The Guardian: Britney Spears and Elton John: Hold Me Closer review – a star is reborn

[kgid]

3 hours ago, Spicechinodiva said:

We had way more Britney in the early mix. There's no Britney spears, Just Elton featuring back up literally

 

He's exploiting her, when he's done

 

She's gonna get the same treatment that's classic him.

 

Madonna and Janet Jackson knows all too well 

 

 

 

Despite everything she said about the song, the producer said, and Elton said... Okay.

[Pop Leprosy]

Britney Spears and Elton John: Hold Me Closer review – a star is reborn | Britney Spears | The Guardian

WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM

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Spears’ first recording since 2016 is a reworking of two pop classics but filled with a power and poignancy of its own

On paper, yet another svelte, disco-tinged reworking of an Elton John classic is nothing to get too excited about. Last year the Dua Lipa-assisted Cold Heart fused Rocket Man, Sacrifice, Kiss the Bride and Where’s the Shoorah? Here, it’s Tiny Dancer mixed with The One and a dash of Don’t Go Breaking My Heart. Still, Hold Me Closer skips along nicely, a chunky bassline gliding through the song like a train of sequin-clad revellers at a 70s roller-disco. There are even some jazzy piano flourishes at the end for the Bösendorfer fetishists.

But this is no ordinary streaming-friendly curio from a legend looking to fluff their back catalogue. Marking the return of Britney Spears on her first recording since the termination of her almost 14-year conservatorship last year, it comes tinged with something close to bittersweet; an example of what could have been if Spears’ megawatt pop-superstar shine hadn’t been dimmed all those years ago.

For diehard Spears fans, or indeed anyone with a passing knowledge of one of the most distinctive pop vocalists of all time, hearing her sing again feels like a real moment (her last album was 2016’s Glory). As John’s heavily filtered vocals emerge from the fog, Spears unfurls a classic “ooh baby”, each crystal-clear syllable given the full quivering treatment. Throughout the song, her lively vocal trills and ad libs recall her full-bodied musical performances on Instagram, a place of refuge where she has been attempting to reclaim her public image and undo learned behaviours from years of control. On Hold Me Closer she seems keen to remind people she was a singer first: before pop fame, before controversy, before near-annihilation.

Sensibly, she’s pushed to the fore in the mix, her engaged delivery coating the ghostly shimmers of John’s original vocals. It doesn’t seem accidental that she sings the line “drunken nights in dark hotels” solo in the second verse, the sadness in her voice quickly shaken off by another “baby”, the two lines’ close proximity nodding to both shiny past glories and their blackout consequences. She even throws in a few playful “yeahs”, ad libs that feel like actual yelps of joy rather than the robotic manoeuvres of someone being shuttled from studio to waiting car.

Both The One, which makes up the verses, and Tiny Dancer evoke a sense of having found someone, or something, with the power to transform a life. A totem to hold on to and believe in. On Hold Me Closer, Spears seems to hint at finding that for herself again in music. Even if this is a one-off – and who can blame her if she doesn’t want to return to pop full-time – that feels like enough.

 

[Dave92]

Another one reviewing the far superior demo. The critics love the ad-libs and this one even pointed out the solo line on the second verse. Such a shame.

[Markoct]

Now have them listen to the new version 

[I Can Bang]

Not me trying to figure out what was the "censored" word before I realized that it's 4 stars 

[Markoct]

2 minutes ago, Exhaolic said:

Not me trying to figure out what was the "censored" word before I realized that it's 4 stars 

[Pop Leprosy]

4 minutes ago, Markoct said:

Now have them listen to the new version 

I listened to both and I think the demo is good but not properly mixed. The final version is great.

[Pop Leprosy]

14 minutes ago, Dave92 said:

Another one reviewing the far superior demo. The critics love the ad-libs and this one even pointed out the solo line on the second verse. Such a shame.

she says yeah in the finished version too. 

[Z-dawg]

3 hours ago, kgid said:

Despite everything she said about the song, the producer said, and Elton said... Okay.

IKR. Some people just never happy 🤷🏻‍♂️
 

Juat enjoy the song! Stream the shot outta it 🌹🚀🎧 

[Markoct]

2 minutes ago, Pop Leprosy said:

I listened to both and I think the demo is good but not properly mixed. The final version is great.

Good luck booking a job at Gaurdian as a music critic 

[ChaoticShowdown]

I forgot my account details it's been awhile but....  I just listened to that song and I think the praise is coming from people who don't really like Britney and  don't think she can sing cos?

She can sing her damn heart out when she wants to and I've listened to her obsessively for 18 years..... Did I listen to the same song as the guardian?  Where is she in that song? I can't make out her voice apart from a bit where she says baby? I can barely hear Elton apart from like a line a minute and a half in? 

 

Am I listening to a remix ? No it's the official song. 

While typing this the leaked version came on and I can actually hear her and it's better ..... but... Wtf is the official version? She's not even in it. Wtf. 

 

 

[Pop Leprosy]

8 minutes ago, Markoct said:

Good luck booking a job at Gaurdian as a music critic 

You need to stream Hold Me Closer, every time the B-Army fights each other K-Fed's album gets a new listener

[Markoct]

3 minutes ago, Pop Leprosy said:

You need to stream Hold Me Closer, every time the B-Army fights each other K-Fed's album gets a new listener

And who started it with scolding me 

[Pop Leprosy]

Just now, Markoct said:

And who started it with scolding me 

sometimes you just gotta walk away before the devil plays you out with Popozao

[Markoct]

2 minutes ago, Pop Leprosy said:

sometimes you just gotta walk away before the devil plays you out with Popozao

No idea what that means 

[Pop Leprosy]

1 minute ago, Markoct said:

No idea whay that means 

 

[Markoct]

Just now, Pop Leprosy said:

 

Oh, a Kfed fan, shocking 

[Pop Leprosy]

Just now, Markoct said:

Oh, a Kfed fan, shocking 

Girl what is this pre-Exhale Degrassi high level shade you throwing. Please go listen to the demo then and continue to not support Britney and waste your time arguing with yourself in my thread

[Markoct]

Just now, Pop Leprosy said:

Girl what is this pre-Exhale Degrassi high level shade you throwing. Please go listen to the demo then and continue to not support Britney and waste your time arguing with yourself in my thread

Self awareness! Read it again and perhaps stop? 

[Dave92]

47 minutes ago, Pop Leprosy said:

As John’s heavily filtered vocals emerge from the fog, Spears unfurls a classic “ooh baby”,

 

48 minutes ago, Pop Leprosy said:

It doesn’t seem accidental that she sings the line “drunken nights in dark hotels” solo in the second verse,

 

 

28 minutes ago, Pop Leprosy said:

she says yeah in the finished version too. 

He’s referring to the demo…