Madonna’s back: Queen of Pop’s new dance album wins over critics

Madonna’s new album begins with a whisper: “Sometimes, I like to just hide in the shadows, create a new persona, a different identity. I can be whoever I wanna be.”

She’s long been known as the queen of reinvention, but for Madonna’s 15th studio album, it’s more of a return to form.

Confessions II, which was released Friday, takes everything that made its 2005 precursor, Confessions on a Dance Floor, a critical success and finds a way to make it feel fresh again.

London’s Stuart Price again serves as the primary producer; more nostalgic dance floor beats are served up in a continuous mix; and autobiographical songwriting takes listeners back to Madonna’s early years in New York City — before she was famous.

The formula seems to be working, because critics at Rolling Stone and Variety are calling it her best work in decades.

Pitchfork even went so far as to call it “a genuinely vital addition to her canon.”

‘Madonna as a memoirist’

The 67-year-old pop star has not had an easy go of it lately. Her last album, Madame X, released in 2019, received a less-than-enthusiastic reception.

It debuted with the equivalent of 95,000 sales in the United States, according to Nielsen, but many of those sales were part of a bundled deal where fans got a free copy when they bought concert tickets.

Since then, she has survived what she described as a life-threatening bacterial infection, resulting in sepsis, that left her unconscious for four days in 2023.

The following year, her brother Christopher Ciccone died of cancer.

She had also been working on a script for a biopic she told Interview magazine was killed over a budget dispute.

One high note, however, was the 2023-2024 greatest hits Celebration tour, which saw Madonna revisiting her back catalogue to the delight of fans worldwide.

“This is Madonna as a memoirist. This is Madonna as a storyteller,” said music journalist Emilie Hanskamp, when speaking to CBC Radio’s Commotion about Confessions II.

“It is a return to form in so many ways. But I also find it to be incredibly reflective, deeper in a sense of the themes that she’s investigating and kind of grappling with across this album.

“Yes, you’re sweaty on the dance floor, but she’s talking about her trauma, her past relationships, her brother, her loss, her relationship with her daughter. “

The song getting the most positive attention from critics is Danceteria. A love letter to the iconic early 1980s nightclub in New York City by the same name. In it, Madonna reminisces about being a young girl from the Midwest dazzled by the stars in the club and the DJ playing her demo tape — a moment that helps start her career.

Playing to a loyal audience

Confessions II earned 13.07 million streams in its first full day of release on Spotify, according to chartdata, and it immediately soared to No. 1 on the iTunes Top Albums the moment it was released.

Her diehard fans were primed for this moment, starting just days after Confessions II was announced, when Madonna joined Sabrina Carpenter on stage at Coachella during her Friday headlining set in April.

The pair performed Vogue, Like a Prayer and a song from the new album featuring Carpenter, called Bring Your Love.

Madonna told the crowd it was a full circle moment, harkening back to when she performed songs from Confessions on a Dancefloor for the first time 20 years ago at Coachella.

A week later, she took over the gay dating app Grindr, offering an exclusive vinyl of the new album to Grindr users, and giving them access to other exclusive content, including streaming access to a Pride-themed pop-up performance in New York City.

A news release from Grindr said “Madonna knows exactly who moves culture forward — the gays. We don’t just lay back and listen, we decide what matters. We break artists, build scenes, breathe life into music, and turn songs into anthems. We always have.“