Britney Spears Releases New Single ‘Swimming in the Stars’ on Her Birthday

Britney Spears fans were gifted with new music on the singer’s birthday on Thursday, Dec. 2, thanks the arrival of the previously-unreleased song “Swimming in the Stars,” which now appears on the pop star’s 2016 album Glory. Spears’ label RCA Records officially released the song after it became available for pre-order as a 12-inch vinyl single exclusively at Urban Outfitters on Nov. 11.

Written by Matthew Koma, Dan Book and Alexei Misoul, “Swimming in the Stars” is a floating synth-pop confection in line with the rest of Glory‘s offerings and made for an excellent gift from the singer to her fans. “Swimming in the Stars” joins “Mood Ring” as the second song released several years after Glory initially arrived — “Mood Ring” was released in May after it had previously only been available on the Japanese deluxe edition of the album.

The release of “Mood Ring” also coincided with a new album cover for “Glory,” switching from a close-up photo of Spears wearing a lace top to a saturated shot of the singer stretched out on desert sand wearing a gold bikini and holding a large chain. The artwork for “Swimming in the Stars” appears to be from the same shoot as the new cover. Keep reading to see how fans are feeling about Spears’ latest release.

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Koma, who co-produced and co-wrote the song, shared the artwork for the song on Instagram after its release. “Made a song with @britneyspears and it’s out today,” he wrote. “14 year old me watching the girls at Sports Night dance to Baby One More Time with @james_del is pumped.” “Thank you so much for everything!!!” Spears commented. 

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Spears is expected to re-issue a deluxe edition of Glory with its new cover as well as more new music. A photo of what appears to be the new vinyl album shows that the track list includes a collaboration with the Backstreet Boys titled “Matches.” “Mood Ring” and “Swimming in the Stars” will also appear as well as several remixes of “Mood Ring.”

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Spears hasn’t posted about her new music on Instagram, but she did celebrate her birthday with boyfriend Sam Asghari on her page, sharing a pair of photos of the couple posing together. “Happy b-day to me,” she captioned one photo along with a string of emojis. The second post, which featured Asghari kissing Spears on the cheek, received three garden hats.

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The couple recently enjoyed a trip to Maui, which spears documented on Instagram. “Felt like a little trip to paradise for an early birthday celebration !!!!!!!!!” she captioned a snap of herself and Asghari standing in front of a private jet. She also shared a video of the couple cliff jumping, a pair of selfies and a photo of the inside of a restaurant where she declared that she had gotten to enjoy her first-ever deep dish pizza.