If you wanted new Britney music, you may not have to wait for too long!
That’s right, the Queen of Pop gave us a big surprise early in November, when she confirmed via Instagram that she is currently working hard on a new album. Miss Spears took some time out of her Las Vegas show to post a picture of herself with songwriting duo Justin Tranter and Julia Michaels, with the caption ‘Working hard and hardly working…new album…wheeeee!’.
Not surprisingly, the post was met with delight and anticipation from fans, who haven’t been able to get their hands on new Britney music since 2013! Lots of them took to Twitter to convey their happiness over the news:
Britney's making her NINTH album and I am oh so excited!
— Sophie Rogers (@sophlaurarogers) November 7, 2015
https://twitter.com/pearIsgomez/status/664605364416094208
Brit’s announcement didn’t come totally out of the blue, though. Rumours had already been circulating about the possibility of new music back in October, when she revealed a cute snap of her posing in a studio with British DJ Burns.
But what we’re all begging to know is, just who are these songwriters and producers that have been trusted with such an important task? And what could they possible bring to Britney’s new album (which is presently being stylized as #B9).
Glam rock for Britney’s ninth album?
Justin Tranter (the man in Britney’s announcement pic) is the lead singer of New York Glam Rock band Semi Precious Weapons. He is known for his flamboyant style and he supported Lady Gaga during her Monster Ball tour. Could this mean that he is bringing some glitter-punk influences to the new record?
He has also written songs for many famous artists including Justin Bieber’s ‘Sorry’ and Selena Gomez’s ‘Good for You’, so perhaps we will see some tropical house or electro vibes. This will be delving into a new direction for the songstress, who is known for her dance-pop hits.
Julia Michaels (Justin’s new co-writer) may only be 21 years-old but she has already written hit songs such as Rita Ora’s ‘Poison’ and Selena Gomez’s ‘Slow Down’. We already have extremely high hopes about what the pair are going to put together for #B9!
Producer and mixer DJ Burns has already worked with artists such as Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding, so we’re hoping he’ll bring some fresh dance beats and electronic mixes to the new Spears album.
She’s just as excited as we are!
Brit Brit has been taking to Twitter to keep us all updated on new project, so it looks like we won’t have to fish too hard for all the deets over the next several months:
JUST finished recording some vox. LOVE this song. It makes ME smile, and I hope it will make you smile too… #B9
— Britney Spears (@britneyspears) October 30, 2015
It’s clear that the pop diva is determined to pull out all the stops after her commercial flop Britney Jean was released in 2013. While her last record was supposedly her ‘most personal to date’, many criticized it for its ‘dated’ production and (mis)use of auto-tune. It seems the majority of us are hoping she will start to explore new avenues and bring back the raw vocal prowess from her In the Zone era.
Britney’s new ‘wave’ sound
Since the confirmation, we’ve dug up some of the speculated songwriters and producers over the past year. So far we have found quite a few tiptop musicians who might be working with Britney on her new sound, including Brayton Bowman, MNEK, Search Part, Sam Bruno, Ian Krikpatrick, DJ Mustard, Diplo, Chantal Kreviazuk and Simon Wilcox.
There was also an interesting revelation from songwriter Matthew Koma, who told Thump magazine that he had been working with Britney on a song ‘channeling Squeeze‘ – For those who don’t know, Squeeze is an awesome 70s new wave band who had hits with ‘Cool for Cats’ and ‘Up the Junction’. How amazing would it be if Britney pulled off a 70s-inspired album?
