Britney Spears has released her first new music since being released from a conservatorship that controlled almost every aspect of her life.
Hold Me Closer, a duet with Sir Elton John, hit streaming sites on Friday, marking Spears’ return to music after a six-year hiatus.
“It’s pretty damn cool that I’m singing with one of the most classic men of our time,” she said ahead of the release.
“I’m kinda overwhelmed… it’s a big deal to me!”
The song incorporates three of Sir Elton’s classic hits – Tiny Dancer, The One and Don’t Go Breaking My Heart – over a summer-fresh club beat.
Spears and Sir Elton sing in unison throughout the song, with their voices drenched in echo, making it hard to assess how Spears’ voice has changed since we last heard from her.
However, she lets loose with a few ad libs, including a trademark “baby” midway through the track, which suggests her voice has matured and deepened over the last six years. (An unsubstantiated fan theory holds that this is Britney’s natural range and that her former managers forced her to sing in a “fake baby voice.”)
Sonically, Hold Me Closer is cut from the same cloth as Cold Heart, the Dua Lipa duet that gave Sir Elton John a global number one hit last year. That formula proved irresistible to multiple radio formats and streaming playlists and helped introduce Sir Elton’s hits to a younger generation.
Unsurprisingly, he’s trying to recreate the magic on this follow-up, which also melds two eras of pop, with the two stars singing nostalgic melodies over an airbrushed disco groove.
In an interview with The Guardian, Sir Elton said it had been his husband, David Furnish, who suggested putting Spears on the track.
“She sang fantastically,” said the star. “Everyone was saying they don’t think she can sing anymore. But I said she was brilliant when she started, so I think she can. And she did it, and I was so thrilled with what she did.”
Earlier this week, Sir Elton previewed the song to diners at a French beach restaurant, singing along as a DJ played the track.
“I am thrilled to have had the chance to work with Britney Spears,” the star said.
“She is an icon, one of the all-time great pop stars, and she sounds amazing on this record. I love her dearly and am delighted with what we’ve created together.” Last November, Spears was freed from the controversial conservatorship that controlled almost every aspect of her life for 13 years.
It meant the star could once again take control of her finances, career and personal life and would no longer have to pay a team of professionals and lawyers to oversee her affairs.
Although fans have been clamouring for her to return to music, the star has been reluctant to take that step.