Photo: Winter/Getty

If you're wondering what Spears has been up to this summer, the answer is: nothing scandalous. During the past four months, Spears has recorded some 30 tracks for her sixth studio album. "I wanted to experiment with producers I haven't worked with much before, like the Underdogs, who have a Timbaland kind of sound," says Spears from an L.A. studio where pop craftsmen like Dr. Luke ("I Kissed a Girl") and Danja teamed up with Spears for her comeback disc. Among the contenders are the thickly layered bump-and-grind of "Circus" and "Womanizer," produced by the Atlanta team the Outsyders. "I came into the studio because I had some free time," she says. "But once I started working, I was like, 'This is cool!' It just happened."

Check out all of the albums in the 2008 Fall Music Preview