(Karlsson, Winnberg, Jonback, Livingston)
Album: Circus
Known mostly for her dance hits, for “Unusual You” Spears collaborated once again with her tried and true team of Bloodshy & Avant for some beautiful and ethereal escapism at the halfway point of the Circus album. Her layered vocals carry the pretty melody while lyrically depicting a woman who clearly knows trauma marveling that her most recent partner does not further contribute to her hurt. It’s vulnerable and unexpected, quickly becoming a fan favorite and charting at number 80 on the Billboard Pop 100 chart despite not being a single. It represents such a departure that it’s one of a few examples of the Circus album being a bit less cohesive than Blackout had been. Spears’s vocals a pretty on the track, though processed in a way meant to elicit a shimmer and can sound a bit staticky. I also go back and forth on whether the lyricists ever intended for the song to rhyme. Pairing words like “unusual” and “supposed to” takes slant rhyme to the extreme, even for a pop song. Nonetheless, in a discography overflowing with bangers, this is a beautiful and welcome change of pace.
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