Clumsy (Britney Spears song)
"Clumsy" | |
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Promotional single by Britney Spears | |
from the album Glory | |
Released | August 11, 2016 |
Studio |
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Genre | |
Length | 3:03 |
Label | |
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) |
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Audio video | |
"Clumsy" on YouTube |
"Clumsy" is a song recorded by American singer
Musically, "Clumsy" portrays a "synth-laden" electro song which incorporates doo-wop hand claps, stomping drums, finger snaps, soulful vocal riffs and an electronic drop in its instrumentation. Spears also alludes to her 2000 single "Oops!... I Did It Again" during the track's breakdowns. The lyrical themes of the recording delve on sex and how the singer and her suitor are clumsy during intimate moments. Writers from AllMusic, The Boston Globe, musicOMH and Rolling Stone considered the track a highlight of Glory while the latter listed it as one of the best songs of 2016. Commercially, "Clumsy" charted at number 142 in France, where it remained for two weeks on the SNEP chart. Spears included "Clumsy" on the set list of her Piece of Me Tour (2018).[2]
Background and release
Even though
In late 2016, while promoting her ninth studio album
Composition
'Clumsy' is really cool, this was done in the middle of the process of the record and I wanted something really funky and this track came out of really nowhere and we brought it home. We got guys in the studio and we clapped and dosey-do and made it really bluesy and funky and did everything really old school and real.
"Clumsy" was written by Talay Riley, Warren "Oak" Felder and Alex Niceforo, with production being handled by the latter two; Mischke Butler served as a vocal producer. Spears, Riley, Felder, Zaire Koalo, Trevor Brown and Butler provided crowd vocals on the track, which were recorded at 158 Studios, Westlake Village, California, and at House of Blues Studio, Encino, California.[15] Musically, "Clumsy" portrays a "synth-laden"[16] electro track,[17] with a "folksy verse stomp"[18] and a "futuristic club beat."[16] It additionally incorporates "stomping drums and finger snaps" in its instrumentation, as well as doo-wop "hand-claps and soulful vocal riffs as it builds to an explosive electronic drop."[12] In an interview with radio show The Cooper Lawrence Show, the singer confirmed that she and her team "literally went into the booth together and did all the claps [...] all the sound effects are real, they're from us, our feet and everything, it's all real, so we all did it together, it's like very old-school."[19] Joey Nolfi, writing for Entertainment Weekly, saw "Clumsy" as being " sonically in-line with songs heard on 2011's Femme Fatale and 2013's Britney Jean."[12] The Guardian's Alex Macpherson opined that "its rapacious giddiness shares something of the same spirit as Ariana Grande's 'Greedy'."[20]
Lyrically, the recording finds Spears "[fumbling] through the early throes of love."
Critical reception
Rob Sheffield of
Neil McCormick of
"Clumsy" was ranked at number 34 on Rolling Stone’s "50 Best Songs of 2016" list by Rob Sheffield, who said that "[the song was a] should-been-a-hit highlight from [Spears's] comeback album". He went on to say that "no singer [had] ever brought that much resonance to the word "oops"" referring to the song's lyrics and considered Britney a "TRL princess turned Vegas queen [who was revisiting] the high-energy disco-ball hysteria of her youth".[35]
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Glory.[15]
- Recording
- Vocals recorded at 158 Studios, Encino, California
- Mixed at Larrabee Studios, North Hollywood, California
- Personnel
- Britney Spears – songwriter, lead vocals, crowd vocals
- Talay Riley – songwriter, crowd vocals
- Warren "Oak" Felder – songwriter, producer, crowd vocals
- Alex Niceforo – songwriter, producer
- Mischke Butler – vocal producer, crowd vocals
- Benjamin Rice – additional vocal recording
- Trevor Brown – crowd vocals
- Zaire Koalo – crowd vocals
- Benjamin Rice – vocal recording
- Benny Faccone – recording assistant
- Erik Belz – recording assistant
- Jaycen Joshua – mixing
- Maddox Chhim – mixing assistant
- Dave Nakaji – mixing assistant
Charts
Chart (2016) | Peak position |
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France ( SNEP)[36]
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142 |
South Korea Foreign (Circle)[37] | 91 |
References
- Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
A TRL princess turned Vegas queen revisits the high-energy disco-ball hysteria of her youth...
- ^ Rincón, Alessandra (July 13, 2018). "Britney Spears Kicks Off Piece of Me Tour: See the Best Moments". Billboard. United States. Archived from the original on July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
- ^ Pareles, Jon (August 24, 2016). "In 'Glory,' Britney Spears Promises Pleasure, but Offers Nothing Personal". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 1, 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
- ^ a b McIntyre, Hugh (November 27, 2015). "Britney Spears' Vegas Residency Was A Game Changer". Forbes. Archived from the original on September 21, 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
- Idolator. Archivedfrom the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
- Extra. September 9, 2014. Archivedfrom the original on October 17, 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
- ^ a b Hampp, Andrew (March 12, 2015). "Britney Spears: I'm 'Slowly But Surely' Working On a New Album (Exclusive)". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 20, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
- ^ Robinson, Will (July 25, 2016). "Britney Spears 'explored some new things' on upcoming album". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 14, 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
- ^ Inocencio, Marc (August 5, 2016). "Interview: Britney Spears Says 'Glory' Album Is 'Different,' Will Have Some Hip-Hop". On Air with Ryan Seacrest. Archived from the original on August 8, 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
- ^ Idolator. Archivedfrom the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
- Radio.com. August 8, 2016. Archived from the originalon September 12, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e Nolfi, Joey (August 10, 2016). "Britney Spears drops intense electro banger 'Clumsy'". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on August 12, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
- ^ Overdeep, Meghan (August 11, 2016). "Britney Spears Drops New Song "Clumsy"". InStyle. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
- ^ "Britney Spears - New Album 'Glory' Track By Track (Radio Sirius XM)". Sirius XM. YouTube. Archived from the original on September 18, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
- ^ a b Glory (Media notes). Britney Spears. RCA Records. 2016.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ a b c d e Blistein, Jon (August 11, 2016). "Hear Britney Spears' Bubbly, Synth-Saturated Song 'Clumsy'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 12, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
- ^ a b Sheffield, Rob (August 26, 2016). "Review: Britney Spears' 'Glory' Is Another Fantastic Comeback". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 27, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
- ^ a b c Unterberger, Andrew (August 11, 2016). "Britney Spears Finds the Sexy Side of Physical Ineptitude on 'Clumsy' Single". Spin. Archived from the original on October 26, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
- ^ "Britney Spears Exclusive! | WBLI". The Cooper Lawrence Show. September 1, 2016. Archived from the original on September 16, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
- ^ a b Macpherson, Alex (August 26, 2016). "Britney Spears: Glory – track-by-track review of a triumphant return". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 10, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
- ^ Holz, Adam R. "Glory Album Review (2016) | Plugged In". Plugged In. Archived from the original on October 8, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
- ^ a b Geffen, Sasha (August 11, 2016). "Britney Spears's 'Clumsy' Reminds Us Of One Of Her Classic Singles". MTV. Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
- ^ a b Rhiannon, Alexis (August 11, 2016). "Britney Spears' "Clumsy" Lyrics Own Her Sexuality Even More Explicitly Than Ever Before & It's So Empowering — Listen". Bustle. Archived from the original on September 20, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
- ^ Billboard Staff (August 10, 2016). "Britney Spears' 'Clumsy' Has Dropped: Listen". Billboard. Archived from the original on September 15, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
- All Media Network. Archivedfrom the original on October 17, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
- ^ Duboff, Josh (August 11, 2016). "Britney Spears Delivers a Song for Your Next Night Out with "Clumsy"". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on September 16, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
- ^ Corner, Lewis (August 11, 2016). "Britney Spears releases new banger 'Clumsy' and it'll have you on the dance floor instantly". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on September 15, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
- Boston Globe. Archivedfrom the original on August 26, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
- ^ McCormick, Neil (August 26, 2016). "Glory might just be Britney Spears's masterpiece – review". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on August 26, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
- ^ Hawkins, Si (September 5, 2016). "Album review: Britney Spears reminds us of former glories in new album". The National. Archived from the original on September 8, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
- ^ Murphy, John (August 31, 2016). "Britney Spears – Glory - Album Reviews". musicOMH. Archived from the original on September 16, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
- ^ Riggs, Jonathan (August 26, 2016). "Britney Spears' 'Glory': Album Review". Idolator. Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
- ^ Cinquemani, Sal (August 22, 2016). "Britney Spears: Glory | Album Review | Slant Magazine". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on August 25, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
- ^ Feeney, Nolan (August 26, 2016). "Britney Spears' Glory: EW Review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 23, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
- ^ "50 Best Songs of 2016". Rolling Stone. November 30, 2016. Archived from the original on December 1, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
- Les classement single. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
- ^ "Circle Chart". circlechart.kr. August 14, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2024.