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2 december 2008

Toxic Big Top: Britney Spears, 'Circus'


Source: www.expressnightout.com Express from The Washington Post - Washington,DC,USA


CAN SOMEONE GIVE JAMIE SPEARS an award? The man should be named father of the year just for the clean-up he's forced daughter Britney to undergo these past few months. With the latest cover of Rolling Stone under her belt, Spears looks almost back to normal - at least, that's what those abs would suggest.


Her new album, "Circus," is also a return to the predictable Britney we remember from the days of yore.

The disc - which drops in the United States on the former Princess of Pop's 27th birthday - is another foray into electronica-packed pop, similar to last year's "Blackout" in practically every way. There are the up-tempo club songs ("Womanizer," "Circus"); the ballads ("Out from Under," "Unusual You") and those that fall somewhere in between ("Lace and Leather," "Shattered Glass").

And not any of them is particularly great.

But considering that Spears sent the most of her year demonstrating her fondness for Cheetos, weaves and the paparazzi, it's kind of impressive "Circus" came out at all.

The album starts off with "Womanizer," Spears' comeback track that's infectiously, infuriatingly catchy. The first of Spears' singles to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 since "... Baby One More Time," "Womanizer" is a sped-up slice of synth-pop, a pointed kiss-off to ex-husband Kevin Federline as sung by a robotic, "Toxic"-like Spears. Though the chorus is little more than countless repetitions of the words "womanizer" and "you," the track is probably the album's best choice for a first single - it's the one that harkens most back to Spears' sassy-not-crazy days, even if it has to employ a lot of electronic wizardry to do it.

From there, the album's tracks veer from passable to mediocre. The next single, "Circus," is similarly up-tempo and club-ready - even though it sounds like T-Pain's "Ringleader," with lyrics such as "There's only two types of people in the world / The ones that entertain, and the ones that observe / Well, baby, I'm a put-on-a-show kinda girl" and "When I crack that whip, everybody gonna trip / Just like a circus." We're not sure whether Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey would tolerate such clumsiness, but it seems to work for Spears.

But the proceedings start to drag with "Out From Under," a song presumably about the relationship between Spears and Federline. Although the lyrics seem genuine enough - "So let me go / Just let me fly away / Let me feel the space between us growing deeper / And much darker every day" - the song's four minutes are simply uneventful. Spears' voice has never been that powerful, and making it the sole focus of "Out from Under" leaves the song destined for badness.

Other ballads on the album aren't as awful, but they are drastically different in their content matter. For example, "Blur" is an uncomfortable description of a drunken hook-up; as Spears sings, "Can't remember what I did last night / Maybe I shouldn't have given in / But I just couldn't fight / Hope I didn't, but I think I might've / Everything, everything is still a blur." The end result is just awkward - imagining Spears possibly getting taken advantage of while intoxicated is not a welcome thought, or even one really suitable for a pop song.

Completely on the other side of the spectrum is "My Baby," the album's closer track and a love song from Spears to her two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James. Though seemingly an honest look at Spears' relationship with her kids, the song suffers from the same flaw as "Out From Under" - though the lyrics are touching enough ("With no words at all / So tiny and small / I love I fall so deep, so deep / My precious love / Sent from above / My baby boo / Gotta thank you, gotta thank you"), focusing the track on Spears' voice is not a smart move. Without any kind of Auto-Tune tinge, Spears' natural singing voice just isn't that great.

Outside of the club tracks and ballads, "Circus" delivers a slew of other straight-pop songs, but these middle-of-the-road tunes are often forgettable. "Mmm Papi" seems like a bad text message conversation between "The Real Housewives of Atlanta's" Kim and ex-boyfriend Big Poppa, with its asinine lyrics ("Now see, I'm mami / And that makes you papi / And that makes us lovey / Ow!"). "Lace and Leather" is some kind of bizarre BDSM thing, with Spears singing to a boy who can "Look, but don't touch / Unless you want to lose your innocence"; it could have been good if the backup instrumentation had been sped up and the song didn't meander around. And "If U Seek Amy" could be a reference to the Kevin Smith film <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chasing_Amy>, but that seems a bit far from Brit's usual pop-culture pool.
Overall, the album is impressive in that it's a complete set of 12 tracks that delve into different content matter and song styles, and it's at least more tolerable than last year's "Blackout," which was a synthesizer-fest and little else. But as a whole, Spears still plays it safe - and although that's probably what Papa Jamie wanted, a little risk could have gone a long way.

Written by Express contributor Roxana Hadadi

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