Madonna - Confessions 2

Welcome to Club Madonna

In 2003 Madonna released her folk-tronica euro-techno American Life album that no one asked for. Even rabid fans would struggle to name one of its four singles, and it felt as though Madonna had paddled so far from her New York shore that her waves were farewell and not for help. Her Bond theme Die Another Day that only succeeded in failing to have a tune did little to help.

Madge has always found male collaborators, from Jellybean and Shep Pettibone and Stephen Bray to Nile Rogers, Babyface and Mirwais to hone her vision with varying success. In 2005 Stuart Price was relatively unknown unless you had an ear for 80s electro pop of his Zoot Woman project and eyed up the production credits of the Killers’ Mr Brightside. He gave Madonna the lifeline she needed with the pristine 80s electro throwback and 90s dance of Confessions on a Dancefloor with joyous references to to ABBA, Pet Shop Boys and, well, herself. It has become the text book example of ‘back to form’ and sold squillions of copies and saved Madonna from the dumper.

She used her rediscovered success to start paddling away from shore again with the muddled albums of Madame X, MDNA and Hard Candy and the underrated Rebel Heart. So, in need of another comeback - surely the last, unless she’s planning to resurrect herself from the dead - she has recruited Stuart Price again for a sequel: Confessions 2.

It’s set the controls for the dance floor, via self help books and impulsive airport departures purchased Buddhism set to diamond cut synth stabs, the puff of dry ice caught in the spotlights and the brief victory of nightlife over TicTok; it’s all whispered suggestion and pulsing echoes of early house and electronica. Madonna has never really stopped celebrating dance and abandon found amongst the strobes and snatched glances of the nightclub. She might be old enough to qualify for a bus pass and a scaffolding banister to her front door, but her voice hasn’t aged.

As with its predecessor it’s a continuous mix: a DJ set comprised entirely of Madonna songs. If cheeky suggestion didn't exist then nor would Madonna, no one has based a career so firmly on a wink. She’s been constantly whispering over the years, hey, I got something to tell you, or d’you wanna know what I’m thinking? In 1994 she even wrote song called secret which is Madonna on the nose. She repeats the trick here on Bring your love with Sabrina Carpenter, over its chunky beats Madonna purrs I got something I wanna talk about, without ever saying what.

I feel so free repeats the trick of Hung up with a genius sample, this time not ABBA but from an early house record French Kiss by Lil Louis, it’s a stomping, precision-tooled monster. One step away is another blissful example of how hard she and Price have worked on this. it’s sexier than Italians do it better with cheeky strings and a charming hypnotic groove. As with a lot here it sounds like she’s been listening to Got to have your love by Mantronix from 1989.

Danceteria is nostalgia for identikit nights at the New York bar, on the floor and on door. It drops all artifice and pumps with the heart that has propelled her through 40 years of music and most certainly business. You can hear Jellybean and Arthur baker and Pettibone, breakdance references, and even a Vogue (which is effectively a rewrite of ) name call list . Why are lists so cool in songs ? Stand up Beloved’s Hello and Pet Shop Boys’ I want a dog.

It’s surpassingly personal but you have to listen carefully Fragile refers to the death of her brother, while Betrayal aims firmly at her step-mother. It’s basically Freud set to steam-piston 4am electronica when most women her age are cursing at waking up when Madonna is still awake; or at least singing about it.

It’s starts to stumble with Everything, which is the sound of mouth clearing to an EDM pre-set. Annoyingly it flirts with early classic Madonna strings that never fully take hold . It’s saved by the 70s riffs of Love Sensation , which is bench-pressing more than Kylie’s Spinning Around but is it as good?

Love without words is the sound of robots swirling down a plug hole, while Bizarre is another stand out . It’s this album’s How high , with its own dirty little secret . It’s tighter than a miser’s pocket but with a looseness sometimes missing here. School, feels like one innuendo too far and should be made to stand in the corner for not trying hard enough. It’s a real clunker. My sins are my saviour is the last good song on an album four songs too long. It sprinkles some of 1992s Erotica via Ray of light and should really end the album.

Confessions 2 is a return to form that fails to beat the original. As with most sequels it’s beefed up the original’s Spin and Shred class to Special Forces Under Fire Uber Hit. On LES Girl Madonna reminisces about struggling to pay the rent, but you know she’s forgotten what it really feels like. And with it’s final ‘everything fades away, Except for you, you, you, you’, there’s the sense it might be the inevitable full stop, although with Madonna it’s hard to tell; she’s not keen on letting go.