June 14, 2018
The most striking track on Christina Aguilera’s eighth album is called Fall in Line. On the surface, the collaboration with the similarly leather-lunged Demi Lovato looks like one of her trademark anthems of self-empowerment rebooted for the age of woke pop: Beautiful or The Voice Within given a #MeToo makeover, complete with an introduction that features a collage of little girls’ voices and a climax with Aguilera doing her nut in time-honoured, lung-busting, ad-lib-heavy style. But it’s more interesting than that.
Christina Aguilera: Liberation review – #MeToo makeover hits high and low notes
For one thing, the music is more engaging than the standard soaring piano ballad to which she’s previously set this sort of thing. The rhythm proceeds at a funereal pace, the Feeling Good-esque orchestration is underpinned by a gloomy electronic bass pulse, the parody of hip-hop misogyny – in slowed-down, screwed style – is so accurate that you could easily miss its satirical intent. For another, the lyrics avoid cliche and carry the authentic tang of hard-won experience. Aguilera and Lovato alike sing them like they mean them: “All the youth in the world,” warns one line, “will not save you from growing older.”
Dire presentiments about ageing are an odd thing to hear coming from someone still in her 30s, but in pop terms, Aguilera is quite the veteran. It’s six years since she last released an album and 12 since she last had a big hit, with millions of fans bailing out around 2010’s Bi-On-Ic, which found her duetting with Peaches and collaborating with Le Tigre and MIA. She’s hardly been out of the public eye. She’s acted in country soap opera Nashville, but the six years she spent as a coach on the US version of The Voice don’t sound as if they ended terribly well: “It’s good pay but it’s labouring,” she roars on a song called Sick of Sittin’, “I can’t live with these chains on me.”
There’s an argument that joining a reality TV talent show then complaining that it’s repetitious and limiting is not unlike taking a job in a garage and then complaining about people wanting to buy petrol from you, but nevertheless, the urge to escape the world of light entertainment has given Aguilera a fresh sense of purpose. Liberation’s first single, Accelerate, was a Kanye West production cut from the same peculiar, episodic cloth as his album The Life of Pablo. An intro featuring a jarring drum loop is suddenly replaced by a chaotic melange of synths and voices, among which Ty Dolla $ign distinguishes himself by sounding like a man about to die of emphysema.
Maria, West’s other contribution, is less weird and disjointed, although it does arrive preceded by a lengthy orchestral intro and Aguilera singing The Sound of Music’s How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? a capella. Maria itself is a return to the sound of Late Registration, sped-up soul samples weaving around an intricate harpsichord and string arrangement. It’s followed by Sick of Sittin’ – Aguilera’s complaints aside, it’s a fantastic Anderson.Paak collaboration that turns a sample of Swedish guitarist Janne Schaffer into sweaty funk-rock. Aguilera is perfectly equipped to handle this swing in musical direction. Modern R&B suits her voice, forcing her to reign in the histrionic excesses a little and, on Sick of Sittin’, revealing a gutsy blues wail.

If the whole album was like that, it would be an unqualified success. But it isn’t. After a potent start, Liberation tails off. Part of the problem is a lack of strong material. Dancehall MC Shenseea does her best on Right Moves, but the backing’s reggae infusion is pallid. Pipe is boilerplate Drake; the most interesting thing about Like I Do is how its hook echoes Maroon 5’s Moves Like Jagger, the biggest hit Aguilera’s been involved with in years. By the album’s conclusion, Aguilera has retreated to familiarity, belting out big MOR ballads. You listen to them and wonder about the album’s abandoned sessions with Pharrell Williams. Did they really produce nothing that might have constituted an improvement on Unless It’s With You, a song that sounds like the kind of thing that gets played as a first dance at a footballer’s wedding?
Liberation sounds like it suffered a crisis of confidence midway through, as if Aguilera was beset by doubts at her ability to pull off a whole album of modern R&B. A shame, not least because her boldness in reinventing herself was always one of her most impressive facets. Her most successful period saw her quickly shift from Disney-approved poppet to dressing like a porn star to dabbling kitschily in 30s and 40s jazz. This time, the reinvention feels half-finished: more frustration than liberation.
What Alexis listened to this week
No track sums up the psychedelic invention of Kid Cudi/Kanye West’s new album like Fire, a track that unexpectedly samples Napoleon XIV’s 1966 novelty hit They’re Coming to Take Me Away to startling effect.
Latest News
Top news around the world
Academy Awards

‘Oppenheimer’ Reigns at Oscars With Seven Wins, Including Best Picture and Director

Get the latest news about the 2024 Oscars, including nominations, winners, predictions and red carpet fashion at 96th Academy Awards

Around the World

Celebrity News

> Latest News in Media

Watch It
Millie Bobby Brown & Jake Bongiovi Celebrate “Three Years of Bliss” Ahead of Wedding
March 24, 2024
C4Ehegcq1-A
Kate Middleton & Prince William "Enormously Touched" by Public Support
March 24, 2024
s8fig-RCjFc
Gisele Bündchen Denies Cheating on Ex-Husband Tom Brady
March 23, 2024
_SpRMagA8BM
Eminem, 50 Cent & Snoop Dogg Present Dr. Dre with a Star on the Walk of Fame
March 19, 2024
4bNLs1hxVp8
Opening Remarks for the Variety Summit October 20th, 2023 Jay Penske
March 18, 2024
c6Z707iLq8E
'Everybody Was S----ing Their Pants': Nick Thune Jokes About Being Born in the '70s and Fatherhood
March 16, 2024
mm7Baf6o2d8
Gunna Says Tour Will Up Creativity in Rap, Endorses Flo Milli | TMZ
March 22, 2024
QfMU24fw-Qo
Reporter Taylor Lorenz Says Palace Botched Kate Cancer News Rollout | TMZ Live
March 22, 2024
o43ZucdiyEo
Riley Strain's Body Found After Going Missing in Nashville 2 Weeks Ago | TMZ NOW
March 22, 2024
1m1zM-4_Cs8
Kyle Richards hasn’t spoken to co-star Dorit Kemsley, denies sending her a ‘manipulative’ text
March 24, 2024
LqLZzDP1hm4
Jordan Emanuel on her connection to 'RHOSLC' star Meredith Marks, advice from Amanda Batula
March 24, 2024
5NPAwlOov1Y
Kate Middleton’s uncle Gary apologizes after slamming ‘fickle’ Meghan Markle in scathing interview
March 24, 2024
JWG9kitALZk
TV Schedule
Late Night Show
Watch the latest shows of U.S. top comedians

Sports

Latest sport results, news, videos, interviews and comments
Latest Events
20
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
SK Brann W - Barcelona W
20
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Hacken W - PSG W
19
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
SL Benfica W - Lyon W
19
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Playoffs - Women
Ajax W - Chelsea W
17
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Atletico Madrid - Barcelona
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester United - Liverpool
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Inter Milan - Napoli
17
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Brighton - Manchester City
17
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Borussia Dortmund - Eintracht Frankfurt
17
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Chelsea - Leicester City
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Roma - Sassuolo
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Verona - AC Milan
17
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Genoa
16
Mar
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Darmstadt - Bayern Munich
16
Mar
ENGLAND: FA Cup
Manchester City - Newcastle United
16
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Fulham - Tottenham Hotspur
16
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Osasuna - Real Madrid
13
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Atletico Madrid - Inter Milan
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Barcelona - Napoli
12
Mar
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: 1/8 Final
Arsenal - Porto
11
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Chelsea - Newcastle United
10
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Liverpool - Manchester City
10
Mar
SPAIN: La Liga
Real Madrid - Celta Vigo
10
Mar
ENGLAND: Premier League
Aston Villa - Tottenham Hotspur
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Juventus - Atalanta
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
Fiorentina - Roma
10
Mar
ITALY: Serie A
AC Milan - Empoli
Find us on Instagram
at @feedimo to stay up to date with the latest.
Featured Video You Might Like
zWJ3MxW_HWA L1eLanNeZKg i1XRgbyUtOo -g9Qziqbif8 0vmRhiLHE2U JFCZUoa6MYE UfN5PCF5EUo 2PV55f3-UAg W3y9zuI_F64 -7qCxIccihU pQ9gcOoH9R8 g5MRDEXRk4k
Copyright © 2020 Feedimo. All Rights Reserved.