"Break the Ice" | ||||||||||
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Single by Britney Spears | ||||||||||
from the album Blackout | ||||||||||
B-side | "Everybody" | |||||||||
Released | March 4, 2008 | |||||||||
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Recorded | August – October 2006 | |||||||||
Genre | Electro-R&B | |||||||||
Length | 3:16 | |||||||||
Label | ||||||||||
Writer(s) | ||||||||||
Producer(s) | ||||||||||
Britney Spears singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"Break the Ice" is a song recorded by American singer Britney Spears for her fifth studio album, Blackout (2007). It was released on March 4, 2008 by Jive Records as the third single from the album. The song was written by Nate "Danja" Hills, James "Jim Beanz" Washington, Keri Hilson and Marcella Araica, while production was handled by Hills and vocal production was handled by Washington. "Radar" was originally planned to be released as the third single from Blackout, but "Break the Ice" was released after it was chosen by a poll on Spears's official website. Musically, "Break the Ice" is an electro-R&B song with influences of rave and crunk. The song opens with a choir and features synthesizers. Its lyrics deal with an attraction between two people. "Break the Ice" received positive reviews from music critics, who deemed it as a strong electronic track from the album.
The song was a moderate success, reaching the top ten in Belgium, Canada, Finland and Sweden and charting within the top forty in Australia, New Zealand and many European countries. In the United States, the song reached number forty-three on Billboard Hot 100, while peaking at number one on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart. An accompanying music video, directed by Robert Hales, was released on March 12, 2008. The anime-influenced animation video was based on the superheroine character of Spears' "Toxic" music video, and portrays her destroying a highly secured laboratory with several clones, including one of herself. A remix of "Break the Ice" was used as a video interlude during The Circus Starring Britney Spears (2009) and was performed for the first time during her Las Vegas residency at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Britney: Piece of Me.