Christina Aguilera released her long-awaited collaboration with Demi Lovato today. It's called "Fall In Line" and it's like "Beautiful" met "Sorry Not Sorry" and had a twangy, engineered-for-2018 baby. Aguilera and Lovato dedicate the song to "little girls." In the opening line, Aguilera instructs them to "listen closely."
"No one told me, but you deserve to know," Aguilera sings before launching into an anti-patriarchy diatribe. (It's a little on the nose: In the song's third act, a robotic male voice instructs, "March two three, one two three, shut your mouth, stick your ass out for me.")
The point is, Aguilera and Lovato aren't made to "fall in line." They are obstreperous pop performers who are done being sorry. (Lovato already told us this in "Sorry Not Sorry"!)
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This is part of Aguilera's reentry to the pop world. She hasn't released an album since 2012 — this summer's Liberation, which will arrive June 15, will be her first one since. Aguilera is listed as an executive producer of her own album. This is the era of unapologetic Aguilera, and let's all reap the benefits of great pop while we can. She and Lovato will be performing their duet at the Billboard Music Awards this Sunday, Aguilera's first televised performance of her new music.
Speaking to Billboard earlier this month, Aguilera explained that she stayed out of the limelight in part thanks to The Voice, where she served as a judge for five years. "I didn't get into this business to be a television show host and to be given all these [rules]," she explained. Nope, no rules for Christina! She wasn't made to fall in line.
Listen to the full track of "Fall In Line," below.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that this was the first time Aguilera executive produced her album. Aguilera has both produced and executive produced her own albums. We regret the error.