Femme Fatale is the seventh studio album by American singer Britney Spears. It was released on March 25, 2011, by Jive Records, and was her last album with the label before they dissolved in October of the same year, and she was moved to RCA Records. Musically, Spears wanted to make a "fresh-sounding" and "fierce dance album", thus incorporating dance-pop, electropop, EDM and synth-pop styles with elements of dubstep, techno and electro in its sound. Spears began working on the album during the second leg of her tour The Circus Starring Britney Spears (2009), while also contributing to her second greatest hits album The Singles Collection (2009). Spears collaborated with various producers including Max Martin, Dr. Luke, Fraser T. Smith, Rodney Jerkins, Bloodshy, will.i.am, Stargate, and Travis Barker.
Upon its release, the album received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who complimented its production and dance-pop style. The album debuted atop the charts in Australia, Canada, Mexico, Russia, South Korea and the United States, and peaked inside the top ten in 24 countries. It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and as of February 2014, has sold 2.4 million copies worldwide.
Femme Fatale became Spears's most successful era on the US singles charts, being her first album to score three top ten singles on the US Billboard Hot 100, with "Hold It Against Me", "Till the World Ends" and "I Wanna Go" peaking at numbers one, three and seven, respectively. The fourth and final single, "Criminal", peaked at number one in Brazil and within the top 20 in five countries. A resurgence in popularity for "Criminal" occurred when it went viral on TikTok in 2020, becoming one of her most streamed songs and fourth most liked music video on YouTube.
To promote the album, Spears gave various television performances and embarked on her eighth concert tour, the Femme Fatale Tour.
Background and development
On July 12, 2009, Spears confirmed through her Twitter account that she had begun recording new material, stating she was going into the studio with Swedish songwriter and producer Max Martin, while she was in Stockholm during the European leg of The Circus Starring Britney Spears. The recording sessions resulted in several album cuts as well as the song "3", which would be released as a single from Spears's second greatest hits album The Singles Collection (2009).
In June 2010, during an interview with Rap-Up, Danja commented that he was working with Spears in the pre-production of Femme Fatale. Darkchild, who was also reportedly working with her, said during a Ustream session in August 2010, "Britney fans are gonna be so happy in a few weeks", hinting about the release of new music. However, this was denied by Spears's manager Adam Leber, who stated, "No new music news right now....Wish people wouldn't mislead you guys with info. Not cool! PS- The guys that ARE working on Brit's next album ARE NOT talking about it..." Leber later spoke with Entertainment Weekly, calling the sound of the record "progressive" and "a departure from what you've heard." In November 2010, Dr. Luke announced that he would be the executive producer of the album, along with Max Martin. Spears explained in an interview with Rolling Stone that she had worked with Luke during the production of Blackout (2007), stating that he was "incredible" during that time and that his skills have improved. She also said that Martin was with her since the beginning of her career and that there is "nobody [she] feel[s] more comfortable collaborating with in the studio". On December 2, 2010, the day of her 29th birthday, Spears thanked her fans for the birthday wishes and announced, "I'm almost done with my new album and it will be coming out this March."
Recording and production In July 2009, Spears had begun recording new material with longtime collaborator Max Martin. Spears stated her desire to make the album "fresh-sounding [...] for the clubs or something that you play in your car when you're going out at night that gets you excited, but I wanted it to sound different from everything else out right now." Spears also stated that she wanted to make sure Femme Fatale was completely different from her previous studio album Circus (2008). After "Hold It Against Me" was written, originally, Luke and Martin wanted to give the track to Katy Perry, but they later decided that it wasn't the right fit for her. They continued to work on the song with Billboard, and Luke commented that before giving the song to Spears he wanted to make sure it sounded different from his previous recordings. Darkchild stated that while working with him, Spears was very "hands-on" and "had a lot of ideas for [him]." He later commented he had produced two songs for the album, with one of them featuring Travis Barker. Darkchild added that the song "[has] this rock feel which is out of the box, out of my norm, and I think it's out of her norm as well." Executive producer Dr. Luke stated that "[I feel like] Britney kind of has her own genre: If you look at songs like "Toxic" and "Piece of Me" and "Oops!... I Did It Again", they all were sort of influential and led the way [...] She wanted to keep on with that and do stuff that was 'forward-thinking', So we put some dubstep stuff in there, in bridges; snuck it in different places."
Dr. Luke revealed in February 2011 that a final track listing had not yet been chosen. Later that month, Spears worked with will.i.am. Spears later commented that she is a fan of the Black Eyed Peas, and would love to work with will.i.am again the future. She also said that she discovered Sabi through a friend recommendation, and had always wanted to feature a new artist in one of her albums, hence they recorded "(Drop Dead) Beautiful". British producer Fraser T Smith worked with Spears on three tracks and complimented her work ethic, saying that her voice was powerful and that she focused on the music. William Orbit confirmed he had co-written a track for Spears with Klas Åhlund, but it was left off the final track listing. Orbit stated that he was displeased with the decision, and commented, "[T]he Britney thing. Look, I went to a writing camp at Teresa's. Had lovely time. Word got out. Assumptions were made. Dr Luke is exec[utive] prod[ucer] and he locks in locks out whoever he likes. And (do [I] hear [you] ask) where B's at in all this? I surely don't know. [D]id a song [with] Klas Ahlund, who wrote 'Piece of Me'. And is killa. But not on [Femme Fatale] apparently. But a good song is a good song regardless."
Music and lyrics Music writers noted electropop, dance-pop, EDM, and synth-pop styles on Femme Fatale. Music journalist Jody Rosen wrote of the album, "Conceptually it's straightforward: a party record packed with sex and sadness". The album was compared to Spears's previous albums, In the Zone (2003), Blackout (2007) and Circus (2008). Although Spears was criticized for her lack of involvement from the album's production and writing, she wrote the song "Scary", produced by Fraser T Smith, which was included on the Japanese deluxe edition of the album. The album opens with "Till the World Ends", co-written by Kesha, was described as an uptempo dance-pop and electropop song, with an electro beat and elements of techno and Eurodance. The song opens with sirens and a "sizzling" bassline. Critics complimented the song's "anthemic nature" and "chant-like chorus". The second track and lead single "Hold It Against Me" is a dance-pop song which features industrial beats, a dubstep-influenced breakdown and employing elements of grime and a final chorus with elements of rave. The lyrics portray the singer seducing someone on the dancefloor, while the chorus revolves around pick-up lines, with Spears singing: "If I said I want your body now, would you hold it against me?" "Hold It Against Me" and Spears were complimented by Rick Florino of Artistdirect for "stepping into new territory and pushing the boundaries of dance-pop once more." The third track "Inside Out" is an electropop song. It features themes of dubstep and R&B, complemented with "earth-shattering synths". The song was praised for its intricate production and has been compared to her earlier work on albums In the Zone and Circus, and also to Janet Jackson and Madonna's album Ray of Light (1998) and song Music (2000). Spears crescendos: "Baby shut your mouth and turn me inside out" during the chorus section, and then goes on to "Hit me one more time it's so amazing" and "You're the only one who's ever drove me crazy", referencing her songs "...Baby One More Time" and "(You Drive Me) Crazy". "I Wanna Go", the fourth track, is a dance-pop and Hi-NRG song, that includes elements of techno and a heavy bassline. The song contains a whistled melody. In the chorus, she stutters: "I-I-I wanna go-o-o / All the wa-a-ay / Taking out my freak tonight". The "builds and breaks" were compared to her album Blackout.
"How I Roll" is the fifth track, produced by Bloodshy, Henrik Jonback and Magnus, where Spears "pirouettes from a gulping in-and-out breath effect", and was described as a "bubbly, playful pop song". Spears's voice is heavily altered, with her voice being put through many distorters, filters, and blenders. The song uses constant rushed handclaps, with elements which were compared to Janet Jackson's "Strawberry Bounce". The sixth and seventh tracks "(Drop Dead) Beautiful" and "Seal It With a Kiss" were commented as "fillers" by Christopher Kostakis of Samesame.com.au. However, Keith Caulfield of Billboard states that "with giggly lyrical couplings like 'your body looks so sick, I think I caught the flu' and 'you must be B.I.G. because you got me hypnotized' -- '[Drop Dead] Beautiful' doesn't take itself too seriously." "Big Fat Bass" is Femme Fatales eighth track, and it was said that it "sticks to dancefloor essentials". The song was further noted as being catchy, but repetitive by Idolator. "Trouble for Me", the ninth song on the album, features a pre-chorus filled with "melting, wheezing synths" likened to a "Wiley grime wobble," segueing into a "Janet Jackson vocal." Spears's voice had been Auto-Tuned, but her voice was described as "raw" and the tones and wines as "sexy" and "one of a kind". "Criminal", the last track on the album's standard edition, is a guitar-driven midtempo song, which incorporates a folk-style flute melody. Erin Thompson of the Seattle Weekly said the song "takes a breather from aggressive, wall-to-wall synths, driven instead by a steady guitar rhythm and an oddly Asian folky-sounding flute melody." In the verses, Spears sings about being in love with a bad boy and outlaw, in lyrics such as "He is a hustler / He's no good at all / He is a loser, he's a bum, bum, bum, bum" and "He is a bad boy with a tainted heart / And even I know this ain't smart". During the chorus, she pleads to her mother not to worry in lines such as "But mama I'm in love with a criminal" and "Mama please don't cry / I will be alright."