Jump to content

Break the Ice (song)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Rishko (talk | contribs) at 16:56, 14 March 2008. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

"Break the Ice"
Song

"Break the Ice" is a song written by Nate "Danja" Hills, Marcella "Ms. Lago" Araica, Keri Hilson and James Washington, and recorded by American singer Britney Spears. It was produced by Danja for Spears' fifth studio album Blackout (2007).

The track was released as the third single from the album in the first quarter of 2008. Its accompanying music video features an animated Spears.

Background

Spears collaborated with Hills, Araica, Hilson and Washington for "Break the Ice", who were behind her comeback single "Gimme More" (2007). The production team worked on the track when Spears was pregnant to her second child.[1] They arranged the vocals in Spears' house at Beverly Hills, California, three weeks before she gave birth,[1] and was recorded at the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was mixed by Araica in Chalice Recording Studios in Los Angeles. A demo of the song leaked as "Been a While" onto the internet, but it later appeared as "Break the Ice" on Blackout's final tracklisting.[2]

Composition

Template:Sound sample box align left Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end Template:Sample box end

"Break the Ice" is an uptempo-oriented electro track[3][1] that runs for three minutes and five seconds. It is constructed in the common verse-chorus form. The spoken intro contains a dual meaning. She whispers "It's been a while. I know I shouldn't have kept you waiting. But I'm here now," which serves as an apology for being gone so long in the music industry, as well as away from her love interest in the song.[1] The song speaks about a girl and a boy, with the former saying: "You're a little cold. Let me warm things up and break the ice."[1] Spears' breathy vocals are layered when she sings "Hot Hot Hot - ahh" in the choruses and sound similar to that of her 2001 single "I'm a Slave 4 U." She sings of the intensity of "breaking the ice", lyrically stating "You've got my heart beating like an 808". Midway through the song, she halts, "I like this part...", mimicking Janet Jackson's style.[1] The heavy drum line drops and the song finalizes in a repeated chorus, with ad-libs included by Spears.

Reception

"Break the Ice" received positive responses from the critics. Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times described it as a "rave-inspired flirtation."[4] All Music Guide's Stephen Thomas Erlewine referred to the song as a "stuttering electro-clip."[3] Darryl Sterdan noted in Canadian-based website Jamcanoe.ca: "...[Spears] brought a choir and one of Madonna's old synth-pop leftovers with her."[5] Spears mouthing of "I like this part" was described by Tom Ewing of Pitchfork Media as sounding "like spacehoppers bouncing is slow motion round in a padded cell".[6]

Music video

File:Break the ice1.JPG
Britney's animated self in the video.

Directed by Robert Hales, the music video for "Break the Ice" is Spears' first animated music video. It features an animated superheroine who fights with her enemies. The video ends with the words "to be continued". The music video premiered on March 13, 2008 on the website BlackoutBall.com.[7]

Chart performance

"Break the Ice" charted on the Billboard Pop 100 at seventy-five and on the Billboard Hot Digital Songs at number seventy-two, prior to the single's physical release. The single debuted at one hundred on the Hot 100 on March 15; and climbed to ninety-five on the following week.[8][9]

When the song entered the Top 40 Tracks, it became Spears' nineteenth single to do so, making her the only female singer with that many top forty hits in a decade. [10]

In Sweden, the song's first chart appeareance outside of North America, it debuted at number eleven.

Formats and track listings

Promo CD

  1. "Break the Ice" (Main) – 3:16
  2. "Break the Ice" (Instrumental) – 3:08

Charts

Chart (2008) Peak
position
Swedish Top 60 Singles 11[11]
Canadian Hot 100 46[11]
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 95[11]
U.S. Billboard Pop 100 46[9]

Personnel and credits

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Vineyard, Jennifer (October 12, 2007). "Britney Spears' New Album, Blackout: A Track-By-Track Report". MTV Canada. CTV Globe Media. Retrieved 2008-01-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Friedman, Roger ((October 11, 2007)). "Britney Spears' 'Blackout' Hits Internet". FOX News Network, LLC. Retrieved 2008-01-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Album review: Blackout". All Music Guide. Macrovision Corporation. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
  4. ^ Sanneh, Kelefa (October 29, 2007). "'Miss Bad Media Karma' Sings, Too". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2008-01-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Sterdan, Darryl. "BLACKOUT Britney's back with a thud". Jam Canoe. Canoe Inc. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
  6. ^ Ewing, Tom (November 20, 2007). "Britney in the Black Lodge (Damn Fine Album)". Pitchfork Media. Pitchfork Media Inc. Retrieved 2008-01-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Daniel Kreps, "Britney Spears’ “Break The Ice” Video To Premiere Today, Fandemonium Ensues", Rolling Stone, March 12, 2008. Retrieved on March 13, 2008.
  8. ^ Editors from All Music Guide. "Britney Spears: Billboard Singles". All Music Guide. Macrovision Corporation. Retrieved 2008-01-20. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help); Unknown parameter |SPEARS&sql= ignored (help)
  9. ^ a b Billboard Magazine. "Britney Spears: Billboard Chart". Billboard. Billboard Magazine. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  10. ^ Editors from Hits Daily Double. "Breaking The Ice". Hits Daily Double. Hits Daily Double. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help); Unknown parameter |acessdate= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ a b c "Britney Spears - Break The Ice worldwide chart positions and trajectories". aCharts.us. Retrieved March 6 2008.

External links


Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Break_the_Ice_(song)&oldid=198224309"