Aguilera in '08: Electro-Pop, Warhol and Milk

Christina talks new album, new influences, and new role as Supergirl

By Jonathan Zwickel
Special to MSN Music

She may have just released a greatest hits album, but Christina Aguilera isn't spending much time looking back.

See photos: The Many Faces of Christina Aguilera

"Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits" is packed with all the blockbusters that won the 27-year-old singer five Grammys and that helped sell more than 42 million albums worldwide. Alongside the hits are two reworked versions of fan favorites and two brand new songs, one of which is the title track. "Keeps Gettin' Better" and "Dynamite" both bubble with crisp electro-pop production, a striking update on the dusky neo-soul of "Back to Basics." The "Genie 2.0" and "You Are What You Are (Beautiful)" revamps are even more progressive, the latter a surprisingly subtle foray into down-tempo electronica. These four tracks, the shape-shifting pop princess says, hint at the next phase of a spectacularly mercurial career.

"It's going in a much more futuristic direction," Aguilera says by phone from Los Angeles. "This is someplace I really haven't tapped into yet."

"A Decade of Hits" caps a year that saw her give birth to her first child, Max, and take an active role in the most successful Rock the Vote campaign to date. She's currently working on her next album of original material, set for summer '09 release.

"Growing into being a woman, a mother -- it's a very different time in my life, and also where I'm at musically," Aguilera says.

According to Aguilera, pop art is her primary inspiration at the moment. She and husband Jordan Bratman have been collecting work by über-edgy graffiti provocateurs Banksy and D*Face, and the electric blue tresses she flaunts in the video for "Keeps Gettin' Better" are a nod to vintage pop artists like Warhol and Lichtenstein.

"I took visual references from that time period because it was so full of life and vividness and bright, bold colors," she says.

Several unusual musical guests are set to appear on the as-yet-untitled album. After name-checking electroclash innovators Goldfrapp and Ladytron, Aguilera says Sia (known for her work with Zero 7, as well as the song "Breathe Me" from the dramatic final sequence of the acclaimed HBO series "Six Feet Under") will contribute.

"I think her voice has a cool sound to it, really gritty and unique," Aguilera says of Sia.

"There's really no holds barred for anything," she says. "The future could go anywhere, so it really isn't so specific to a certain genre or style, so I can really take that anywhere I wanna go."

At the moment, the song "Keeps Gettin' Better" is at the forefront of Aguilera's very visible partnership with Target, the album's exclusive physical retailer. Its chorus hinges on a contrast that's very relevant to her life right now, though it's partially bleeped over by sound effects in the accompanying big-budget TV commercial.

"After having my own child, it's pretty amazing what females are capable of," Aguilera explains. "We're Supergirl, we do it all: we give the love, we give the milk. On the other hand, I'm running a business. I'm running my career. That comes with being labeled a bitch. If that's what I'm gonna be called by being assertive and knowing who I am and what I want out of life, then so be it. I will wear that label proudly. For me it's about turning that word into a positive."

See photos: The Many Faces of Christina Aguilera

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Jonathan Zwickel writes about music for the Seattle Times and is working on a biography of the Beastie Boys.