Updated 11:11 a.m. ET Thursday
An unedited vocal version of a song from Britney Spears’ 2013 album, Britney Jean, leaked on July 2, and it didn’t sound good. After the untouched track of “Alien” (above) made the rounds over the holiday weekend, track producer William Orbit released a statement on Facebook saying that the track was a vocal warm-up and not the final product:
I’d like to affirm that ANY singer when first at the mic at the start of a long session can make a multitude of vocalizations in order to get warmed up. Warming up is essential if you’re a pro, as it is with a runner doing stretches, and it takes a while to do properly. I’ve heard all manner of sounds emitted during warm-ups. The point is that it is not supposed to be shared with millions of listeners.
The leaked track was removed from YouTube by Thursday morning.
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Write to Eliana Dockterman at eliana.dockterman@time.com