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Break the Ice (song)

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"Break the Ice"
Song
B-side"Everybody"

"Break the Ice" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her fifth studio album, Blackout. It was produced and co-written by Nate "Danja" Hills and recorded while Spears was pregnant with her second child. The song was chosen as a single in a poll on Spears's label website and released on March 28, 2008 by Jive Records as the third and final single of the album. Musically, "Break the Ice" is an electropop song with elements of R&B. Its lyrics deal with an attraction between two people. The song received generally positive reviews from contemporary critics.

"Break the Ice" was a moderate success, reaching the top ten in Belgium, Canada, Finland and Sweden and charting within the top forty in Australia, New Zealand and many European countries. In the United States, it peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs. The anime music video was directed by Robert Hales, and was based on the superheroine character of Spears's "Toxic" music video. "Break the Ice" was used as a video interlude during her sixth concert tour, The Circus Starring Britney Spears.[1]

Background

"Break the Ice" was written by Nate "Danja" Hills, Marcella "Ms. Lago" Araica, Keri Hilson, James Washington and produced by Danja. The song was recorded and mixed by Ms. Lago at Studio at the Palms, Las Vegas, Nevada and Chalice Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California. Vocal production and background vocals were done by Jim Beanz.[2] The song, along with "Perfect Lover", was recorded at Spears' house with Hilson. She claimed to be impressed with Spears' work ethic, because at the moment Spears was pregnant with her second child, Jayden James.[3] "Break the Ice" was chosen as a single by a poll on Spears' official Jive Records website. On February 11, 2008, it was announced that the song had won, receiving a 39% of the total votes.[4]

Composition

"Break the Ice"
The chorus of "Break the Ice", in which Spears sings over a heavy electronic background.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"Break the Ice" is an electropop song, performed in a moderate pop groove and has elements of R&B.[5][6] The song is composed in the key of F minor and is set in time signature of common time with a tempo of 120 beats per minute.[5] According to Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly, "Break the Ice" sounds similar to Nelly Furtado's "Say It Right" (2006).[7] It opens with Spears singing the lines "It's been a while / I know I shouldn't keep you waiting / But I'm here now", which serve as an apology for being gone so long from the music industry as well as away from her love interest in the song.[3] After the second line, Spears sings over a choir. According to Chuck Arnold of People, Spears delivers her "trademark breathy vocals".[8] In the first verse, synthesizers kick in and run until the end of the second chrous.[9] After it, Spears stops the song and sings "I like this part / It feels kind of good", mimicking Janet Jackson in "Nasty" (1986).[3] The music changes, as described by Tom Ewing of Pitchfork, to "[something that] sounds like spacehoppers [are] bouncing in slow motion round a padded cell".[10] The song is constructed in the common verse-chorus form. Lyrically, the song is about two people, in which one of them asks the other to get to know each other and break the ice.[3]

Reception

Critical response

Kelefe Sanneh of The New York Times said the song was "nearly as good" as previous singles "Gimme More" and "Piece of Me", and described it as a "rave-inspired flirtation".[11] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic referred to the song as a "stuttering electro-clip".[12] Nick Levine of Digital Spy called it "a booming slice of multi-layered electro R&B" and that along with "Radar", "are as avant-garde as pop gets in 2007".[6] A reviewer from Popjustice said "[it] is a really brilliant track".[13]

Chart performance

In the United States, "Break the Ice" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number one hundred on the issue dated March 15, 2008.[14] It peaked at number thirty-four on May 24, 2008. Two weeks later, it peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs, becoming the third consecutive single from the album to reach the top position of the chart.[15] In Canada, the song entered the Canadian Hot 100 at number ninety-seven on March 1, 2008.[16] On April 26, 2008, it reached its peak position of number nine.[15]

On May 5, 2008, the track debuted at number forty-one on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart.[17] It peaked at number twenty-three on the issue dated May 19, 2008.[18] In New Zealand, the single debuted at number thirty-seven on April 7, 2008.[19] It peaked at number twenty-four three weeks later.[20] "Break the Ice" entered the UK Singles Chart at number thirty-six on March 31, 2008.[21] On April 20, 2008, it peaked at number fifteen.[22] The song also had moderate success through Europe, reaching the top ten in Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia) and Finland, and the top twenty in Denmark and Sweden.[20] In Denmark, it was certified gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for sales over 15,000 copies.[23]

Music video

Anime of the upper bust of a young blond woman. She is wearing a body suit and gloves. Her hair is long and seems to be moving to the left.
The anime version of Spears in the music video.

The music video for "Break the Ice" was made in an anime style in South Korea and was directed by Robert Hales. The concept was reportedly Spears's idea, who asked Jive Records to come up with an animated music video based on the superheroine character of the "Toxic" music video.[24] It premiered on March 12, 2008 at BlackoutBall.com, a website created exclusively for the premiere, in which fans could access a chat room.[25]

The video begins with Spears wearing a short black bodysuit and knee-high black boots, standing in the roofs of a futuristic city. As the first verse begins, she breaks into a research facility and battles with suited henchmen. Spears ends up gaining access to a highly secured laboratory and walks through aisles of clones held in liquid cocoons. She sees that one is a clone of her, kisses her and plants a bomb on the tank. Next, there is a wide shot of the building exploding, while Spears is jumping and "Victory" is depicted on the side of the structure. The video ends with the phrase "To be continued...".[26]

Track listings

Credits and personnel

Charts, certifications and proccession

Chart procession and succession

Preceded by Billboard Dance Club Play number-one single
May 31-June 6, 2008 		Succeeded by

References

  1. ^ Shriver, Jerry (2009-03-04). "Britney in concert: The Circus is finally back in town". USA Today. Gannett Company, Inc. Retrieved 2009-12-11.
  2. ^ Blackout liner notes. Jive Records (2007)
  3. ^ a b c d Vineyard, Jennifer (2007-10-12). "Britney Spears' New Album, Blackout: A Track-By-Track Report". MTV. MTV Networks. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  4. ^ Staff, BRITannica (2008-02-11). "Third Single: Inside Scoop!". Britney Spears' Official Label Website. Jive Records. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  5. ^ a b "Britney Spears Break the Ice - Digital Sheet Music". Music Notes. Alfred Publishing Company. Retrieved 2010-02-06. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  6. ^ a b Levine, Nick (2007-10-29). "Britney Spears: 'Blackout'". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Ltd. Retrieved 2010-02-06. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  7. ^ Greenblatt, Leah (2007-09-11). "New Britney Song: 'I'm Bad Media Karma'". Entertainment Weekly. Time Warner. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  8. ^ Arnold, Chuck (2007-09-11). "Sneak Preview: Britney Spears's New Album Details". People. Time Warner. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  9. ^ Sterdan, Darryl (2007-10-26). "Britney's back with a thud". Jam!. Quebecor Inc. Retrieved 2010-02-06. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  10. ^ Ewing, Tom (2007-11-20). "Britney in the Black Lodge (Damn Fine Album)". Pitchfork. Ryan Schreiber. Retrieved 2010-02-06. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  11. ^ Sanneh, Kelefe (2007-11-29). "'Miss Bad Media Karma' Sings, Too". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  12. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2007-11-29). "Blackout - Britney Spears". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2010-02-06. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  13. ^ Staff, Popjustice (2008-04-01). "The nine best bits of the new Britney single". Popjustice. Peter Robinson. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
  14. ^ "Billboard Hot 100". a-charts.com. 2008-03-15. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  15. ^ a b c d e f "Break the Ice charts". Billboard. Nielsen Company. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  16. ^ "Canadian Hot 100". a-charts.com. 2008-03-01. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  17. ^ "Aria Charts". a-charts.com. 2008-05-05. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  18. ^ a b "Aria Charts". a-charts.com. 2008-05-19. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  19. ^ "New Zealand Top 40". a-charts.com. 2008-04-07. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Britney Spears - Break the Ice (song)". Ultratop 50. 2008. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  21. ^ "UK Singles Charts". a-charts.com. 2008-03-31. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  22. ^ a b "UK Singles Charts". a-charts.com. 2008-04-20. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  23. ^ "Gold and Platinum Certifications". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. 2008. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  24. ^ Reporter, News Limited (2008-03-11). "Cartoon Britney Spears slimmed down for Break The Ice video". News Limited. News Corporation. Retrieved 2010-02-07. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  25. ^ Kreps, Daniel (2008-03-12). "Britney Spears' "Break The Ice" Video To Premiere Today, Fandemonium Ensues". Rolling Stone. Jann Wenner. Retrieved 2010-02-07.
  26. ^ Keith, Amy Elisa (2008-03-12). "Britney Spears's New Video: Cyborgs and Thigh-High Boots". People. Time Warner. Retrieved 2010-02-07.
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