Britney Spears has landed herself back into the spotlight once again with the release of her ninth studio album, Glory, exploring a new sound to bounce back from the disappointment of Britney Jean, her last LP. But much like her recent VMAs performance, the album is lifeless and uninspired.
Spears opens the album with “Invitation,” inviting listeners onto a 41-minute long journey filled with heavy autotune, synthesizers and unflattering comparisons to FKA twigs. Spears tweeted the day after the album’s release that the track “really sets the tone for the whole album.” Well, she was right, because several tracks sound like an attempt to mimic today’s current pop music.
Spears’ excessive use of breathy singing or chorused vocals is not why the album lacks charm, nor is it the singer’s lack of vocal dexterity. It is Glory‘s attempt to transform Spears into an avant-garde pop star. But the singer’s lack of originality leaves the album with an uncomfortable feeling of incompletion. While this release is a significant improvement over Britney Jean, it remains lackluster as almost every song incorporates high pitched, pseudo-angelic whispers and contain incredibly weak lyrics, despite the efforts of at least four other songwriters on every track.
At this point, it is expected that her voice will be saturated with the efforts of a large production team, pitch correction and intense club beats. Nonetheless, it is amusing to see Spears attempt R&B on “Private Show,” singing lyrics like “Work it, work it, boy watch me work it/ Slide down my pole, watch me spin it and twerk it.” The song could have been playful, but Spears lacks both the confidence and emotion in her voice to effectively cross over into a genre of music that requires those traits.
There are some tracks that deviate from the album’s norm, such as “Clumsy,” a show tunes-y song that contains a chorus filled with layered “whoa oh-ohs,” almost piggybacking off the success of her 2011 hit single “Till The World Ends.” The album’s final track, “What You Need,” is my favorite, but that isn’t saying much. Spears dares to go out of her usual range and attempts to belt melismatically, but she still lacks the chops to pull it off and her falsettos remain weak while the obvious overproduction shines through.
Calling Spears manufactured would be like calling a twinkie unhealthy. She is the type of singer that makes becoming famous look easy. No matter how hard she bombs, and no matter how much she isn’t covering her lip syncing, she will always be applauded for just trying or coddled by devoted fans when criticized. Perhaps it is this reality that forces me to analyze her music with such a harsh lens; her lack of vocal talent is precisely why she was so easily formulated into an overnight pop sensation. If you already love Britney, then you will love this album, but for the average music junkie, Glory fails to bring just that back to the 34-year-old singer.
