Christmas Leftovers - Britney's Circus Review

Britney's back with the appropriately titled Circus, hailed as her big comeback album after 07's producer-showcase, Blackout, which was successful enough but a Britney album in name only, released to remind the general public that she was still a popstar and not just a tabloid favourite and tragic curiosity. The tracks on offer here don't stray too far from Blackout's blueprint, albeit lighter on the vocoder. There's also some moments of self-reflection, notably less aggressive production and some affected and occasionally self-penned lyrics (not that Mmm Papi tells much of a story other than illustrating that Brit's a bit of a horny lunatic). Also included are some pace-changing mid-tempos and two standard issue dire ballads (the flaccid Out From Under and the sickly sweet My Baby) but it's mainly just business as usual.

There's some fun, cheeky pop, If You Seek Amy and Mmm Papi, some beat-driven dance tracks like Circus and Kill the Lights and some quiet more restrained moments like Unusual You and Blur which feel more akin to 2004s In the Zone which as that album's title suggests, saw Britney taking more control. Tracks like these are refreshing; acknowledging in some small part, the cavalcade of controversy that's followed her in recent years rather than just glossing over it with faux sex kitten banality (though there's plenty of that to be found elsewhere on here.).

Deluxe edition bonus tracks are surprisingly worthwhile additions with Rock Me In feeling not unlike Rihanna's Shut up and Drive and Phonography having a Blackout-esque electro edge with a claustrophobic feel. There are also a handful of region and iTunes specific bonus tracks which are mostly no better than just serviceable but the Lady Gaga penned Quicksand stands out a little more. It begins as a simple piano ballad before layering an electro beat to create a fairly innocuous but pleasing mid-tempo (remember the days when Britney could sing songs about love gained and lost and it sounded genuine? Now that we know every micro-detail of her life the sentiment of such subject matters ring fairly hollow but, then again, no one really comes to a Britney album look for emotional resonance do they?)

Circus is no masterpiece, but it's fun, if a little superfluous and enjoyable, if a little familiar. But am I alone in finding it a little odd that a woman who was sectioned and deemed unfit to take care of her children is in the same year singing about joys Leather and Lace? With her dancing not as strong as it was, her vocals as thin and nasal as ever and her sound stalling slightly, it's becoming more and more obvious just how integral the concept of a circus is to Britney's success because at times one can't help but feel that it's only the chaos that surrounds her, in her music as well as her public persona, that keeps her afloat. As a one-woman show there'd be little to justify the price of admission.