Hey hey! Britney Spears has released a lyric video for her fourth single, “Criminal,” and while I’d rather watch the music video (obviously) I’ll take what I can get. The only REAL ballad on Femme Fatale, “Criminal” was written by Tiffany Amber (Allison Iraheta, Britney Spears) and written/produced by Max Martin (Robyn, Kelly Clarkson) and Shellback (P!nk, Adam Lambert). “Criminal” follows three top ten singles (“Hold It Against Me” – #1, “Till The World Ends” – #3, “I Wanna Go” – #7), all taken from her Billboard 200 #1 album Femme Fatale, released this past March. To date the song has peaked at #28 on Billboard‘s US Pop Songs chart, after having been officially released to mainstream pop radio on October 11th.
The forthcoming music video for “Criminal” was filmed in London and directed by Chris Marrs Piliero (Ke$ha‘s “Blow“; Britney Spears‘ “I Wanna Go“; Ashley Tisdale‘s “Be Good To Me“). Spears filmed the video in “merry old England” while there for her European tour. “Criminal” was apparently the first music video Spears has ever shot outside of the States. Despite it not even being released yet, the video already has a bit of controversy brewing around it. The concept of the video has Spears’ and real life boyfriend, Jason Trawick, going on a Bonnie and Clyde-style crime spree all across London, which garnered criticism from the Hackney London Borough Council, who criticised Spears for “promoting gun violence.” Under normal circumstances I highly doubt anyone would have batted an eye lash, but given the severity of the recent 2011 riots that plagued London (this area in particular) filming a video of this nature was just bad timing on Spears’ part. Britney’s camp dismissed the controversy, claiming that the song was written long before the riots ever took place. “Criminal” will premiere on VEVO October 20th.
The single was chosen after it won a poll on Spears’ official Facebook page where she asked fans to vote. Like most Britney Spears “ballads,” “Criminal” took a little time to sink in before I really started loving it. Then, with the release of the radio edit I was completely sold. The guitar-driven mid tempo track is definitely different than anything Spears has released as a single before. I particularly love that distinctive flute-sound heard throughout the song. That sound is very reminiscent of the Native American flute popularized by new age groups like Enigma, Enya and others. Check out the lyric video for Spears’ new single below and download it on iTunes HERE. You can also snag the single version of the song on Britney’s new remix compilation, B In The Mix: The Remixes Volume 2, available HERE on iTunes.