The new Madonna album is here and it will be my entire personality until further notice! It is electrifying and euphoric, introspective and infectious and I have had it on repeat since it was released just a few days ago.
Madonna has kept us fed with appetizers for almost seven years since the Madame X Era (which I thought was a masterpiece and you’ll have a hard time convincing me otherwise), from releasing the compilation album Finally Enough Love, Veronica Electronica - the remix companion to Ray of Light -and Bedtime Stories - The Untold Chapter, to collaborating with artists on singles such as Popular with The Weeknd and Playboi Carti and Vulgar with Sam Smith. She also dropped La Bambola (for Dolce & Gabbana – The One), a cover of the 1968 Italian song by Patty Pravo, which debuted on the World Digital Song Sales chart, a career first for Madonna.
These have all been amazing but they did not quite satiate my appetite for a brand new solo album serving dancefloor euphoria. Now, with the release of her highly-anticipated sequel to Confessions On A Dancefloor, Confessions II, Madonna has served hungry fans a full buffet - including dessert! The album sees her joining forces with the DJ with the Midas Touch, Stuart Price, who worked on 2005’s Confessions. Madonna and Price launched this new era with a distinct mission statement: "We must dance, celebrate, and pray with our bodies." Indeed, the album has a very clear message: the dance floor is the ultimate escape, a place to shake off the pressure and anxiety and reinvent yourself.
She dialed up the anticipation in April when she cleared her Instagram account and posted a teaser image of a silver speaker between her legs on her website. This was followed by the unveiling of the official album artwork - Madonna sitting on top of a large speaker in a similar pose to the original album, but with a veil covering her face - and the announcement of the release date, along with a snippet of a song titled I Feel So Free. Setting a nostalgic tone right out of the gate, the song is built around the unmistakable hooks of Lil Louis’s iconic 1989 house classic, French Kiss.
The defining pop culture crossover of the year arrived during Coachella's second weekend, when Madonna surprised everyone by joining Sabrina Carpenter on stage during her Friday night headlining set. The blonde duo performed Vogue, Like A Prayer and part of their then unreleased song and the first official single from Confessions II, Bring Your Love. The track serves up a New York-tinged slice of house and dance-pop, brilliantly sampling Inner City’s 1988 anthem Good Life and adding Sabrina’s signature breezy pop vocals.
From day one, the album's promo campaign has been relentless in the best way possible, delivering non-stop energy and surprise appearances around the world that has had us fans dancing as our excitement for the album continued to skyrocket. The campaign's biggest moment? A free, 18-minute pop-up show in Times Square. Hosted alongside Grindr, the surprise performance served a dual purpose of kicking off Pride Month and highlighting some of the new songs off the album alongside some Confessions On A Dancefloor favorites.
Then came the release of the short film, Confessions II, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. I was fortunate enough to get tickets to the event and it was beyond amazing to see the film for the first time and then to hear Madonna speak about the project (with Anderson Cooper as the moderator) for over an hour!. Directed by the cutting-edge duo David Toro and Solomon Chase (collectively known as TORSO), the film is an immersive visual work built around six of the album’s tracks that unfolds like a sleek, seductive thriller crossed with a surreal fever dream.
To keep the heat turned up ahead of the album’s release - and indeed all summer - Madonna’s 'Absolut Icon' collaboration with Absolut Vodka features a menu of spicy cocktails and donations to GLAAD. Exclusive cocktail kits, complete with etched crystal martini glasses and a stunning, translucent pink cassette, sold out instantly.
There was an incredible, old-school buzz surrounding this launch—the kind of community anticipation we haven't often seen since the pre-streaming days. Following a week-long rollout packed with global listening parties, pop-ups and teasers, the album finally arrived to critical acclaim, earning Madonna her strongest reviews in 20 years. This era has been an absolute feast for the fans, and I’m eager to see where it goes next.
My personal ranking of all 16 tracks plus the extra track on the Icon Edition of the album (SO hard because it’s such a strong album and there are zero tracks I dislike or am inclined to skip!)
17 • Hot Sauce (bonus track on Confessions II: Icon Edition)
16 • Everything
15 • My Sins Are My Savior
14 • The Test
13 • One Step Away
12 • Fragile
11 • Read My Lips
10 • L.E.S. Girl
9 • Betrayal
8 • Love Without Words
7 • Love Sensation
6 • Bring Your Love
5 • Good For The Soul
4 • School
3 • I Feel So Free
2 • Bizarre
1 • Danceteria
Comments
Post a Comment