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Originally written October 27, 2005.
To a lot of Britney fans, “Where Are You Now” is a kind of Holy Grail – it’s not only their favorite Britney ballad, it’s the only song in her adult career where she delivers a power vocal. I remember my boyfriend telling me that when he first heard it (on the PA system in the local bank!) he thought a different singer took over in mid-song! And it has another unique feature – it’s the only Britney song that has an acoustic guitar solo break in the middle.
“Where Are You Now” is a beautiful song, and one of which the writers, Max Martin and Andreas Carlsson, should be proud. It has a perfectly constructed, symmetrical, tuneful melody and rather lovely words:
Calling out your name
Your face is everywhere
I'm reaching out to you
To find that you're not there
I wake up every night
To see the state I'm in
It's like an endless fight
I never seem to win
Can't go on as long as I believe
Can't let go when I keep wondering
[CHORUS:]
Where are you now, what have you found
Where is your heart, when I'm not around
Where are you now, you gotta let me know
Oh baby, so I can let you go
I can hear your voice
The ring of yesterday
It seems so close to me
But yet so far away
I should let it out
To save what's left of me
And close the doors of doubt
Revive my dignity
But, I can't go on as long as I believe
Can't let go when I keep wondering
[Repeat CHORUS]
I should let it out, it's time to let you go
Oh baby, I just want to know
[Repeat CHORUS]
It’s a classic, old-fashioned love song, and, in truth, very uncharacteristic for ultra-modern Britney. Perhaps that’s why it receives such a modest place on the OIDIA album and doesn’t get much of a credits listing. Apart from the writing credits, all we know is that it was produced by Max Martin and Rami at Cheiron Studios. Esbjorn Ohrwall played real live guitar, and we are left to assume that everything else was programmed by Max and Rami. The backing vocals were by Britney and Jeanette Soderholm.
While Britney was trotting round the state fairs and talent shows prior to getting her recording contract, she sang songs mostly in the style of other singers like Cher, Faith Hill and Madonna and along the way seemed almost to lose her own voice. Her early months at Jive saw her attempt to construct her own style, and she succeeded magnificently – her voice is now one of the most recognisable and unusual in all of pop history.
But she has never lost the habit of pondering just how each song that comes into her hands should be approached. In a whispery voice or with the patent croaky mannerisms? In a high or low register? In a little-girl style, a sexy one, a fun one or an assertive one? And note the odd way she sometimes highlights certain words, like the famous “me” in “Overprotected” and “baby” here. Britney is very far from being a natural singer who just opens her mouth and lets it out. Every one of her recordings is a unique performance and interpretation of a song.
What’s so unusual about “Where Are You Now” is that it’s the vocal that comes closest to what would happen if Britney just walked into a studio and sang a song with the minimum of rehearsal. And I would guess from the low-rent production that this is pretty much what happened. The way she sings the first “wondering” definitely sounds like an early take. It’s fairly obvious that she wasn’t especially proud of it, since she has never sung this way on a recording since. In fact she has spent the last 3 or 4 years patiently removing what she saw as childish and immature sounds and adding layer upon layer of refinement and delicacy to a carefully crafted, incredibly detailed and even less spontaneous technique.
The song opens with Britney singing solo against a series of deep synthesized bass drum beats, but then the Esbjorn Ohrwall’s mostly-acoustic guitar enters softly and stays throughout the song, playing little solo sequences in counterpoint. The bass track is minimal to non-existent and the percussion track amounts to nothing more than some synthesized finger-clicks. At 1.40 some synth enters, sounding like a particularly cheap string effect and there’s a very synthesized sounding choir as well. The backing vocals begin humbly at 2.00 but in the chorus sound magnificently choral: however, they also sound exclusively like Jeanette – another indicator that Britney herself didn’t spend long on this song.
Britney sings the song almost completely straight, with hardly any of her trademark sounds. After the guitar-solo middle-eight, we get her first vocal climax, then at 3.15 she begins some serious belting - but I think I can see why she didn’t repeat the experiment. She never quite manages to open her voice up, and the top notes sound rather constricted and, indeed, immature.
As a lover of Britney’s voice I think we should be careful what we wish for. I like this song, and I’m impressed by her power on it, but I don’t think I would want to swap her straightforward and rather guileless singing here for the wonderfully intelligent, varied and musically astute work of her latter years.
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