Don't Hold It Against Us

So, a mere four days ago, we promised that Britney Spears' new single Hold It Against Me would be premiering in a matter of days. True to form, the track leaked earlier today. Chances are by the time you read this, the "powers that be" at RCA will have pulled all trace of these radio rips from youtube but we've had a go at embedding a working video below. You're welcome.



A few things to note in the light of the concerns we raised in our "artwork" article.

There is, what we would describe as a below-average amount of heavy breathing on the track. This is partly compensated by Britney's pronunciation of the word "hazy" as "hayzay".

There is still the possibility that we may get a video which is more Toxic than Gimme More. The jury is still out as to whether we have a song which has a similar allignment.

Hold It Against Me manages at the same time to be a significant change of direction for Britney (returning to her dance-ish roots via some dubstep influences) whilst also maintaining a very definite Britney sound. The choruses are fairly anthemic stuff, particularly as they build towards the final chorus in which the beats and the production is allowed to let itself go completely for maximum "hands-in-the-air" effect.

Yet the brilliant climax of the song has to be counterbalanced by the rest of the track which unfortunately has too much "stop and start" to properly get going. Dropping out the beats on the first two choruses highlight the dramatic effect of the final chorus, but it also disrupts the momentum of the track in the early parts. Furthermore, the abstract dubstep middle eights (yes, middle eights in the plural) are, in a way, admirably "out there", but they aren't going to be everyone's taste.

With a few listens the track has undoubtedly grown on us. It's different enough from the direction of Circus to mark a new stage in Spears' career, and it's a great credit to Britney that despite the tried and tested production formula behind the song (yes, folks, we're looking at another Max "Baby One More Time" Martin and Dr. "Teenage Dream" Luke creation) she has definitely incorporated a new sound into her arsenal. At the same time, we were really hoping that we'd see the return of a Britney Spears song which gives you a licence to dance and sing along like a lunatic for the full 3:41 seconds. Instead, it feels like what we get is one amazing chorus, and about 40 seconds of classic Britney-induced euphoria, before the track gets pulled out from under our feet.