And Then We Kiss
Encyclopedia
"And Then We Kiss" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears
. The song was written by Spears, Mark Taylor
and Paul Barry, while produced by Taylor for In the Zone
. This version featured an electronica
vibe and prominent vocals by Spears. The song was remixed by Junkie XL
for the remix album B in the Mix: The Remixes
. The remix was released as the only single from the album in Australia and New Zealand, as "And Then We Kiss", leading some to believe that it was the only version. The original version by Taylor leaked online in September 2011.
The Junkie XL Remix is an euro-trance
song with influences of techno
and usage of dance-rock
guitars, synthesizers and symphonic strings. The lyrics speak about a kiss and the different sensations that a woman experiences, including trembling, crying and moaning. Junkie XL explained that he wanted to make the song a 2006 version of Depeche Mode
's "Enjoy the Silence
". The Junkie XL Remix of "And Then We Kiss" received mostly positive reviews from music critics, with some noticing its potential to be a radio or club hit. The song failed to appear on any major charts. However, it peaked at number fifteen on the US Billboard Hot Dance Airplay
.
and Paul Barry, while produced by Taylor. The song was recorded in the same sessions as "Breathe on Me", and was originally intended for In the Zone
(2003). This version produced by Taylor features an electronica
vibe reminiscent of Madonna
's Ray of Light
(1998), and contains a flamenco guitar
with prominent lead vocals by Spears. "And Then We Kiss" was set to be included on a bonus disc of Britney & Kevin: Chaotic
(2005), but was left out for unknown reasons.
The song was remixed by Junkie XL
and released on her remix album B in the Mix: The Remixes
(2005). In the album credits, both Taylor and Junkie XL were listed as producers of the song. All instruments, including guitar
, bass guitar
, synths and drums, were played by Junkie XL. Audio mastering
was done by Chaz Harper at Battery Mastering. In September 2005, it was announced by Billboard
that the remix would serve as the music for the ad campaign behind Spears' fragrance, Fantasy
. The Junkie XL Remix was released as the only single from B in the Mix: The Remixes on October 31, 2005 in Australia and New Zealand, as "And Then We Kiss", leading some to believe that it was the only version. The version of the song produced by Taylor remained unreleased for years, until a new mix of the song labeled as the original version leaked online on September 2, 2011. After suggestions that it may be a fake, Taylor confirmed its authenticity to Bradley Stern of Muumuse.com on September 5, 2011.
song with influences of techno
and usage of synthesizers. The song blends dance-rock
guitars and symphonic strings and closes with an orchestral overtone. Its lyrics talk about a kiss and the different sensations that the protagonist experiences, including trembling, crying and moaning. At the beginning she sings the lines "Lying alone / touching my skin" which suggest that the whole song may actually be a fantasy. Spears's vocals are much less prominent than on the original version. In an interview with About.com
, Junkie XL said he wanted to turn the song "into a 2006 version of Enjoy the Silence
with really electronic chunky beats and nice melodic guitar lines. Besides the fact that [Britney]'s singing on it, it could be a track off my album because it's the same vibe. I'm really happy with the end result and so are they."
noted "And Then We Kiss" had "the potential to be a radio or club hit — if Jive were actively promoting [B in the Mix]". Barry Walters of Rolling Stone
said the remix "brings a simpatico blend of symphonic strings and dance-rock guitars" in its melody, while Spence D. of IGN
noted Junkie XL makes "the remix an understated swatch of atmospheric neo-goth poing and staccato rhythms." A reviewer of Yahoo! Shopping
considered the song "dreamy". Kurt Kirton of About.com
said that the remixes of "And Then We Kiss", "Toxic
", "Touch of My Hand", "Someday (I Will Understand)
" and "...Baby One More Time
" "hold their own"; Gregg Shapiro of the Bay Area Reporter
, however, said "the many flaws in Spears' reedy, cold and mechanical voice are brought to the forefront" in the remixes. MTV writer Bradley Stern praised Junkie XL, writing, "the sublime remix found producer Junkie XL taking the (still) unreleased studio version of "And Then We Kiss" [...] and smoothing it over into one of Britney's most lush, mature musical moments of all time."
. After spending five weeks on the chart, it reached number fifteen on the week of March 25, 2006. "And Then We Kiss" spent eleven weeks on the chart, making its last appearance on the week of May 6, 2006.
Source:
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
. The song was written by Spears, Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor (record producer)
Mark Taylor is a Grammy Award winning British record producer and songwriter. Having sold over 50 million records, he has produced and written for artists such as Cher, Enrique Iglesias, Britney Spears, Diana Ross, Rod Stewart, Tina Turner, Kylie Minogue, and Lady Gaga...
and Paul Barry, while produced by Taylor for In the Zone
In the Zone
In the Zone is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Britney Spears, released on November 16, 2003, by Jive Records. Following the end of the Dream Within a Dream Tour in July 2002 and her break-up with Justin Timberlake, Spears announced she would take a six-month break from her...
. This version featured an electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
vibe and prominent vocals by Spears. The song was remixed by Junkie XL
Junkie XL
Tom Holkenborg , better known as Junkie XL or JXL, is a Dutch musician. He uses the name JXL in cases where the term "Junkie" might cause offense. XL is for "Xpanding Limits"....
for the remix album B in the Mix: The Remixes
B in the Mix: The Remixes
B in the Mix: The Remixes is the first remix album by American recording artist Britney Spears, released on November 22, 2005, by Jive Records. The album contains remixes of tracks from her first four studio albums—...Baby One More Time , Oops!.....
. The remix was released as the only single from the album in Australia and New Zealand, as "And Then We Kiss", leading some to believe that it was the only version. The original version by Taylor leaked online in September 2011.
The Junkie XL Remix is an euro-trance
Euro-trance
The term Euro-trance describes all "trance"-like European imports into the American dance music market, especially those recorded in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.-Dream house:...
song with influences of techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
and usage of dance-rock
Dance-rock
Dance-rock is a post-disco movement connected with post-punk/no wave genres with fewer R&B/funk influences. An example of this "post-disco" is Gina X's "No G.D.M." and artists like Liquid Liquid, Polyrock, Dinosaur L, and Disco Not Disco [2000] compilation album...
guitars, synthesizers and symphonic strings. The lyrics speak about a kiss and the different sensations that a woman experiences, including trembling, crying and moaning. Junkie XL explained that he wanted to make the song a 2006 version of Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
's "Enjoy the Silence
Enjoy the Silence
"Enjoy the Silence" is Depeche Mode's twenty-fourth UK single, released on 16 January 1990, and the second single from the then upcoming album Violator....
". The Junkie XL Remix of "And Then We Kiss" received mostly positive reviews from music critics, with some noticing its potential to be a radio or club hit. The song failed to appear on any major charts. However, it peaked at number fifteen on the US Billboard Hot Dance Airplay
Hot Dance Airplay
Dance/Mix Show Airplay is a monitored electronic dance music radio chart that is featured weekly in Billboard magazine. The chart came about as a result of the small but influential impact of electronic dance music on the radio in the United States and the stations that program it...
.
Background
"And Then We Kiss" was written by Spears, Mark TaylorMark Taylor (record producer)
Mark Taylor is a Grammy Award winning British record producer and songwriter. Having sold over 50 million records, he has produced and written for artists such as Cher, Enrique Iglesias, Britney Spears, Diana Ross, Rod Stewart, Tina Turner, Kylie Minogue, and Lady Gaga...
and Paul Barry, while produced by Taylor. The song was recorded in the same sessions as "Breathe on Me", and was originally intended for In the Zone
In the Zone
In the Zone is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Britney Spears, released on November 16, 2003, by Jive Records. Following the end of the Dream Within a Dream Tour in July 2002 and her break-up with Justin Timberlake, Spears announced she would take a six-month break from her...
(2003). This version produced by Taylor features an electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
vibe reminiscent of Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
's Ray of Light
Ray of Light
Ray of Light is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on March 3, 1998 by Maverick Records and distributed by Warner Bros. Records. After giving birth to her daughter Lourdes, Madonna collaborated with Patrick Leonard and William Orbit in developing the album...
(1998), and contains a flamenco guitar
Flamenco guitar
A flamenco guitar is a guitar similar to a classical guitar. Flamenco guitar also refers to toque, the guitar-playing part of the art of Flamenco.-Brief history:...
with prominent lead vocals by Spears. "And Then We Kiss" was set to be included on a bonus disc of Britney & Kevin: Chaotic
Britney & Kevin: Chaotic
Britney & Kevin: Chaotic is an American reality television series, which aired on UPN from May 17, 2005 to June 14, 2005, starring American recording artist Britney Spears and her then husband, Kevin Federline. It was created by Anthony E. Zuiker, while Spears and Federline served as the executive...
(2005), but was left out for unknown reasons.
The song was remixed by Junkie XL
Junkie XL
Tom Holkenborg , better known as Junkie XL or JXL, is a Dutch musician. He uses the name JXL in cases where the term "Junkie" might cause offense. XL is for "Xpanding Limits"....
and released on her remix album B in the Mix: The Remixes
B in the Mix: The Remixes
B in the Mix: The Remixes is the first remix album by American recording artist Britney Spears, released on November 22, 2005, by Jive Records. The album contains remixes of tracks from her first four studio albums—...Baby One More Time , Oops!.....
(2005). In the album credits, both Taylor and Junkie XL were listed as producers of the song. All instruments, including guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, synths and drums, were played by Junkie XL. Audio mastering
Audio mastering
Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
was done by Chaz Harper at Battery Mastering. In September 2005, it was announced by Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
that the remix would serve as the music for the ad campaign behind Spears' fragrance, Fantasy
Fantasy (fragrance)
Fantasy is a women's fragrance from Elizabeth Arden, and is the second perfume to be endorsed by Britney Spears. The ad's tagline is "Everybody has one"....
. The Junkie XL Remix was released as the only single from B in the Mix: The Remixes on October 31, 2005 in Australia and New Zealand, as "And Then We Kiss", leading some to believe that it was the only version. The version of the song produced by Taylor remained unreleased for years, until a new mix of the song labeled as the original version leaked online on September 2, 2011. After suggestions that it may be a fake, Taylor confirmed its authenticity to Bradley Stern of Muumuse.com on September 5, 2011.
Composition
"And Then We Kiss" is four minutes and twenty-eight seconds long. It is an euro-tranceEuro-trance
The term Euro-trance describes all "trance"-like European imports into the American dance music market, especially those recorded in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.-Dream house:...
song with influences of techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
and usage of synthesizers. The song blends dance-rock
Dance-rock
Dance-rock is a post-disco movement connected with post-punk/no wave genres with fewer R&B/funk influences. An example of this "post-disco" is Gina X's "No G.D.M." and artists like Liquid Liquid, Polyrock, Dinosaur L, and Disco Not Disco [2000] compilation album...
guitars and symphonic strings and closes with an orchestral overtone. Its lyrics talk about a kiss and the different sensations that the protagonist experiences, including trembling, crying and moaning. At the beginning she sings the lines "Lying alone / touching my skin" which suggest that the whole song may actually be a fantasy. Spears's vocals are much less prominent than on the original version. In an interview with About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
, Junkie XL said he wanted to turn the song "into a 2006 version of Enjoy the Silence
Enjoy the Silence
"Enjoy the Silence" is Depeche Mode's twenty-fourth UK single, released on 16 January 1990, and the second single from the then upcoming album Violator....
with really electronic chunky beats and nice melodic guitar lines. Besides the fact that [Britney]'s singing on it, it could be a track off my album because it's the same vibe. I'm really happy with the end result and so are they."
Reception
Critical response
The Junkie XL Remix of "And Then We Kiss" received mostly positive reviews from music critics. Jennifer Vineyard of MTVMTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
noted "And Then We Kiss" had "the potential to be a radio or club hit — if Jive were actively promoting [B in the Mix]". Barry Walters of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
said the remix "brings a simpatico blend of symphonic strings and dance-rock guitars" in its melody, while Spence D. of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
noted Junkie XL makes "the remix an understated swatch of atmospheric neo-goth poing and staccato rhythms." A reviewer of Yahoo! Shopping
Yahoo! Shopping
Yahoo! Shopping is Yahoo's price comparison service.Yahoo uses the Kelkoo price comparison service it acquired in April 2004 to power Yahoo! Shopping in 6 countries.-External links:**...
considered the song "dreamy". Kurt Kirton of About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
said that the remixes of "And Then We Kiss", "Toxic
Toxic (song)
"Toxic" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears, co-written and produced by Bloodshy & Avant, from her fourth album, In the Zone. It was released on January 12, 2004, by Jive Records as the second single from the album. After trying to choose between " Boom Boom" and "Outrageous" to...
", "Touch of My Hand", "Someday (I Will Understand)
Someday (I Will Understand)
"Someday " is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears, from the bonus CD of Britney & Kevin: Chaotic. It was released in Europe as a single on August 21, 2005, by Jive Records. In July 2004, Spears announced her engagement to American dancer Kevin Federline, later revealing she would be...
" and "...Baby One More Time
...Baby One More Time (song)
"...Baby One More Time" is a song by American recording artist Britney Spears. It served as Spears' debut single from her debut studio album, ...Baby One More Time . Written by Max Martin and produced by Martin, Denniz Pop and Rami Yacoub, "...Baby One More Time" was released on September 30, 1998,...
" "hold their own"; Gregg Shapiro of the Bay Area Reporter
Bay Area Reporter
The Bay Area Reporter is a free weekly newspaper serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered communities in the San Francisco Bay Area; it is the oldest-continuously published, and one of the largest LGBT newspapers in the United States....
, however, said "the many flaws in Spears' reedy, cold and mechanical voice are brought to the forefront" in the remixes. MTV writer Bradley Stern praised Junkie XL, writing, "the sublime remix found producer Junkie XL taking the (still) unreleased studio version of "And Then We Kiss" [...] and smoothing it over into one of Britney's most lush, mature musical moments of all time."
Chart performance
"And Then We Kiss" failed to appear on any major charts. However, on the week of February 25, 2006, the song debuted at number twenty-five on the US Billboard Hot Dance AirplayHot Dance Airplay
Dance/Mix Show Airplay is a monitored electronic dance music radio chart that is featured weekly in Billboard magazine. The chart came about as a result of the small but influential impact of electronic dance music on the radio in the United States and the stations that program it...
. After spending five weeks on the chart, it reached number fifteen on the week of March 25, 2006. "And Then We Kiss" spent eleven weeks on the chart, making its last appearance on the week of May 6, 2006.
Track listing
- Digital download
- "And Then We Kiss" — 4:28
- 12" Vinyl
- "And Then We Kiss" (Junkie XL Remix) — 4:28
- "And Then We Kiss" (Junkie XL Remix Instrumental) — 4:28
- "And Then We Kiss" (Junkie XL Undressed Remix) — 4:41
- "And Then We Kiss" (Junkie XL Undressed Remix Instrumental) — 4:41
Credits and personnel
- Britney Spears — vocals, songwritingSongwriterA songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
- Michael Taylor — songwriting
- Paul Barry — songwriting
- Mark Taylor — producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
- Junkie XL — producer, remixer, all instruments
- Chaz Harper — audio masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
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