Britney Spears new single 'Perfume' released on Facebook: LISTEN to personal 'Britney Jean' ballad [SINGLE REVIEW]
After weeks of anticipation, Britney Spears has debuted the second single from her new album Britney Jean. "Perfume," the personal ballad follow up to club banger "Work B----" premiered on Spears' Facebook page today (Nov. 3), one day before its due to hit iTunes store.
Teased as one of Spears' favorite tracks from her eighth studio album and as a personal track co-written by the pop princess herself, "Perfume" features the diva singing about a relationship turned sour. Amidst questions of fidelity, Spears sprays on her perfume, hoping that whomever her man is seeing on the side will smell her when she's with Speras' beau.
"Current girlfriend, ex-girlfriend, I'm trying to be cool / Am I being paranoid, am I seeing things? / Am I just insecure," Spears sings in the track's opening verse (as teased yesterday). "I'll never tell, tell on myself but I hope she smells my perfume," she continues in the post-chorus, driving the point of the song home.
The single is far more accessible than lead Britney Jean track "Work B----," and it features a traditional Spears pop feel. Recalling personal, mid-tempo ballads from her back catalogue like "Lucky" and "Everytime," "Perfume" features a piano-tinged beat and strong string orchestral backing. Swelling into a highly emotive piece of music, the strength of "Perfume" lies in its arrangement and high quality production value.
As for Spears vocals, they remain slightly weak on the track. Though the single was teased with the fact that she "sang the hell out of it," the future Vegas staple keeps things light. A little more power and emotion within the vocals really could have pushed this song into another dimension, but Spears remains subdued throughout the entire piece.
Despite that, "Perfume" helps to paint a little more of the picture of Britney Jean, which now has the potential to be a boundary-pushing, varied pop album. While "Perfume" will get its official store release on Nov. 4, the album itself won't hit stores until Dec. 3.
Listen to "Perfume" below.