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Lotus (Christina Aguilera album)

Lotus is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Christina Aguilera. RCA Records released the album on November 9, 2012. The album is Aguilera’s first effort following her divorce from Jordan Bratman. Its music incorporates pop styles with elements of dance-pop and rock in the form of upbeat songs and piano-driven ballads. Aguilera described the album as a "rebirth", drawing inspiration from events in her life, her appearance on The Voice, and her divorce. The album was recorded at Aguilera's home studio. As executive producer, she collaborated with a wide range of producers, including new partners Alex da Kid, Max Martin, Lucas Secon and Tracklacers.

Lotus

November 9, 2012 (2012-11-09)

Pop[1]

47:30

RCA

Upon its release, Lotus received generally mixed reviews from music critics, who were ambivalent towards its lyrics and found its music conventional. It debuted at number seven on the US Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 73,408 units. Internationally, the album charted moderately, but obtained higher positions in Canada, Russia, Switzerland, and Venezuela, where it reached the top 10. Two singles were released from the album in North America. The first single "Your Body" charted within the top 40 of most countries. The second one, "Just a Fool", was a duet with fellow The Voice coach Blake Shelton and peaked at number 71 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Let There Be Love" was released as a promotional single along with a music video and a letter to her fans in August 2013. It topped the US Dance Club Songs chart.

Background

After the release of Aguilera's sixth studio album, Bionic (2010), which failed to generate her usual sales,[2] she divorced from her husband Jordan Bratman, starred in a film called Burlesque, and recorded its accompanying soundtrack.[3] The singer then became a coach on NBC's singing contest show The Voice[3] and appeared as a guest vocalist on Maroon 5's single "Moves like Jagger" (2011), which spent four weeks atop the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.[4] Following these events, Aguilera announced that she wanted to record her seventh album, stating that she wanted high-quality and personal songs to record.[4] She stated that the album would be a "culmination of everything I've experienced up until this point ... I've been through a lot since the release of my last album, being on (The Voice), having had a divorce ... This is all sort of a free rebirth for me."[5] She went on to say that "I'm embracing many different things, but it's all feel-good, super-expressive [and] super-vulnerable."[5] She further expressed that the album would be about "self-expression and freedom" because of the personal struggles she had overcome during the last couple of years.[6]


On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2012, Aguilera revealed that the album was taking a while to record because "I don't like to just get songs from producers. I like them to come from a personal place ... I'm very excited. It's fun, exciting, introspective, it's going to be great".[7] In an interview with Rolling Stone, Aguilera said that the album was a "very multi-layered, very heartfelt record" reflecting different sides of her personality.[8] On Lotus, Aguilera worked with new producers, notably Alex da Kid and Max Martin.[9] Alex da Kid, who first teamed with Aguilera in the song "Castle Walls" from T.I.'s No Mercy (2010), commented about Aguilera's approach in recording Lotus, "She definitely had a strong opinion, but she'll go with the best idea in the room. That's really rare for someone that's had so much success."[10] Speaking about working with Max Martin, Aguilera said, "Max is legendary in the business. He's known about me but we haven't crossed paths. [...] It's taken us a decade in the same business and watching each other from a distance, so for us to now come together and respect each other's work ethic and how we like to be heard and making a marriage out of it, I think 'Your Body' is the best culmination of that."[10]


Aguilera announced via Twitter on September 12, 2012, that the album would be titled Lotus.[11] The album artwork was shot by fashion photographer Enrique Badulescu and was unveiled by Aguilera on October 5.[12][13] The cover shows Aguilera emerging from a lotus flower with her arms outstretched. She is completely nude with her long, blonde hair covering her breasts, while her vulva is obscured by a white light.[14] It received a generally positive response from critics; Tiffany Lee from Yahoo! Music complimented Aguilera's figure,[15][16] while Sam Lansky from Idolator drew comparisons to the cover of her fourth studio album, Stripped (2002).[17] Lotus was released on November 13, 2012, by RCA Records.[10]

Music and lyrics

Lotus incorporates pop styles with elements of dance-pop and rock in the form of up-tempo songs and piano-driven ballads. It opens with the track "Lotus Intro", which was inspired by Aguilera's passion for "chill-out" electronica.[18] The song has a "hypnotic" yet "dark, serious" tone that develops and matures as it progresses, depicting Aguilera's rebirth, similar to the life cycle of a lotus flower.[22] "Army of Me" is a dance-pop and euro-dance song about empowerment, with a pounding drum beat and rock guitars.[10][18][22] Aguilera described the song as an updated version of her single "Fighter" (2003), describing it as a "Fighter 2.0".[10] The up-tempo track "Red Hot Kinda Love" combines a variety of genres, including dance and disco, "subtle" tones of Latin, hip hop, and pop.[18][23][24][25] It contains two samples: "The Whole Wide World Ain't Nothin' But a Party" performed by Mark Radice and "54-46 That's My Number" performed by Toots & the Maytals.[9] On the song, Aguilera keeps her use of melisma to a minimum.[18] Lyrically, the song talks about Aguilera's attempts to impress the man she is flirting with.[22]


"Make the World Move", featuring CeeLo Green, is a track which incorporates dance, R&B and soul genres.[19] The next track and first single from Lotus is "Your Body". It incorporates electropop and R&B genres and has a trace of dubstep in the middle eight.[26][27] Lyrically, it discusses anonymous sex with a random man. "Let There Be Love" features dance-pop, electronic dance music and pop genres with elements from electronica and trance.[19][20][21] The power ballad "Sing for Me" tells how Aguilera was born to sing, inspired by Aguilera's love for her idols: Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Etta James.[25][28] Its instrumentation consists of soft strings, a delicate piano melody and "80s power ballad-type drums" at its close.[22] The key in which the structure was composed is changed during the course of the song.[22] The song features a "thunderous" ironic chorus which consists of the lyrics "'Cause when I open my mouth, my whole heart comes out."[18] "Blank Page" is a piano-driven ballad about apologies, regrets, closure, and making peace.[29]


"Cease Fire" is a rock-tinged track that features electronic and dubstep infusion.[10][21][22][23] Lyrically, it is a plea to her partner to stop the fighting for the greater good of their relationship.[23] "Around the World" has a ragga influence and refers to Aguilera's 2001 hit "Lady Marmalade" as she whispers "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?".[23][30] The pop track "Circles" is an anti-haters song and is influenced by the alternative rock genre.[18][19] "Best of Me" is a power ballad about a failed relationship and how to not let others knock you down.[18][22] "Just a Fool", the last track of Lotus and its second single, is a duet with Blake Shelton. The song is a country pop ballad about the pain of a break-up.[22][23]

Promotion

Singles

To promote Lotus, two singles were released from the album. "Your Body" was released on September 17, 2012, as Lotus's lead single. The song received mostly positive reviews from music critics, who praised Aguilera's vocals and the collaboration with Max Martin.[31] It debuted and peaked at number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 27, 2012, becoming the highest-debut single during that week.[32] Internationally, "Your Body" was a moderate success, peaking within the top 40 of most countries. The song's accompanying music video was directed by Melina Matsoukas; it portrays Aguilera as a killer dressed in pink, one who delights in wooing physically fit men to their demise.[33][34] Sam Lansky from Idolator provided a favorable review of the clip and described it as one of Aguilera's best videos.[35] The second and final single from Lotus, the duet "Just a Fool" with Blake Shelton, was released on December 4, 2012. It debuted at number 92 on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 17, 2012[36] and peaked at number 71 in its second week charting.[37] As of September 2014, the single has sold over 746,000 copies in United States.[38]

Live performances

Besides releasing singles to promote the album, Aguilera also performed several tracks from Lotus on a number of shows. On November 2, 2012, she performed "Your Body" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, alongside Jimmy Fallon and The Roots.[39] Aguilera and Cee Lo Green performed "Make the World Move" together on the third season of The Voice on November 13, 2012.[40] The singer performed a medley of three songs, "Lotus Intro", "Army of Me" and "Let There Be Love" at the 40th American Music Awards on November 18, 2012, held at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California.[41] On November 19, 2012, Aguilera performed "Just a Fool" with Blake Shelton on The Voice.[42] The following day, she performed "Let There Be Love" on The Voice with her team contestants, Sylvia Yacoub and Dez Duron.[43] On The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the singer performed "Just a Fool" again with Shelton on December 7, 2012.[44] Aguilera also performed "Blank Page" at the 39th People's Choice Awards on January 9, 2013.[45]

Commercial performance

In the United States, Lotus debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 73,408 units.[61][62] It became Aguilera's lowest first week sales in her career, surpassing Bionic (2010), which opened at number three with sales of 110,000 units, thereby becoming Aguilera's English-language studio album with the lowest first week sales. In Canada, Lotus peaked at number 7 on the Canadian Albums Chart[63] and was certified gold by Music Canada for shipments of 40,000 copies there on January 10.[64] The album debuted and peaked at 28 on the UK Albums Chart with sales of 9,422, becoming her lowest-charting album there.[2][65][66] Internationally, Lotus underperformed, only reaching the top 20 and top 30 in most countries.[67] As of August 2019, the album had sold over 303,000 copies in the United States, as reported by Nielsen SoundScan,[68] and has been certified gold for 500,000 album-equivalent units.[69]

signifies a vocal producer

^[a]

signifies a co-producer

^[b]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Lotus.[9]


Notes

Official website