Christina up close

Christina Aguilera can also whip your ass at Donkey Kong. “I’m extremely good at video games,” asserts the Staten Island, N.Y.– born, Pennsylvania-raised singer between sips of Pellegrino in the bustling bar of L’Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills. “People come over to my house after a night of going out just to try to beat my scores. I have all the top scores.”

Spend a little time with Aguilera—after giving her swell new CD, Back to Basics, a listen—and you come away believing the petite platinum-blond with the plus-size pipes can do whatever she sets her mind to. And no monkey is going to stop her. “I love absorbing information,” she explains, gesturing to a coffee table book about pinup artist Alberto Vargas she’s using as inspiration for her next video, “Candyman.” “I’m always looking to go new places. That’s hard sometimes, because you’re setting yourself up for people loving it or hating it, but I’m willing to take that risk.”

As pop risks go, Back to Basics is a doozy: an unapologetic “concept album” in two parts inspired by vintage soul, jazz, and blues. Disc 1 features retro sounds and samples set to modern beats; the more theatrical second disc reunites Aguilera with Linda Perry, the out songwriter-producer behind the singer’s 2003 Grammy-winning ballad “Beautiful.”

“They’re like my babies, my fraternal twins,” gushes Aguilera of the discs. “I wanted to use elements of the music that influenced me, from the ’20s, ’30s, and ’40s, and reinvent them in a modern way. I accomplished exactly what I wanted to do.”

The lyrics on Back to Basics reflect a more hopeful, romantic Christina, attributable largely to her marriage last year to music executive Jordan Bratman. “I was in an extremely heavy space during the recording of Stripped,” admits Aguilera, referring to her polarizing 2002 disc. “With Back to Basics I was able to focus on a brighter, lighter side of myself.”

As if on cue, Bratman strolls into the bar to remind his wife that they have dinner reservations in a few minutes. Aguilera lights up. They’re clearly crazy about each other—but in a way that seems sane, particularly by showbiz standards. Before heading to dinner, Bratman confirms that his new wife does have mad video-gaming skills. Then Aguilera stands up onto a pair of do-me pumps that match her red lipstick. “I have to go to the bathroom,” she announces, “but while I’m gone, Jordie can tell you what else I’m good at—if you know what I mean.” With that, she lets out a husky Mae West laugh. She begins to step away, then says, “That was a joke.” Uh-huh, right.