Britney Spears. Her name alone brings up countless images; whether of shaved heads, dancing in promiscuous school girl outfits, Kevin Federline, exposed female genitalia, or rehabilitation centers. Despite the havoc and turmoil paparazzi wreaked on her life for nearly four years, Spears brought her life back together, the release of Circus, a 2008 success being the epitome of that recovery.

Three years later, after the hits, the misses, and the fumbles, Britney is back to rock 2011 with her new single, “Hold It Against Me”. When I first heard that Spears would be debuting her single in January of this year I could barely contain my excitement. My personal expectations were heightened further when I learned that the single had been written and produced by Dr. Luke (Lukasz Gottwald) and Max Martin. Two collaborators whose work with previous artists, and earlier work with Britney, had great success and marketability. According to several sources the single was to be a smash hit, with amazing beats and a killer bass.

So to my surprise, on Monday, January 10, I was utterly disappointed in the pop princess’s new single. It isn’t necessarily a bad song, but in contrast with countless other successes, it’s a flop. The lyrics are meaningless, as are those to numerous other Britney songs, but here they have new found irritability when combined with the beat of the song. Frankly, the lyrics are just silly, their soft, teasing sensuality is more something reserved for earlier albums like Britney, but since In The Zone, her fourth studio album and first album before major scandals in 2003, Spears has been entirely up-front with her sexuality, and to hide it in some neat little package like this song is sad.

The beat of the song is not the infectious one that she promised to fans from her Twitter page, and as a single it is as pathetic as the leaked demo. Despite my critique of the single, it isn’t a bad song, but from the pop princess who brought teen pop to the forefront of a generation, I would expect much more. Hopefully the album in March will make up for the disappointment that is this debut single.