This is what Britney Spears sounds like without Autotune

Seems like there’s a reason why Britney Spears doesn’t sing live. A few days ago some unedited vocals of Britney singing “Alien” off of her latest album Britney Jean leaked, and they sound a bit like most girls on karaoke night.

Track producer William Orbit has an explanation for the less than stellar vocals, saying that it was basically just a rough warm-up, and not a final vocal version of the song before Autotune.

“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 vocalisations in order to get warmed up,” Orbit wrote in a Facebook post. “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.

“A generous singer will put something down the mic to help the engineer get their systems warmed up and at the right level, maybe whilst having a cup of herb tea and checking through lyrics before the session really kicks off. It’s not expected to be a ‘take.'”