14 DAY TRIAL // The wait is over: the first single off Christina Aguilera’s comeback album, the much-hyped and once-delayed “Bionic,” has officially arrived. “Not Myself Tonight” is a club anthem with ‘80s synthesizers and some vocal acrobatics from Christina that marks her return to her wild side – and is certain to become a hit, says MTV in a review of the track.
When she first started promoting the album, Christina said most of it had been inspired by her son Max and the way motherhood had changed her and her outlook on life. At the same time, though, the star stressed that she also wanted the material to be fun and experimental, which translated into a slew of collaborators and bringing to the table a sound that is different from anything she’s been done before. “Not Myself Tonight” is a good first step into that direction.
“‘Tonight’ is a whirring, whooshing thing, full of blaring synthesizers and spare snares speeding along over a pounding, four-on-the-floor beat. It’s more of a classic house cut than anything else, the kind of track you’d expect to hear rattling the speakers at the massive, multi-level clubs of Europe. And on the song, Aguilera sounds like she’s already on the dance floor. ‘Tonight, I’m feeling a little bit out of control,’ she sings over curling electronic tendrils. ‘I’m dancing a lot/ Taking shots and I’m feeling fine/ Kissing all the boys and girls/ Someone call the doctor, ‘cause I lost my mind’,” MTV says of the new release.
“‘Tonight, I’m not the same girl/ I’m not myself tonight,’ she belts over the soaring chorus. ‘In the morning, when I wake up, I’ll go back to the girl I used to be/ But baby, not tonight.’ Toward the end of the song – which was produced by Polow Da Don and written by Ester Dean – Aguilera even gets to show off her patented vocal pyrotechnics, making several powerful vocal runs. And there’s a sweaty, pulsing breakdown in which she pants and purrs (‘Yeah, that feels good, I needed that’) before the song fades out under the clatter of drums,” MTV further writes in the same review.
“Not Myself Tonight” will also be released on radio on April 5, with fans being able to purchase it on iTunes a bit later, on April 13. The album “Bionic” arrives in music stores on June 8. Until then, check out the first single below and see whether you’ll be buying it when it comes or not.