Review: Britney Spears "Femme Fatale"

Unfortunately for Britney Spears her new album Femme Fatale has leaked prior to it's March 25th release date and via Youtube and Soundcloud I have had a chance to hear the album in its entirety. But after this early preview will I still be buying the album come release day?


Femme Fatale finds Britney Spears firmly in the club-which is where she should always be quite frankly- with excellent production and surprisingly good vocals-even when they are being stuttered and autotuned- to boot. The album bares some of the strengths of her most adventurous and best works but overall it stays too close to the prevailing mainstream sound  to be as revolutionary as the Blackout album. Instead, it straddles a line between  said albums' electro-infused, gritty club sound and its predecessor Circus' highly polished pop sensibilities. For the most part its a great fusion that accomplishes the job of keeping Britney Spears cutting edge and one step ahead of the competition but without it being at the expense of her pop fanbase.

Femme Fatale is ultimately a dance album that bravely doesn't try to be anything else but that.  Fast paced beats, lots of bass and Britneys unmistakeably voice all come together brilliantly to create a quality cohesive body of work. Granted the lyrics are pretty shallow and ubiquitous but what with the aim of the album being to get, and keep, people on the dance floor it doesn't suffer from the lack of lyrical depth one iota. Although not as revolutionary as Blackout, Femme Fatale still manages to show that after more than a decade in the industry Britney Spears is still as relevant and a trendsetter as she was when she first entered the game.

Stand-out tracks:

• I Wanna go: Quirky whistling, stuttering vocals, and a dirty baseline =WIN
•  (Drop Dead) Beautiful: At times the track channels Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters fame, Ke$ha and even Beyonce. Rapper Sabi is just the icing on the cake.
•  Trip to your heart: Expansive, cold synths are contrasted and warmed by an intoxicating, sweet vocal by Ms Spears. A track equally at home in the club or on a chilled night in.
• Big Fat Bass featuring will.i.am: Even though this is essentially Boom Boom Pow version 2.0 it still doesn't detract from this being one hell of a dance song.
• Till the world ends
• Hold It Against Me: Took a bit of time to grow on me, but definitely the stand out track.

Rating: 4/5

Britneys back bi*ch!

ANYONE WHO DOWNLOADED THE ALBUM ILLEGALLY PLEASE BE SURE TO BUY FEMME FATALE WHEN ITS RELEASED ON THE 25th OF MARCH.

NB: This review was created by listening to the songs via various streaming sites (Youtube and Soundcloud.)