Lotus

Lotus is a reply to all ills and ill-wishers

Christina Aguilera’s numerous fans felt a great variety of mixed things when they heard her new record Lotus was on its way to be released only two years after Bionic. In case you forgot, that studio work received contradicting reviews, crashed at the market and never had a promo tour. And now the fresh record may seem nothing but the mega star’s attempt to smooth the situation and win back the positions she could lose for good after the recent failure. What if Christina should have had a recession, put aside her music affairs, to come back with a fresh view and restored creative powers? Well, Christina had a different opinion, and now we have what we have, her seventh studio album, Lotus. The title and the cover of the outing are clear and direct markers of the record’s central concept, Christina’s return and even resurrection.

Resentment, anger and resolution

Ok, the good half of Lotus has outright references to the issues of survival, dealing with troubles and even immortality. In fact, the very first track, presented as an intro, sounds like a spell or religious hymn to dramatic exotic music. So far, Christina sings in an unusual solemn and mystical manner, just to announce her coming back. Yet this relaxing setting is suddenly pushed off by the acoustic aggressiveness of Army Of Me. Aguilera’s old supporters will immediately think of her classic piece, Fighter, and the rest will just feel the rage of the angry singer who lived through eh hurricane of criticizing. Another mighty track featuring Aguilera settling scores with her opponents is Best Of Me. In the meantime, Circles, lacking music strength, will impress with some dirty lyrics picturing her doing all kinds of things to enviers. However, it would be a bad mistake to record thirteen songs about how revengeful and strong she is, and Christina timely shifts to other topics.

A real comeback of a real star

Among the tracks that cannot be classified as anthems of reckoning, one will definitely like dance sweets like Red Hot Kinda Love, or Make The World Move. The ballad roster of Lotus is led by Blank Page, a theme initially penned for Leona Lewis, but, performed by Christina Aguilera, it looks one of the album’s highlights. All fans of the singer will be very pleased to receive her personal message to each of them in shape of Sing For Me. There is not so much music here, but a lot of Christina’s voice, showing how hard she works. It will be tough to go past the record’s most touching and even tragic piece called Cease Fire, where she brings back the memories of the relationship with her ex-husband. At the end of the set we find a very interesting song, Just A Fool, a courageous experiment with Aguilera trying on some country. As a summary, it must be said that Lotus is not a lazy, I-don’t-care, record, but a serious work and a great album, where Christina Aguilera at times reminds of her old and best efforts, and also offers something new and intriguing. There is no chance for you to be disappointed.