"Britney Jean" works, bitch

Here we go again!

Britney Jean: 7/10 

I'm into this album. For me, as a fan, I feel more connected to this "Britney Jean" because I know Brit has been putting work into it. She wrote very little of "Circus" and "Blackout"  and none of "Femme Fatale" that I can see. This is the most she has written for one album since "In the Zone." It feels better to me, it feels more real. She's been promoting it as more personal, and I love that. There are personal moments, but they are shaken up by will.I.am and his dance beats. And her voice can shine through instead of being chopped up and robotized (on most tracks). She's criticized for her breathy sound, when people actually admit she still sings, but she uses her range well on this album.

Still, there are songs I don't like. It's that way with every album of my favorite artists. "Britney Jean" starts out very strong. "Alien" sounds like one of those songs that you put at the end of an album because it's a little weird and not quite your style. It works well here, an introspective start to her eighth studio album, as she talks about loneliness. "Work Bitch," an absolute slammer, is next. That song can still make me get off my ass and do anything. "Perfume" delivers some spot-on vocal work, even if the lyrics about "trying to be cool" make me raise an eyebrow.

The next three are meant to be dance songs, which is fine, but I could do without "Tik Tik Boom." "It Should Be Easy," featuring the ubiquitous (and unexciting) will.I.am, and "Body Ache," which are both not bad, sandwich her repetitive collab with T.I.  The songs are fast-paced without being too frantic.

"'Til It's Gone" is a thumping, well-sung piece and I think it and "Alien" are the best ones on the record. I'm not sure why I love it so much--perhaps the interesting chorus, perhaps the simple message that she delivers honestly. Whatever it is, it feels good and I wish the iTunes First Play would let me listen over and over.

"Passenger," which she co-wrote with Katy Perry, starts with a weird beat but transitions into a good midtempo ballad about being able to let go and let someone else drive in a relationship, about not trying to control too much and driving around "without a map."

Skip her collab with her sister--it's called "Chillin' With You" but I'd rather chill alone without this song. It feels awkward, going from guitar strums to a gentle beat with equally peaceful vocals, then weirdly turning into a bare beat and some vocalizations of chillin witchu.

Same with "Don't Cry," the final song on the record. This one could do with a few stronger lyrics, but it gets the point across-don't cry, I'm leaving, we lost our love, it hurts. It ends on a melancholy note--or does it? After all, there is strength in being able to walk away after a failed relationship.

Overall, it's a solid album. There's sex, of course--sex sells, and sex is just a part of Britney. But I also see signs of growth, as an artist and as a person, and signs that she is willing to open up to her fans and the world.