BRITNEY TALKS ABOUT NEW ALBUM WITH ROLLING STONE

Do your kids like the new record? What have they said about it?
Yes. They definitely dance to it but its kind of funny because they are still confused …. It’s like, ‘who is this Britney Spears singer in contrast to mommy?’

How has your involvement in the record-making process changed over the years?
I have always been heavily involved in every album I have ever made. I’m very stubborn when it comes to recording and will only record songs I love, which is why it takes me a long time to make an album. I have to feel connected before I record and the song has to spark something inside me. Very few songs do that. I guess it’s a good process because I love all of my music. I know there are a lot of artists that hate songs they recorded. I don’t feel that way.

What was your idea for the overall sound of this album?
I wanted to make a fresh-sounding album for the clubs or something that you play in your car when you’re going out at night that gets you excited but I wanted it to sound different from everything else out right now. I also wanted to experiment with all the different types of music I love which is why you hear a mixture of pop, hip-hop and dance throughout the album. I also really wanted to play with my voice and change up my sound here and there which was really fun.

You hear traces of some real cutting-edge dance music on the album – for instance, the dubstep break on “Hold It Against Me.” How do you find new sounds?
I listen to a lot of different music from all over the world and I guess I just gravitate towards what sounds fresh and what makes me want to move. I really didn’t want to record anything on this album that could be mistaken for anyone else out there. I think my first two singles, “Hold It Against Me” and “Till The World Ends,” sound completely different from anything else and I think when my fans hear the rest of Femme Fatale they’ll see how fresh every song is.

Do you still go out to clubs? What kind of dance music do you like?
I don’t go out that much anymore but when I do, I definitely like to go out and dance. I’m a big vibe person when it comes to music so a song really has to make me feel a certain way in order for me to fall in love with it. I love hard pounding dance songs with really beautiful melodies over them. Those are my favorites.

What kind of music do you listen to at home?
I love the Peas but I also love Deadmau5. I guess I’m all over the place. Lately I have been listening to Robyn and Adele non-stop but I also love to find new artists that very few people know about. It’s one of my favorite things to do because it’s like being part of a secret. Friends and people around me are always showing me new artists that they love and that’s how I learned about Sabi and ended up working with her on “(Drop Dead) Beautiful.” I have always wanted to feature a new artist on one of my albums and she is really cool.

What led to your collaboration with willi.am? What was it like working with him?
The Peas make incredibly catchy, fun pop/dance records and I LOVE will.i.am’s style. I have always wanted to do a song with him and would love to work with him more in the future. He is so interesting.

Dr. Luke has become a big-name producer in his own right since your last album – is it different working with him now?
Not really. We have known each other for a really long time. Most people don’t know this but we actually worked together when I was recording “Blackout.” He was incredible back then and he has only gotten better over the years.

Dr. Luke said last fall that “I want [the sound] to get harder in some ways, and maybe a little more deep into electronic — grimier.” Did you have that same agenda for the album? Do you feel like you accomplished that?
When we first sat down to talk about Femme Fatale I knew I wanted to make a dance album that was ahead of everything else out there but unique to me which is why I was so picky with the recording process. I only wanted songs that I immediately connected to. I also wanted to make sure that this album was completely different from Circus or anything else I had ever recorded. I love Circus but I wanted something darker and edgier. I also wanted to make an album and didn’t want to just record a bunch of songs and put them together. I think Femme Fatale is really connected from start to finish.

What is it about Max Martin that makes you so comfortable collaborating with him? How much bigger of a role did he take on this album than he did for “Circus”?
Max played a huge role on this album and he has been there since the beginning so there is such a huge level of trust. He gets exactly what I am saying when I tell him what I want and don’t want musically. His melodies are incredible and he is always coming up with weird sounds, which I love. The whistle on “I Wanna Go” still gets me every time I hear it. Who would have thought of that? There is nobody I feel more comfortable collaborating with in the studio.

How would you characterize the studio relationship between Max and Dr. Luke?
They are two peas in a pod. It’s a total bromance.



你的宝贝儿子们喜欢你这张新专辑吗？他们怎么评价？
喜欢啊。他们一听到这张专辑就开始跳舞，有意思的是他们有点疑惑，“这个唱歌的Britney Spears跟妈咪真的是一个人吗？”

这些年来参与唱片录制的工作是不是有很大改变？
每张专辑制作过程我都有全程参与。在录音的时候我会很固执，我也只录我喜欢的歌，这也是为什么我每张专辑都要做很久。在录每首歌之前我必须对它能够一“听”钟情，我只唱那些能激发我心里灵感的歌。这样的歌真的很少。我觉得这是一个很好的过程，因为我所有的音乐我都爱。我听说很多艺人不喜欢自己的某些歌，不过我不这样。

你觉得新专辑整体的声线诠释的怎么样？
我想要做一张听起来非常有新鲜感的专辑，一张夜店大碟，一张在大半夜开车的时候能让你嗨起来的专辑，不过我需要它听起来和市面上这些音乐与众不同。我还想多实验我喜欢的各种类型的音乐，这也就是为什么你能听到这张有着流行，嘻哈，舞曲各种曲风混合的专辑。我真的想要好好耍耍自己的嗓子一番，真的很有意思。

在新专辑里有一些真正的先锋舞曲，比如在《Hold It Against Me》中引入的Dubstep桥段。你是怎么找到新声音的？
我一直在听好多好多来自全世界的很多不同的音乐，而且我总倾向于那些听着特别新鲜的，让我想要动起来的音乐。我不想我的新专辑哪首歌被误认为是其他艺人的。我觉得前两首单曲，《Hold It Against Me》和《Till The World Ends》听起来都蛮独特的，我想让我的粉丝们了解到当他们听到《Femme Fatale》里其他歌的时候会多么新鲜。

你还经常去夜店吗？你喜欢什么样的舞曲？
我不再像以前那样爱玩儿了，不过有的时候也蛮想去的。音乐这方面，我真是没少听，想要让我爱上某首歌的话它必须得有什么能够打动我的。我喜欢节奏猛烈但仍然有着优美旋律的舞曲，那才是我的最爱。

平时在家都听些什么？
我喜欢黑眼豆豆，我还喜欢Deadmau5。我喜欢的不少。最近不停的在听Robyn和Adele，但是我也喜欢找一些不怎么出名的新音乐人的歌来听听。我挺喜欢这样的，因为感觉像是发现了别人不知道的小秘密。身边的朋友经常会推荐给我很多他们喜欢的新晋艺人，我就是这么知道Sabi的，就和她合作了那首《(Drop Dead) Beautiful》。我一直想在我的专辑里和某位新人合作一下，Sabi真的很酷。

怎么想起来和Will.i.am合作的？感觉怎么样？
豆豆的歌听起来总是很抓耳，他们做的都是有趣的流行/舞曲专辑，我挺喜欢Will.i.am的范儿。我一直想要和他合作一曲，要是以后还能合作就更好了。他太有意思了。

自你的上张专辑以来，Dr.Luke声名鹊起，现在和他一起工作和原来有什么不一样么？
他没怎么太变啊。我们好久以前就认识了。其实很多人不知道我在录《Blackout》那张专辑的时候就和他一起工作过了。他那时候真的蛮不可思议的，不过这些年来更厉害啦。

Dr. Luke去年秋天说想要让新专辑里你的声音“更加电子，更加咸湿”，你有过类似的想法么？你觉得你同意这样么？
当我们第一次一起谈论《Femme Fatale》这张专辑的整体感觉的时候，我就知道我想做一张超级先锋的舞曲专辑不过对我也一定要非常特别，因为在录音过程中我是非常挑剔的。我只想录我一听就爱上的歌。我也必须确保新专辑要不同于《Circus》以及所有我以前的专辑。我蛮喜欢《Circus》的，不过我想要一些更加黑暗更加前卫的东西。我不想录一堆歌然后拼凑成一张专辑。《Femme Fatale》从开始录制一直到结束都是有一个指导思想的。

是什么让你觉得和Max Martin一起工作很舒服的？和《Circus》时期相比，他在新专辑里占多少比重？
Max对于这张专辑来说很重要，从开始录制的时候就一直参与，所以这个信任是非常非常高的。每首歌我想要怎么样我不想要怎么样一说他就能明白。他写的旋律都特别的赞，而且我非常喜欢他的一点就是，他经常能做出特别新奇的声音。现在每次听到《I Wanna Go》里面的口哨声我都觉得赞到不行。别人谁能想出来呀？在录音室里和他一起工作最惬意了。

你怎么定义Dr. Luke和Max Martin在录音室里的关系？
本是同根生，相爱何太急。



Credit： UTB & BCN