Former teen pop princess Britney Spears recently made news when a cut of her song “Alien” was released without the enhancement of Auto-Tune. Spears’ voice sounds quite different in this version than what fans are used to. It is somewhat weak and inconsistent, and certainly much less professional than what we have come to expect.

This has led many to question how often Spears has relied on Auto-Tune in the past and how to view her as a vocalist. Her producer for the track, William Orbit, came to her defense, explaining that the cut was merely practice and not meant for the actual recording. “any singer… can make a multitude of vocalisations [sic] in order to get warmed up.”