Britney Jean
Britney fans were promised her most personal album to-date, and so were left a tad confused when lead single 'Work B**ch' was released - a generic dance track that didn't at all touch upon her incredible life story, but certainly kept us toe-tapping at the rare moments it was played on radio.
A little closer to delivering on that promise is the album's opening track 'Alien', but beneath the simple lyrics and crawling beats, there isn't much left to offer.
The robotic vocals on fourth track 'It Should Be Easy' ruin the track completely - and we have will.i.am to blame - also featuring on the tune. The best moments from this song are when the singer's leave the track's production to it - the electronic dance music (EDM) really packs a punch, but unfortunately that's undercut by our two artists.
Aside from 'Perfume' (which hugely underperformed on the charts - it's a fantastic Sia-written ballad), it takes until track seven before Spears starts to open up with 'Til It's Gone', exploring the traumas of a relationship breakdown in an attitude-laced reflection on what could have been, and luckily, this is where she begins to truly shine.
'Passenger' details how she's ready to pass on the reigns of leading a relationship to somebody else - she's used to being in the driving seat but that isn't what she wants anymore. She wants to be taken care of and she's frustrated that this hasn't happened for her yet -
Sister Jamie Lynn makes her presence known on 'Chillin' With You' - a sweet but ultimately forgettable track from the LP.
Then comes THE moment - 'Don't Cry' - she's open, she's vocally impressive and she's proving she still has what it takes to command attention with her best ballad since the beautiful 'Everytime'.
Again, too much voice manipulation is used on what could be a brilliant song - 'Brightest Morning Star' - showing that though she is evolving as an artist, it's a slow and labourous process.
She closes the album with a strange 'Dreaming Mix' of 'Perfume', but also 'Now That I Found You', which I can only assume is about her new beau, with whom she seems extremely happy, and that certainly comes across here.
Final thought: A mish-mash of upbeat smashes that'd sound great in the club and heart-driven ballads are what 'Britney Jean' has to offer. They're presented in a strange order (Perfume follows Work B**ch for what reason?), but the second half of the album certainly feels more planned than the first. There are moments where she leaves herself open to exposure, and times when you can forget altogether that this is a Britney album, as it's a body of work unlike any other she's done before - this doesn't feel like 'Britney music' - but whether or not that's working in her favour is yet to be seen.
'Britney Jean' is out now through RCA Records Label.
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