The soft commercial performance of 2013's
Britney Jean
made it clear that it was time for
Britney Spears
to shake up her recording career -- a move made somewhat less urgent due to the success of Britney: Piece of Me, the residency show she launched at Las Vegas' Planet Hollywood a few months after the release of
. Sin City's influence can be heard within the splashiness of the arrangements of certain portions of
Glory
, the 2016 album designed to be
Britney
's return to the Top 40. To that end,
downplays the show biz glitz of Vegas in favor of modern dance-pop, one with EDM undercurrents and hip-hop overtones. Sometimes echoes of other stars can be heard --
Justin Bieber
's
Purpose
appears to a primary text -- but despite this contemporary gloss, the album usually relies on sounds of
Spears
' past, trading heavily on the cloistered dance of
Blackout
and the shimmering neon of
Femme Fatale
.
is much lighter than either album, a reflection of
's maturation -- the softer nocturnal numbers make a play for
Ellie Goulding
territory, but they could slide onto adult contemporary -- and her willingness to be goofy. Some of the highlights are the silliest songs: the swinging "Clumsy," the overheated flamenco chorus of "Do You Wanna Come Over?," and "Private Show" and "Slumber Party," a pair of heavy-breathing come-ons that never manage to seem sexy despite the flood of innuendo. Such moments accentuate
's playfulness, an aspect of her persona that's been in hibernation for nearly a decade, and it's a welcome return, as is
as a whole: it feels as fun and frivolous as her earliest music while retaining the freshness of her best mature work. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine