Pitchfork

Well, it's not Swizz Beatz, bitches. "It's Britney, bitch," the "legendary" Ms. Spears assures us at the outset of new single "Gimme More", streaming over at PerezHilton. Then again, it is Nate "Danjahandz" Hills at the helm, and he's had a hand in successful career makeovers for the likes of Nelly Furtado, plus, oh, I dunno... Pitchfork's No. 1 track of 2006, anyone? Spears' one-trick breathiness doesn't give Danja as much to work with as Justin Timberlake's Michael Jackson falsetto, though, so the Timbaland protégé puts oohing backing vocals over the track's basic club stomp and fizzy electro synths. Spears' repeated promises to give us "more" (we all know of what) are echoed by a pitch-shifted voice you might expect from an M.I.A. track. Which is cool. But we aren't that innocent, anymore, are we?

A song about either dancing or (imagine this) having sex in public, "Gimme More" will go down a storm at strip clubs, just like any Pussycat Dolls tune, and you'll probably hear it plenty, too-- it's hard to deny the fun novelty of a fresh Spears track. As the Pussycat comparison suggests, though, Britney doesn't have much personality left to give at this point-- no longer a girl, she's long since become a woman we know way too much about-- so this ends up as almost a commercial for Danja. "You're gonna have to remove me, 'cause I ain't goin' nowhere," he intones. Britney might be trying to say the same, but just wait until this track loses that new-Britney smell. At least it's way better than the shit that leaked earlier this month.

Stream:> Britney Spears: "Gimme More"
[from a forthcoming album; due 11/13/07 on Jive]