If you listen closely enough you can hear the crinkle of the gaffer tape that is binding broken Britney together, the deliberately airbrushed cover fronting a litany of darkness and suffering.
Oh come on, she's just a trailer trash pop star, no? C
ertainly, and the most publicly shattered celebrity of the 21st century, with any number of gaudy, grotesque images lurking inside the artwork to prove it.
Britney sees herself as the unwilling clown in this Circus, with heartfelt aspirations to be the brilliant young thing on the flying trapeze. On 'If U Seek Amy' she speed chants the "Baby Baby" refrain that heralded her pig-tailed arrival with 'Hit Me Baby One More Time'. All that gymslip innocence has long since disappeared in a spectacular lipstick smear, with the song title sung quickly (F.*.*.*.MY) as implicit and explicit as you like, performed over a hypnotically sleazy electro groove.
Spears sounds in danger rather than dangerous, and her sixth album is a voyeuristic listening experience because of it. 'Mmm Papi' is a girl on the edge, strutting her sexual stuff out of desperation rather than desire.
Our only glimpse of the girl we used to know is 'My Baby', the vo-coders switched off for once, with Britney's little girl lost voice left to stand up all on its own. It seems like the only honest thing on the record, which is a shame as the song is no great shakes.
• Download this: Circus, Unusual You
The full article contains 260 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
