Britney Spears

Britney Spears Surprises Fans With Previously Unreleased Track on Her Birthday

Despite taking an indefinite hiatus from working last year, the 39-year-old pop icon is back on the charts with the song "Swimming in the Stars"

In this Sept. 24, 2016, file photo, singer Britney Spears performs onstage at the iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images, File

It's Britney Spears' birthday, y'all. To celebrate her big day, her record label RCA has surprised fans by dropping a previously unreleased track titled “Swimming In the Stars."

Spears first recorded "Swimming in the Stars” for her most recent studio album, “Glory,” which was released back in Aug. 2016. Matthew Koma, Dan Book and Alexei Misoul wrote the track. Back in 2015, Koma revealed he had been working with Spears, though his tracks never made it on to the album — that is, until now.

"She's extremely talented," Koma told Pop Crush at the time. "It's funny getting to work with her sometimes, you know, because you just think about the history and how much of pop music is influenced today by things she's done and invented."

"It's super surreal to sit there and hear Britney Spears sing one of your songs," he added. "It's like — it's one of those things on the checklist. You know, I checked off Kelly Clarkson, too. There are very few of those marquee artists where it's like, okay, check, that's really cool. It just feels like...it holds a different weight."

When asked what she is like in the studio, Koma responded, "Super, beyond pro."

"Beyond sweet. Comes in. Nails it. Knows the tunes," he added. "With her, it's been a very different thing, case by case. There are songs where she has a lot of input, as far as 'I wanna go for this vibe and this is what I'm listening to, and this is what I'm into and this is what I want to execute,' and there are other times where she's like, 'This song speaks to me. I learned it and I wanna kill it.' And she does. She's been wonderful."

Spears, who turned 39 on Wednesday, has been on an indefinite work hiatus since early 2019. Despite the break, she was able to reclaim her throne as the "Princess of Pop" on her birthday — as of publishing, her new song was ranked No. 2 on iTunes.

Fans seem to really love the surprise birthday drop and are sharing their support in the comments section on YouTube. One person wrote, "Bless her, she’s an extremely strong woman. This song is a huge present to all. I am rooting for her and her freedom to finally come."

Another added, "100% perfect no matter what other people say."

"'Mood Ring' & 'Swimming In the Stars' is better than the whole Glory discography," one fan wrote on Twitter. "Why weren’t these two songs the direction of the album?"

But some fans are divided about the release of track, partially because of Spears' legal complications with her father, who some believe still profits off her work despite her many attempts to remove him as the conservator from her guardianship.

The next hearing is scheduled for Dec. 16, when Judge Brenda Penny could make a decisive ruling in the controversial court case.

This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:

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