Christina Aguilera admits that her last album, 2010's Bionic, didn't connect
with her fans. "It had a lot of amazing sounds and a futuristic twist to it,"
she says. "But if you weren't a music person, it was just going to go over your
head. A lot of the collaborations were with people that were either very
underground or weren't necessarily from the pop world. I really think it was far
ahead of its time and it'll be fully appreciated in the years to come."
On her follow-up, Lotus – her first LP since getting a divorce and
becoming a judge on The Voice – Aguilera goes for a sleeker mainstream pop
sound, working with producers like Max Martin, Lucas Secon and Shellback. "I
don't really push myself to have those formulaic commercial successes," Aguilera
says. "It's dishonest and it starts lacking creativity. I embraced being a pop
artist, but I like doing it on my own terms, at my own pace."
Aguilera
sees Lotus (in stores on November 9th) as a companion piece of sorts to her 2002
album, Stripped. "It really takes me back to that time," she says. "I was
shedding a skin in a sense. I had been pigeonholed as formula-pop driven, or
molded or forced to be something I didn't feel was true to me. I was labeled
from 'Genie in a Bottle,' and I had a lot of things to say and share as a
21-year-old woman. Now I've come full circle a decade later. I had a greatest
hits album and I experienced a decade in this crazy business. It's a time of
celebration, of embracing being a pop star."
The songs span a range of
emotions, from the pain of loss through a spiritual rebirth to a celebration of
life. "It's a very multi-layered, very heartfelt record," she says. "I wanted to
share all the different sides of me, as a woman, and as a creator and an artist.
Part of that is being a mom. Part of that is sexuality. Part of that is
vulnerability. Part of that is aggression and angst. All those pieces make me
who I am."
On the piano ballad "Blank
Page," Aguilera vents her pain and regret. "Lord knows I've been no saint," she
sings. "Regret choices I made . . . I was scared, unprepared for the things you
said/I'm a blank page waiting for life to start." The club-ready "Army of Me"
shows off her defiant side: "What you thought was your best decision became your
worst mistake," she sings defiantly on the track. "That song is a 'Fighter
2.0,"" Aguilera says. "I want it to inspire a whole new generation. I have
six-year-old fans that weren't even around for 'Genie in a Bottle' or even
'Fighter.'"
Lotus marks Aguilera's first time working with
Swedish pop-radio wizard Max Martin. "I'm not sure we would have been able to
create the same music had we connected earlier," she says. "He did all the
Britney and N'Sync songs, and I was doing something a little more daring. But
we've gained respect for each other."
The most shocking moment on Lotus is the bonus track
"Shut Up," a furious screed against haters in which Aguilera repeatedly chants
"If you don't like it you can suck my dick." "That's for my fans to blast in
their cars," she says. "I know a lot of them get heated and pissed off whenever
they hear some bull**** rumor or bull**** story, and it's a great venting song
for anyone that is having a bad day or not liking their boss. It's playful and
tongue in cheek."
Christina has been pulling double duty recently
with her work on The Voice and her new album, and she's looking forward to
temporarily handing off her rotating chair to Shakira for Season Four next
spring. "They were going to do back-to-back seasons," she says. "I knew I had to
get back in touch with myself as an artist. I really put myself on the back
burner doing that show. I also worried that my advice would start to get stale
and redundant. I have to go away for a second and live life. Being on The Voice
has been amazing, but I need to see my friends and go on the road again."
Aguilera called off a planned 2010 tour in support of Bionic, but she
hopes she will tour behind this album. "We are thinking about that," she says. "
But with my schedule everything is complicated – and it's a whole different
ballgame now that I have a son. So, again, we'll do that on my own terms and
within due time."
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/christina-aguilera-says-lotus-lp-will-be-multi-layered-heartfelt-20121019
Oh Christina...
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