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Thursday, August 04, 2016

Pop Disqus | What to Expect with Britney Spears' Ninth LP, Glory?



  By Shawal Ras


 So Britney Spears just casually announced a new album last night and boy I am stoked as fuck!

Glory, the follow-up to 2013's "most personal album" Britney Jean (note: BJ status as an album has been revoked in accordance to a fatwa ruling signed, sealed, delivered by the Army) is set to drop on August 26th - that's THREE WEEKS AWAY!

Anyway, before we get into details on what to expect with our Queen's new LP, here's an advert: Glory is available for pre-order in a few hours (midnight, but it's lunch hour for us Malaysians) and once paid, you'll get the first two tracks: 'Make Me... (feat. G-Eazy)' and 'Private Show', as previewed in the latest ad for her perfume of the same name.


First in our list: the cover. This has got to be her worst album cover so far (I've forgiven ...Baby 'cos she was a tween, but I'm still not done with Femme Fatale). My reasons are: 1) there's that close-up shot of a highly brushed face, 2) definitely too much glow, and 3) that damn choker. Also: 4) The font! But, go ahead and ask any stan of Britney: This chosen art design is the least of our worries.

Earlier this year, the entertainer told V magazine that she's ecstatic for us to hear what she's been working on: "It's the best thing I've done in a long time. I'm proud of the work, and it's very different; It's not what you would think at all. But I'm not rushing anything. I just want it to be done right, so that my fans will truly appreciate it."

I'm stoked to hear that, but as usual, this is all PR talk. Hogwash, sorta.

Two weeks ago Britney dropped the lead single 'Make Me...' and I loved it. It's not really a banger as we usually see from her royal highness, but more of a sensual electronic track, dipped in some sexy sauce. Critics wowed, but her fans didn't. "It's boring," some troll tweeted.

In a way, I understand where such negative reactions came from. Let's take a look at Britney's entire discography; from her first single to 'Oops', 'Slave', 'Gimme More', 'Womanizer', 'Work Bitch' - she jumped from one type of pop to another. One similar trait: they're all hits engineered to make you instantly move. It's plain genius!

But 'Make Me...' can't.

I mean, you just writhe on the floor to it. You can't do any of those Beyoncé's 'Partition' moves, right?

To be honest, sonically, I'm still seeing Britney playing within the safe genre, but I think she's finally embracing that one sub-genre she knows best: Pop Electronica. That breath-y tone of her voice + that whole sex vibe = hello, it's Blackout meets In The Zone. I mean, we've seen her playing around with this genre so many times; 'Early Mornin', 'Touch of My Hand', and her best recorded track, 'Breathe on Me'. She knows she's good at it. Maybe she was unsure before. But, guys. This is it.

This. Is. It.

Given by her recent body transformation, relatable social media personality (ICYMI, her Instagram page is so odd, you just knew every posting came directly from her), and on-stage bad ass diva with head-turning hair flip; this is by far her most carefree era since Blackout.

No more wonky knees, I can tell ya that!

I'm sure Glory will debut atop Billboard 200 (unless Gaga dropped a Beyoncé) and plummeted into Mariana trench by the second week, but hey, at least it's new (and improved) music.

Until August 26 or God forbid, a leak, lets just enjoy those endless juicy meats rumours waiting for us by the glory hole (I mean Twitter, duh!).