Exclusive: Britney Spears' Producer Dr. Luke Reveals 'Femme Fatale' Details

The following italicized article is from www.rollingstone.com:

Britney Spears announced today that her new album, due March 15, is titled Femme Fatale – but the superstar singer and her Los Angeles producers are still choosing songs and determining the final direction of the overall sound. "It's not done," Dr. Luke, co-producing the album with longtime Britney collaborator Max Martin and Montreal dance-pop songwriter Billboard, tells Rolling Stone. "We're in the middle of it right now. It's a little bit fluid right now. I can't even say at this stage what songs for sure are making it and what songs aren't. We're working with a lot of producers and overseeing it with her A&R and record label and management and trying to make something cohesive."

The album, of course, will contain "Hold It Against Me," co-written by Dr. Luke, Martin and Bonnie McKee, the hot songwriter who penned Katy Perry's "California Gurls" and Taio Cruz' "Dynamite." Spears' new single made its debut on the pop charts in mid-January at Number One, before dropping to Number Six last week.

Originally, Dr. Luke and Martin, the Swedish songwriter behind some of Spears' biggest hits, including "…Baby One More Time," planned to give the song to Katy Perry. "We might have played it for her, but it definitely wasn't a Katy Perry record," Dr. Luke says by phone from Conway Recording Studio in Los Angeles. "We had it for a while. I wanted to make sure it didn't sound like everything else I've done. I brought it into Billboard, and he just killed it. It can be hard in the verse, and the bridge is super, super hard, but the chorus is super-pop. You can play that chorus acoustically on a guitar and it's still going to sound great."

Top 40 radio stations continue to spin "Hold It Against Me" in regular rotation. "It feels like a really obvious, easy-to-listen-to first single," says John Ivey, program director for KIIS in LA, which played the song once an hour the first day it came out. "You hear all those little parts that are so Britney – 'here's the video-breakdown-dance part of the song.' That's what my listeners love about her."

Although her 2008 album Circus sold fewer than 2 million copies, not a huge number given Spears' history of blockbuster sales, retailers have high hopes for the March release. "[Circus] ended up doing well, but we were a little cautious about it — a little tense comeback issues were going to be relevant," says Mark Hudson, music buyer for Trans World Entertainment, who predicts the new album could sell 500,000 copies in its first week. "But this time around, her stock is higher."

Dr. Luke also noted that he and Martin, the executive producers, plan on working on several songs directly in addition to "Hold It Against Me." He also confirmed Bloodshy (who co-produced Spears' classic "Toxic") and Benny Blanco (who worked on Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" and Perry's "California Gurls") were among several big names who would make production appearances.

So far, Spears has dropped by the LA studio two or three times to lay down her vocals. "Britney's really fast," Dr. Luke says. "She gets it done."

Source: Rolling Stone

They better hurry up because if this album gets delayed there's gonna be a lot of mentally insane Britney fans...

Britney: New, 'More Urban' Album Due In '09

The following italicized article is from www.billboard.com:

Britney Spears says her next Jive album will be out in between six and nine months and that "I think it is more urban," she says in an interview with OK! Magazine. "I'm writing every day, right here at the piano in this living room. This is my best work ever."

Last month, Jive said Spears was working "with a team of top-notch producers and songwriters" that it did not name, but JR Rotem, Sean Garrett, Guy Sigsworth, Danja and Bloodshy & Avant have all independently revealed that they're contributing to the as-yet-untitled project.

The new album will be the follow-up to last year's "Blackout," which has sold 887,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

"Blackout" was largely overshadowed by Spears' tabloid-fodder personal life and her disastrous performance of the single "Gimme More" during the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas.

As reported yesterday, Spears may wind up appearing at the upcoming VMAs and is already appearing in promo ads for the event next month.

Source: Billboard

Britney Spears is back in the studio

The following italicized article is from www.latimes.com:

Rebounding from what seemed like an endless spiral of personal crises and public meltdowns, tabloid queen Britney Spears is back in the studio and at work on a "brand-new album," according to a joint statement released by the pop icon's manager, Larry Rudolph, and her label, Jive Records.

"Britney Spears is spending her summer in the recording studio," the statement, released Tuesday, says. "She's working with a team of top-notch producers and songwriters. And we're very excited about what she's achieved so far."

No release date for her sixth studio album has been set, and none of her collaborators is named in the statement. But producers JR Rotem, Sean Garrett, Guy Sigsworth, Nate "Danja" Hills, Bloodshy & Avantand Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins have independently revealed that they are contributing to the project.

"Stuff we did so far is really dance-y, really up-tempo," Jerkins told Rap-Up TV last month.

"Real aggressive and catchy. Very, very, very hook-friendly."

With the intention of resurrecting her career, the multi-platinum-selling mother of two released "Blackout" last fall, which opened at No. 2 on the national album chart and was ranked among Rolling Stone magazine's Top 50 albums of 2007. Recorded during the time Spears, 26, was pregnant with her second son, Jayden James, and separating from Kevin Federline, the CD featured collaborations with producer-performers including Pharrell Williams and T-Pain.

But "Blackout's" commercial reception was ultimately overshadowed by Spears' erratic behavior that year, which included shaving her head in a Sherman Oaks beauty salon, attacking a paparazzo's car with an umbrella, checking into and out of rehab, blowing off custody hearings and turning in a disastrous performance of the album's lead single, "Gimme More," at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards.

Further presaging Spears' return to center stage, the "pop wreck" has kept busy by making appearances in others' videos. Last month, she appeared at a shoot for the bump-and-grind pop quintet the Pussycat Dolls' single "When I Grow Up." And earlier this month, Madonna's spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg confirmed that Spears was set to film a "short movie" that would be part of the Material Girl's Sweet and Sticky tour, kicking off in Berlin next month.

Source: Los Angeles Times

Confirmed Producers Of Britney’s New Album

Bloodshy & Avant (”Toxic”, “Piece Of Me”, “Do Somethin’”)
Sean Garrett (”Toy Soldier”)
JR Rotem (”Everybody”)
Guy Sigworth (”Everytime”, “Someday (I Will Understand)”, “Over To You”)
Danja (”Gimme More,” “Break The Ice”, “Get Back”, “Perfect Lover”, “Outta This World”)
Jim Beanz (”Gimme More,” “Break The Ice”)
Dallas Austin
Fredwreck
Rodney 'Darkchild' Jerkins (”Overprotected Darkchild Remix”)

Source: Break The Ice

Confirmed: Britney Working On Sixth Album

After spending countless hours in the recording studio over the last few weeks, Swedish producer Bloodshy, of Bloodshy and Avant, has confirmed via MySpace that Britney is in the process of recording her sixth studio album.

Britney has been spotted at a studio in Burbank numerous times, including visits in the past week. She has been accompanied by her former (?) manager Larry Rudolph every time.

Britney also dined out with her long time billionaire friend, George Maloof, last night. George is the owner of the Palms hotel in Las Vegas, where Britney performed a comeback set in 2003.

Check out the confirmation message by Bloodshy here. What do you think about this? Are you ready for a new album? Sad about the premature death of Blackout? Leave a comment to let us know what you think!

Source: Britney Spy