fans alike. It was very exciting and sort of touching to see.
Britney Spears has come a long way in her career, and I’m talking a long way. It has been filled with the highest highs an artist could receive and lowest of lows any person on Earth could face. It has taken time, but Spears is in a good place and one can only hope her music is in the same location.