Protect your ears — a Britney Spears song, before the addition of her trademark autotuning, has been unleashed online.
Spears’ raw and flat vocals seem to indicate precisely why she relies on miming at her concerts.
The diabolical performance is on Spears’ song “Alien,” the technologically enhanced version of which was actually a highlight of last year’s flop “Britney Jean” album.
Producer William Orbit defended the leaked version — he claimed it was recorded as Spears was “warming up” and that whoever posted it was being “unkind.”
Orbit’s impressive pop resumé includes Madonna’s “Ray of Light” album and All Saints’ “Pure Shores.”
“Warming up is essential if you’re a pro, as it is with a runner doing stretches, and it takes a while to do properly,” Orbit wrote on Facebook after being made aware of the leaked version of “Alien.”
“I’ve heard all manner of sounds emitted during warmups. The point is that it is not supposed to be shared with millions of listeners.
“A generous singer will put something down the mic to help the engineer get their systems warmed up and at the right level, maybe whilst having a cup of herb tea and checking through lyrics before the session really kicks off. It’s not expected to be a ‘take’.”
Clearly. As if by magic, in the finished version Spears nails all the notes she sings flatly in her painful warmup.
Orbit’s gentlemanly defense of Spears has been hailed by her fans, who have long acted as apologists for her robotic-sounding recorded voice and serial reliance on lip synching.
While originally “Alien” featured in her Vegas show, which seems to continue the professional singer’s not-so-live approach to live performance, it was dumped from the set in February when Spears forgot to hold the microphone to her mouth as the pre-recorded (and autotuned) vocals played.
The song has now been replaced by her single “Do Somethin’,” with her Vegas show booked until February next year.
Spears is no stranger to unkind commentary on her voice, often labeled the reason autotune was invented.