Blackout

About

By the time <i>Blackout</i> came out in the fall of 2007, Britney Spears’ story had been picked nearly clean by media outlets and online tongue-waggers—the paparazzi followed her to take a seemingly infinite number of photograph, which would become fodder for bloggers and pundit, which would cause more demand for photo, the cycle quickly—and endlessly—repeating itself. Spears’ fifth album and first since 2003’s <i>In The Zone</i> leans into the narratives swirling around her both lyrically and musically, with references to “Miss Bad Media Karma” (as she calls herself on the hiccuping “Piece of Me”) accompanied by glitchy electro-pop that feel propulsive even while being draped in a last-call haze. “Gimme More,” with its opening declaration of “It’s Britney, bitch,” sets the tone, its bouncing-ball beat (laid down by Timbaland associate Nate “Danja” Hills) accompanying a Spears vocal performance that straddles the line between playful flirtation and heated come-on. Pop titans Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake had delved into clubland’s darker side on their mid-2000s release, and the metanarratives surrounding Spears added an edginess to <i>Blackout</i> that its sonics—courtesy of high-end producers such as Danja, “Toxic” architects Bloodshy & Avant, pop-R&B collective The Clutch, and futurist duo The Neptunes—bolstered. .

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

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