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

Producer: Britney's New Album Is "Real Aggressive"

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

The Britney Spears Comeback Express is operating at full speed and thus far hasn't had any bumps along the way, according to Rodney "Darkchild" Jenkins.

After a seven-year break, the producer is collaborating with the Britster again on her next album and is determined to "reinvent" the pop star with some edgy new sounds.

"I'm just trying some new things. I've always worked with Britney," he tells Rap-Up TV. "I love working with her. I'm just trying to reinvent her and reinvent myself with her project."

The two only started working four weeks ago, but have already laid down a few tracks and samples, described to be "very dance-y, very uptempo, in the clubs, real aggressive, and catchy...very, very hook-friendly."

Rodney was most impressed with the 26-year-old's professionalism and efficiency.

"It usually takes people a long time to record songs and we just did a song. She walked in at 8:30 and was out by 10:30 -- did the whole song -- in and out," he says.

The album is due to hit shelves in 2009, and with things continuing to look up for the singer, Rodney thinks it's definitely going to be the Year of Britney once more.

"I was very happy to see that she was working on the positive side and she's moving toward new things now," he says. "I think it's about to be her time again."

Source: Ok Magazine