"Pucker Up," a Darkchild-created track from Ciara's upcoming album Fantasy Ride, sounds like it could have been on Britney Spears's Blackout--and it would have been better than half the songs on that album. Copping the jangling part of the beat from Britney's "Piece Of Me" and Cyndi Lauper's "Into The Nightlife" but glossing it up with that slick futuristic production more typical of Danja's work with Britney, "Pucker Up" has a disjointed, everything-and-the-kitchen-sink disjointed approach towards melody and hooks, but it's no lesser a song for that: it's exactly how fierce modern urban electro pop should be done and Ciara's best non-slow jam since the underrated "Like A Boy."
The other highlight from what I've heard so far of Fantasy Ride is the Dr. Luke-produced "Tell Me What Your Name Is." Smoochy Ciara slow jam? Yes, but a luscious one, and one that's not really even that slow, come to that.
Fantasy Ride, Ciara's third album, is released May 5 and can be preordered here (physical).