CNN
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The Princess of Pop is again!
After a six-year hiatus, Britney Spears made her musical comeback on Friday with the discharge of “Maintain Me Nearer,” her collaboration with Elton John.
The tune, which is an EDM reimagining of John’s 1971 hit “Tiny Dancer,” marks Spears’ first new launch because the authorized victory final November that freed her from the 13-year conservatorship that managed her profession and private life.
Final 12 months, Spears revealed she stepped away from music and performing after the conservatorship “killed my dreams.” Her final album, “Glory,” arrived in 2016.
Earlier than the discharge of “Maintain Me Nearer,” Spears tweeted that she’s studying “on a regular basis is a clear slate to attempt to be a greater particular person and do what makes me pleased.”
She added that she needed to be “fearless like once I was youthful.”
John stated he was impressed to hitch forces with Spears by his husband, David Furnish, including that he believes their duet will give her a much-needed confidence enhance after such a “traumatic time.”
“I’m so excited to have the ability to do it along with her as a result of if it’s a large hit, and I feel it might be, it’s going to give her a lot extra confidence than she’s obtained already and she is going to understand that individuals truly love her and look after her and need her to be pleased,” he stated in an interview with the Guardian newspaper.
A fast scan of social media and it appears like followers are delighted by the joint launch.
“Such a cool, lovely tune, you guys make a beautiful crew! We have now missed you a lot Brit, you may’t think about how pleased it makes me to listen to you singing once more,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
One other stated: “welcome again!!!! Maintain me nearer is freaking unbelievable! You sound so good!”
Amongst music critics, nonetheless, opinion was extra divided.
Awarding the tune a four-star score, the Guardian’s Michael Cragg notes that Spears “throws in a number of playful ‘yeahs’, advert libs that really feel like precise yelps of pleasure moderately than the robotic manoeuvres of somebody being shuttled from studio to ready automobile.”
He provides that “Spears appears to trace at discovering that for herself once more in music. Even when this can be a one-off – and who can blame her if she doesn’t need to return to pop full-time – that seems like sufficient.”
In line with Vogue’s Christian Allaire, “There’s one thing about Britney’s voice and a dance observe that simply go extraordinarily properly collectively – like purple wine and a basket of bread. She does issues along with her vocal tone that each one the opposite pop girlies merely can’t. That’s why she’s the true princess of pop.”
Writing within the UK’s Times, however, reviewer Will Hodgkinson was not as enthusiastic. Whereas saying “the return of Britney Spears ought to be welcomed with open arms,” he described “Maintain Me Nearer” as a “cold remix” that “offers no house for Spears to shine whereas additionally killing the magic of the unique.”
