Christina Aguilera Released A Vulnerable New Song That'll Give You "Beautiful" Flashbacks

Christina Aguilera's recent single "Accelerate" gave fans their first taste of her upcoming album, Liberation, but on Aguilera's new song "Twice," released on Friday, she slowed things down. The song is a stripped-back ballad that showcases the singer's vocals and her emotional honesty, and Aguilera's vulnerable new track is already making fans emotional.

Over somber keys, Aguilera describes the hurt that can come with love and an irresistible urge to return to the source of that pain. She sings,

"Are you water? Are you fire?

Are you filthy? Are you pure?

Oh, I thought by now I'd know but I'm not sure

Well, you're no angel

I never asked you to be

You're my danger

'cause that's just what I need

But it still hurts me."

On the chorus, the 37-year-old musician muses, "Well, sometimes I wonder what is the meaning of my life / I found the price of love and lost my mind / I will forgive them all of my wrongs and my rights / I'd do it all again and won't think twice." The musical simplicity coupled with Aguilera's powerhouse performance make the song especially moving.

Aguilera tweeted a clip of the song on Thursday night, writing,

"Love the raw vocal quality on this and the spiritual emotion & tone it captures/conveys for me. Here is another of the many moods of #Liberation...."

Upon its release, the singer's fans also took to Twitter to share their emotional reactions to the track.

Fan @mother_xtina tweeted, "#Twice is hands down one of the best ballads from Christina’s whole career. I have a feeling Liberation is gonna be her best album yet," while @anephemeralbeau said, "Twice is the song I’ve been waiting to hear from Christina Aguilera. It’s just her powerful voice singing the most beautiful lyrics," along with a crying emoji.

Also, another fan @SuarezDee wrote, "Time and again, Christina Aguilera proves to us that no matter how many new vocalists we come across, there can only be one CHRISTINA AGUILERA. Her vocals on her new song, TWICE, is haunting, soulful, and it lingers deeps down. AMAZING. She is UNTOUCHABLE!"

Liberation is Aguilera's first new album in six years following her 2012 LP Lotus, and while "Accelerate" and "Twice" are quite different stylistically, demonstrating her versatility, Aguilera said her singing is the constant through all her music. “At the end of the day, I am a soul singer,” she told Billboard in a cover story published May 3. “When you strip back the words ‘pop star’ and the many things that I’ve done, singing soulfully is where my core, my root and my heart really is."

Fans won't have to wait long to hear even more new music. After teasing a collaboration for quite a while, Aguilera and fellow pop star Demi Lovato announced via social media Tuesday that they'll perform their new song "Fall In Line" together for the first time at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards on May 20.

The performance will be something of a full-circle moment. Lovato told Billboard that said seeing Aguilera live inspired her to pursue music as a child. She said, "I have always looked up to Christina ... I remember being at her concert and singing facing the crowd instead of the stage, knowing that that was exactly what I wanted to do in life."

Fans will also get to see Aguilera perform "Twice" and the rest of her new material in person when she hits the road for the Liberation Tour, her first full-on tour since 2006, according to Rolling Stone, which will hit major cities across North America.