‘Voice’ judge packs pop punch on new album
It’s hard to forget Christina Aguilera’s 2010 electronic music flop, “Bionic”. The album sounded peer pressured as Aguilera was transformed into a platinum robo-pop kitten, her Olympic powerhouse vocals smothered in a barrage of synths and special effects. This, along with her movie musical disaster “Burlesque,” put Aguilera in total career crisis.
Like a puppy with a tail between its legs, the pop songstress went into hiding and found image rebirth as a musical judge on the hit show “The Voice.” This mainstream rejuvenation has led to XTina’s musical comeback, “Lotus,” which hits stores Tuesday. And it’s good — very good.
“Lotus” is a pleasant mix between showing Aguilera’s exceptional voice while still producing danceable, Top 40 hits. Aguilera reaffirms her position as a trailblazer of dance-pop in “Lotus” and it is the best she has sounded since 2006’s “Back to Basics.”
The album’s lead single, “Your Body,” produced by Britney Spears’ hit-maker Max Martin, is a slinky, sexy confection that uses techno trickery to play with Aguilera’s aesthetic. “All I want to do is love your body,” Aguilera croons in her vibrating bravado as listeners glide on a neon kite. The song is a reinvention of Aguilera’s 2002 “Dirrty” — and listeners won’t want to get clean.
The idea of reinvention is very prevalent in “Lotus.” “Army of Me,” which sounds like a remnant of “Fighter,” is a stomping, fist-pump track that is begging to be played on the radio. Aguilera urges her listeners to get “wiser” as the song increases in intensity before breaking into a thumping, throbbing romp.
Aguilera also gives a nod to her fellow judges on “The Voice” throughout the album. While Aguilera worked with Maroon 5’s Adam Levine on “Moves Like Jagger,” she also collaborates with rapper Cee Lo Green and country singer Blake Shelton on her record. Green makes an appearance on “Make the World Move,” a detour from the album’s strict dance-pop sound which incorporates elements of funk and hip-hop. Green chants “make the world move” before the song bursts into a monster chorus that will stick firmly in listeners’ heads. Shelton’s song, “Just a Fool,” closes “Lotus” and is a lovely mixture of country and pop.
Martin makes a production comeback for perhaps the strongest track on “Lotus,” the epic “Let There Be Love.” Although it sounds similar to Madonna’s “Girl Gone Wild,” the song is the sonic climax of “Lotus.” Aguilera becomes the queen of love and disco in this fantastic nightclub masterpiece. The pop singer simply exclaims, “let there be love,” and listeners are instantly raptured into a grimy, glittery chorus that is too sweet for disc jockeys to ignore. While heavy on froth, the track also manages to let Christina’s voice take center stage. It rivals some of Katy Perry and Rihanna’s most recent chart-toppers.
It seems that Miss Christina has come full circle with “Lotus.” She’s gone from ‘90s pop tart to dirty provocateur to bluesy goddess and now she appears to have achieved equilibrium. Pop is the outer shell of “Lotus,” but inside is true sound and feeling, what Christina has been missing in her music. All we have to say is welcome back.