The world of popstardom may well be dead, with former Queen of TRL Britney Spears passing her much battered crown on to a new generation of post-post-modern single schillers, like the much lauded Lady Gaga. As Christina points out on “You Lost Me”; ‘this is tragic’.
But for every Britney, there was a Christina Aguilera. And while Britney may be rapidly adapting her business plan to match Gaga’s, Christina is going to do things the vintage way. In many ways, Bionic may be more of a throwback than Back 2 Basics ever was (well, to 2001 atleast).
Bionic is a landmark release - the kind that is increasingly rare these days. And it can boast that even rarer of beasts, an actual budget (as you may have noticed if you’ve seen any of the flashy marketing). Eschewing a world of Twittering and ‘buzz tracks’, Bionic is about as ‘traditional’ a big pop release as you’re likely to see this year, or in any coming years.
Bionic marks the return of Christina Aguilera, an artist who emerged from the teen pop world crafted around Britney to release one of the greatest albums of the 00’s in Stripped. Following it up with the slightly bloated and confused Back to Basics before taking some time to have a baby and film a movie (‘Burlesque’, due later this year), Bionic is Aguilera’s first go at the charts since the resurgance of electronic dance music. Many reviewers have accused Christina of choosing to emulate the work of ‘flavour-of-the-month’ Gaga while trying to find her place in this new world (let us not forget the less-than-stellar "Keeps Gettin' Better"), but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
In fact, there is little (if any) Gaga influence here. Christina’s answer to the dominance of electronic music has been to turn toward the former statesmen of electro; the avant-garde electropop acts who sell underground 7 inches like a MAC rep in Christina's dressing room, but have failed to garner household name status. There’s Le Tigre, M.I.A., Ladytron and Sia to name a few. Sounds great, right? Eh, 'it’s complicated'…
There is a problem with Bionic, and ironically it's that the album plays by the old rules – one LP to suit all, to cover all bases and earn Christina her ‘electronic pop album’ badge. Because there was a time when Bionic would have been considered a brilliant release; it boasts a mix of styles, influential producers and songwriters and Christina tackles every track effortlessly. But in 2010 when artists are turning to shorter release schedules, more concise albums and EPs, and shoving everything and anything out via iTunes, Bionic is a convoluted mess. At the very least, it's a brilliant EP lost inside a turd of an album.
Bionic consists, for the most part, of three separate projects. First up is the left-wing electronica that Christina has been boasting about since the album’s inception. And with good reason, the contributions from major ‘names’ make up the best the album has to offer. Opening track “Bionic”, produced by Switch - famous for his work with hipster M.I.A - is a swirl of electronic synths. “Elastic Love”, also produced by Switch but gaining a writing credit from M.I.A herself hears Christina doing her best impression of the Sri Lankan born artist; it may not be entirely successful but she gets points for trying.
Typically, the Ladytron collaboration,“Birds of Prey” – an atmospheric mid-tempo that offers the mainstream sophistication of Madonna’s Ray Of Light – is undeservedly relegated to the bonus disc available as part of deluxe packages. If anything should have been the jump-off point for this LP, then it should have been this. If you thought that the Christina/IAMWHOAMI comparisons were naïve, then this track may prove you wrong.
The real triumph of the album, however, is a song written in collaboration with Apple iPod advert artist of choice, Sia, entitled “You Lost Me”. Atmospheric and heart-breaking, this may be Christina’s vest vocal performance to date as she manages to reign in the fog-horn without losing any of the power.
The second third of this album is dominated by the in-your-face beats of Polow Da Pon who has previously worked with the likes of Fergie and Beyonce. Trashy and lacking in melody, it was Polow’s “Not Myself Tonight” that was chosen to launch the album. Why, we do not know. If there’s one thing Christina has proved herself to be shit at, it’s delivering obviously commercial ‘club bangers’. It’s basically a load of noise with Christina yelling over the top. “Woohoo” is vaguely redeemed by a guest-spot from Nicki Minaj, but it feels about as natural as Xtina’s complexion.
There is also a song called “Vanity” in which Christina lets us know that she’s not “caaahcky”, she just loves herself, bitch! Then she hums a few bars from “Here Comes The Bride”. You cannot make this shit up. But make sure you hang on for the end of the song when Xtina asks, “who owns the thrown?” only for her poor son to respond “you do mommy”. I’m not sure little Max Aguilera is going to look back and be thrilled that his first foray into stardom was featuring on a song in which his mother talks about how she makes herself ‘wet’. Poor boy.
Last up there’s the standard Christina fare. A Linda Perry ballad? Check. A horrible R&B slowjam? Check. Numerous spoken interludes that make me want to kill myself? “It’s all about the glaaahmooouur!” Check. She’s been doing it since Stripped, I guess it’s not going to stop anytime soon.With a retro-funk sound and added 70's disco laser bleeps, Monday Morning could well be a hangover from Shakira's She Wolf, which would be no bad thing because that was a bloody brilliant album. Christina's delivery is uncharacteristically restrained giving this track a wonderful laid-back, retro-futurism feel. A shame, no doubt, that it was relegated to little more than a bonus track.
Heartbreaking and haunting, this sparse song is a mixture of twinkling piano and big Hollywood strings written in partnership with Sia. Christina's vocal is so full of sorrow and soul that it may, in fact, be her best performance to date. A Christina classic to rival "Beautiful".
Thumping synths and minor keys, "Birds Of Prey" is a collaboration with Ladytron that summarises everything Bionic could have been. Tragically demoted to little more than a bonus track, a million miles away from the frankly vulgar and unlistenable "Vanity".
Simpler but more effective than it's main album counterpart, this stripped back bonus track gives Christina the scope to deliver that is sadly lacking on Bionic. And the twinly effects are very pleasant.
Buy Christina Aguilera's "Bionic":