10 January 2008
New year, same old problems for Britney. Today, having seen many other famous young women being chewed up and spat out by tabloid paparazzi Internet frenzy, we hopefully have a bit more empathy and understanding for her and what she lived through in the ’00s. Still, it’s with a heavy heart and stomach that I remind myself how ‘Piece Of Me’ is yet another Britney product about the downside of her own immense celebrity – which is fine, if your favourite Beatles song is ‘The Ballad Of John And Yoko’.
Happily, ‘Piece Of Me ‘ is far better than that. For one thing, this and the fantastic preceding single ‘Gimme More’ (kept off the Irish number one spot by Leona Lewis’s superb ‘Bleeding Love’) represent an appealing new sound for Britney: finally kicking on from Cheiron poptimism to darker, glitchier post-Timbaland electro-R&B, though still with a big-name Scandi production team in Bloodshy & Avant. Also, where ‘Everytime’ and ‘My Prerogative’ came across as exercises in misery, ‘Piece Of Me’ finds Britney strong, combative and funny: “I’m Mrs Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous / I’m Mrs oh my God, that Britney’s shameless!” As we know now, her troubles don’t end here, but it’s still heartening to see Britney even briefly on the winning side of her battles, and back making great pop records to boot.
