"Remixed, reinspired, refocused." Well, here's hoping. Those three little words are posted on Britney Spears's Web site declaring a "new chapter" for the beleaguered former Mouseketeer. And about time. The double-divorcée is fighting for visitation rights with her two children with ex Kevin Federline, submitting to random drug tests and recovering from the lingering echo of the jeers at her lackluster performance at the MTV Video Music Awards last month. With all of this headline-grabbing spectacle of the absurd going on,  it's easy to forget what got Spears here in the first place. "Blackout," her fifth album (due Oct. 30), is a timely reminder.

Let's start with the title: "Blackout" refers to "blocking out negativity and embracing life fully," according to her label. Oh, right. Her label, Jive, is generating its own buzz because Zomba, Jive's parent company, is suing celebu-blogger Perez Hilton for copyright infringement for illegally posting Spears tracks on his Web site. Bad publicity is still publicity. Even though Hilton's christening the pop star "Unfitney," is unflattering, Spears's single, "Gimme More," has reached No. 1 on the digital-songs chart and No. 3 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart, which still benefits ... that's right, the label. Who knows, maybe the "leak" was really a well-organized maneuver carried out in cahoots with Perez to take the heat off the MTV performance? Well, that's a reach, but the point can't be made too often that, as is so often the case with the young, fabulous and sometimes felonious, their exploits can overshadow what they do for a living.

Sometimes even parts of what they do for a living get in the way of other, more important things. The worst thing about her much-maligned MTV performance was that it eclipsed the fact that "Gimme More" is a perfect pop hit. Much like the rest of the album, which shows that while Spears might be down, she sure isn't out. She holds her own against pop sister Gwen Stefani on the sugarlicious, "Ooh Ooh Baby" with its bouncy beats and sing-a-long chorus. Sure, Spears can, at times, sound a bit like an automaton—but we can probably blame producer Mutt Lange for that robotic, pitch-correcting Pro-Tools quality in her voice—he endowed his wife, Shania Twain, with the same qualities when he was producing her million-selling albums.

Brit even pokes fun at herself in the album's snappy standout, "Piece of Me":

I'm Mrs. Lifestyles of the rich and famous
I'm Mrs. Oh my God, that Britney's shameless….
I'm Mrs. 'You want a piece of me?' Tryin' and p----n' me off
Well get in line with the paparazzi
Who's flippin' me off
Hopin' I'll resort to startin' havoc
And end up settlin' in court
Now are you sure you want a piece of me?

It's good, right? She didn't even write it, but wait until you hear her sing it as if she did. The dance-floor groove throughout the rest of the album is "accented" along the way with Spears's now-signature style: heavy on the breathy, sex-kitten sighs and moans that remind you that however precocious she seemed singing, "Oops, I did it again," she knew what she was doing all along and wasn't sorry one bit. Kind of like how she seems now when faced with a fresh new avalanche of criticism on everything from her mothering to her music, depending on the day. But by age 25, Spears has sold more than 83 million records worldwide. So whether or not her teen and tween audience has grown with her, or recoiled in disgust (No panties! Well, I never!) or confusion (the shaved head?), she'll still get the last laugh. All the way to the bank. Maybe she can use some of that money to pay her backup dancers from the VMAs who haven't been paid yet. This just in: Spears in arrears.  So the answer is yes, Britney, they do want a piece of you. As long as you keep giving it out, they'll take it.

© 2007