Britney Spears’ smooth ‘Make Me’ sees the pop star exploring a new, mature sound

Britney Spears is back, and doing things much differently.

Ever since her emergence at the tail end of the ‘90s, Spears has launched each new project with a massive banger. “Oops! … I Did It Again,� “I’m a Slave 4 U,� “Me Against the Music,� “Gimmie More,� “Womanizer,� “Hold It Against Me,� “Work Bitch� — all are songs that have kept an eye toward moving clubs and pop radio.

But Spears is venturing outside her trusted formula with the release of “Make Me,� the first single from her long-in-the-works ninth album.

Produced by English DJ-producer Burns (Ellie Goulding), who also co-wrote the track with Spears, Joe Janiak and the song’s featured guest, G-Eazy, “Make Me� steers Brit toward a more alternative, R&B-influenced sound.

Burns crafted a lush, down-tempo bedroom number that largely eschews the Vocoder and Auto-Tune effects that have dotted her most recent work. The result is a song that allows the singer to sing — really sing.

And Spears sounds better than she has in years, commanding the track with a warm tone that at least doesn’t feel dependent on studio wizards to make her sound alive.

“I just want you to make me move / Like it ain’t a choice for you, like you got a job to do / Just want you to raise my roof,� she instructs her lover before exploding into the song’s simple, yet euphoric, chorus of “ooohs.�

Sensual R&B isn’t new territory for Spears, as she’s flirted with it over the years, but rarely this convincingly.

And paired with the retro soul of “Private Show,� another new track which she previewed in her latest perfume commercial, Spears seems to have eased into a mature sound that doesn’t have to fully lean on moving clubs.

“Make Me� is a welcome return for Spears, who has struggled musically in recent years.

Her last single, “Pretty Girls,� was fun and catchy enough to fit in her canon of sugary pop gems, but the song was mostly seen as an unnecessary redux of Iggy Azalea’s massive hit “Fancy,� and the single flopped under the scrutiny of Azalea’s celebrity and Spears’ robotic speak-sung vocals.

Spears’ last album, 2013’s “Britney Jean,� was largely a phoned-in mess beyond the scorching “Work Bitch� and the Sia-penned “Perfume,� a slow-burner that showcased her vocals but was ignored by the larger public.

And although she got cool points for collaborating with Giorgio Moroder last year, her cover of “Tom’s Diner� was largely forgettable.

Maybe it took spending the past two years packing in crowds at her Las Vegas residency — a show that continues to be a hot ticket on the Strip and recently got a makeover — to reawaken her interest.

If these new records are any indication of what the album will sound like, Spears might be on the verge of her biggest comeback yet.

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