But there are also fans who thought from the outset that this had the potential to be GREAT. All it needed was to be launched and marketed in the right way, maybe given some useful product placement.. er... background play in “Grey’s Anatomy” or "Gossip Girl" or in a hit movie? It was fresh, innovative, ear-grabbing, different. And - even if some existing fans were far from sure about it - seemed exactly the kind of track that would appeal to a different audience and recruit new fans for Britney.

But it hasn’t been launched and marketed in the right way. In fact, the way it's been handled could scarcely have been more inept. “Radar” first appeared as Track 3 on “Blackout” in 2007, but wasn’t selected as a single. Was there some kind of contractual obligation that everybody forgot about? Or was “Radar” an itch that hadn’t been fully scratched? Back in the “Toxic” day, Cathy Dennis reported that Britney regularly phoned her songwriters with ideas for songs - sometimes even in the middle of the night! So maybe this was one of her “babies”. The fact that she has been performing it on her “Circus” tour certainly suggests that it’s one of her favorites.

Whatever: to everyone’s amazement and, to be honest, dismay it reappeared as Track 13 (a bonus track in some territories) on the “Circus” album in 2008, thus giving it another shot at a single release. And so it came to pass. “Radar” was the fourth single from “Circus”. But by this time the regular fans had pretty much had enough of it, and even those who loved it accepted that it was old. Without a buying stampede from the main fanbase there was no chance of a massive success - but nonetheless, “Radar” has snuck into the charts in the US, it’s been “B-listed” on BBC Radio One in the UK (rare, since Britney tracks usually start on the C-list) and the video is doing unexpectedly well on VH1. It looks like being a modest success, but it could have been so much more.

“Radar” was co-written and co-producedby Bloodshy & Avant and The Clutch. Bass and guitar are played by serial B&S collaborator Henrik Jonback, with additional bass and guitar plus the usual keyboards and programming by Bloodshy and Avant. Back-up vocals are by Candice Nelson, although her contribution is limited to the second “know” as in “I don’t think you know (KNOW)...” and “I got you” at 2.24 and 2.36 and "Ooh" at 2.28. Britney sings all the rest of the vocals herself, as usual.

There are three main elements to the track. ONE - Britney’s unmistakeable vocals, both sung and spoken. TWO - the “glue” that holds it all together, namely the insistent harp-like guitar figure that expresses the dominant chord sequence. THREE - the unusual SOUND of the lyrics (more than their sense) with short, staccato phrases and all the internal rhymes that make them sound so intriguing. A few niggly critics have complained that Britney sings “Raider” instead of “Radar”, but it’s a marginal point at best and I’m not totally convinced - either that she does or that it would be better if she made an issue out of singing “RaDAR”.

Instrumentally, the track is constructed of three similar and overlapping note sequences: the harp-like guitar figure is echoed by the loud synth at the beginning, and by the bass guitar throughout. The opening synth gives way after 15 seconds to a subdued electronic fuzz overlaying Britney’s vocal, electronic bass thumps and bass guitar. At “I don’t think you know (know)” the synth fades away to be replaced by a hint of electric guitar and synth strings. The electronic fuzz returns for the next verse, and so on.

If you use good headphones and imagine the inside of your head as a soundstage, you will find that the opening synth figure is split between extreme left and right channels, while the harp-like guitar is at center. There are times when one may suspect that Bloodshy and Avant would prefer to record their tracks in mono if they could get away with it, because all the other instrumental tracks are at center or in a very narrow stereo spread. In the verse, Britney’s vocal is at center but in the chorus it’s dutifully split into a stereo pair at extreme left and right, with the spoken repeats at center. Candice Nelson’s backing vocal phrases are also at extreme left and right.

Although obviously a major part of the effect Bloodshy and Avant were aiming for, it has to be said that the electronic fuzz does Britney’s vocals no favors. Where it occurs, it masks and obscures them and makes them sound less human and natural than they really are. This may be the reason why some fans have the impression that her vocals aren’t as strong as usual on “Radar”. It’s a surprising impression, because her vocals dominate the track, and the instrumental tracks are actually quite subdued by comparison.

She begins rather gently in mid-register, under the fuzz alluded to above. But this is only for the few short lines of the verse. She soon moves into a much higher and more assertive gear at “I don’t think you know...” and continues strongly, in a high register, until the start of the next verse when the process is repeated. On headphones it’s also noticeable that the phrase “...that you’re on my, that you’re on my... ” at 2.03 brings a not-so-subtle increase in volume. So, for most of the song, her singing actually comes over as quite powerful.

But it wouldn’t be a Britney song if there wasn’t some degree of ambivalence. Compare “Anticipating” which seems superficially jolly but makes some listeners cry. Or “Unusual You”, the words of which are endlessly positive but the mood of which is poignant and dark. Is it something tragic in Britney’s soul that she can’t completely disguise? In “Radar” it’s most noticeable at the sing-song “Da da da da” finale at 3.22. This should obviously be lighthearted and merry, and plenty of listeners are satisfied that it is, but to some of us it crystallizes a strange undertone of melancholy that runs right through the song, like a doleful realisation that the guy may be on her radar, but she probably isn’t even a blip on his.

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