Madonna is a 67 year old singer/songwriter, producer & actress from Bay City, Michigan who signed to Warner Records back in the early 80s. She would drop an eponymous debut, Like a Virgin, True Blue, Like a Prayer, Erotica, Bedtime Stories, Ray of Light, Music, American Life, Confessions on a Dance Floor & the underrated Hard Candy primarily produced by The Neptunes for the label prior to her initial departure. MDNA as well as Rebel Heart & Madame X all dropped under Interscope Records to mixed reception, but has returned to Warner for her 15th studio LP & a sequel to Confessions on a Dance Floor.
“I Feel So Free” opens with a progressive house, dance-pop, space disco, spoken word, Baltimore club, hi-nrg, progressive trance & acid house single detailing the way she feels whenever she’s on the dance floor prior to “Good for the Soul” reminding the world to take a breath or let your hair down every now & then. “1 Step Away” continues from there singing about EDM not being as superficial as most people would like to think while “Bring Your Love” featuring Sabrina Carpenter blends dance-pop, diva house, garage house & Chicago house dismisses any commentary from their detractors.
We have Madonna during “Danceteria” dedicating an entire track to the New York nightclub where her career began 4 decades ago while the only song I could’ve done without “Read My Lips” featuring Feid moderately combines dance-pop, nu disco & Latin house to sing about people being broken on the inside. “Everything” makes up for it with a Ray of Light throwback confronting someone for always bringing her down just before “Love Sensation” sings about there being nothing she can’t do with her partner over a dance-pop/French house fusion.
“Love Without Words” gets the 2nd half going embracing a diva house sound taking us through a temple of sweat & surrender while “Bizarre” sings about the unique strangeness that comes with love, recalling Sean Penn’s marriage to her in the latter portion of the 80s. “School” conceptually takes the role of a teacher & a student hoping the latter tells her he loves her despite not knowing it while “Fragile” comes through with a powerful catharsis regarding her late brother Christopher Ciccone, whom she reconciled with prior to his death.
Winding down Confessions on a Dance Floor II’s last act, “My Sins Are My Savior” featuring Stromae leans towards a more tranquil side of things in terms of sound singing in French about looking for love in unfiltered places while “Betrayal” feels like a mix of Ray of Light & Erotica, telling a story that ends in Madonna being backstabbed. “The Test” featuring Lola Leon finds the mother/daughter pairing over an alt-pop/2-step beat repairing their relationship & “L.E.S. (Lower East Side) Girl” spends the album’s final minutes remembering where she came from.
Her tenure on Interscope wasn’t all that even if MDNA along with Rebel Heart & Madame X had select moments that I still go back to now, but Confessions on a Dance Floor II marks Madonna’s return to Warner by dropping her strongest LP in 2 decades. The housier production incorporates additional elements from dance-pop, progressive house, diva house, deep house, space disco, spoken word, Baltimore club, hi-nrg, progressive trance, acid house, garage house, Chicago house, French house, nu disco, Latin house, alt-pop & 2-step similarly to it’s predecessor curated like a DJ mix so the Queen of Pop can escape from all the turmoil in her life.
Score: 4.5/5
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