Britney Spears Releases ‘Mood Ring,’ Her First ‘New’ Song in Four Years

The princess of pop is a generous queen. Britney Spears surprised fans Friday by dropping a track titled “Mood Ring (By Demand)” on all streaming services. The song was produced by DJ Mustard and was previously only available on the Japanese deluxe edition of her 2016 album, Glory.

The slinky, slow-burning track finds Spears deciding between two versions of herself to present to a possible suitor. “Look in the mirror, who do I see?/Who do I wanna be today?” she purrs over Mustard’s sparse, electro-tinged beat. “My love is a mood ring, up and down emotions, all these mood swings,” she sings.

The song is a hazy, alluring slow jam more in line with “Make Me…” the first single from Glory, than the dance-pop tracks Spears is otherwise known for. Mustard had teased the track in a 2016 tweet, but it was never commercially released.

Spears says she decided to finally put out “Mood Ring (By Demand)” as a gift to fans after a #JusticeForGlory hashtag got the album back to the top of the iTunes pop chart earlier this month. The “By Demand” in parenthesis was added to the song title to acknowledge her fans’ work.

Spears promoted the “new” song on Instagram Friday night, using a previously released outtake from her Glory album cover shoot. “You folks wanted a new album cover ….. ta da there you go,” she wrote, alongside a sprinkling of emojis. “What was requested next is out now….. I hope you turn #MoodRing up sooooooo loud!!!!”

“Mood Ring” is the first music release from Spears in four years. The singer, who recently topped Rolling Stone’s list of Greatest Debut Singles of All-Time, has been largely silent on the music front since finishing her Britney: Piece of Me residency in Las Vegas in 2017. Spears’ team opened a pop-up Instagram museum in Los Angeles back in February that was inspired by her music video catalog, although the singer didn’t participate in any of the launch events or activations.