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Madonna
CONFESSIONS ON A DANCE FLOOR
(Maverick/Warner)
Sometimes Madonna wants to talk party politics. And sometimes she just wants to party.
It's not hard to guess which takes priority on her 14th disc Confessions on a Dance Floor. Nor is it hard to guess why. 2003's American Life was arguably her most socially conscious effort. Not coincidentally, it was also one of her biggest duds -- her first album without a Top 10 hit. After that kind of setback, it's no wonder the dancing queen is getting back into the groove.
Granted, there are two ways to look at Confessions: You could see it as a welcome return to form by a beloved dance-pop icon. Or you could view it as a calculated retreat by an aging diva -- as a 47-year-old wife and mother of two, Madonna's pop-sexpot days seem numbered -- clutching at the strands of her fading glory. Whatever.
Either way, there's no denying Confessions is The Material Mom's grooviest set in nearly a decade, with a dozen interwoven cuts that upgrade the hypnotic grooves of classic disco with the laptop manipulations and glitch-bloopery of electronica. Let's take it one song at a time:
Hung Up | 5:36
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"Time goes by ... so slowly," chants Madonna over a tick-tocking clock. Things move a bit quicker here, as a galloping bass lick, a sugary Abba sample and phasers set on swoosh work their magic -- while Madonna works the whole telephone / fixation metaphor.
MADONNA-EST LYRIC: "Ring ring ring goes the telephone / The lights are on but there's no one home."
SOUNDS A BIT LIKE: Blondie's Heart of Glass.
Get Together | 5:30
Cue the dry ice as swirly keyboards set the mood. "It's an illusion," croons Madonna -- though the "you-zha-you-zha" echo sounds like a Kaballah chant. Meanwhile, the glitchy textures, stuttery beat, throbbing buzz and icy blips provide cool counterpoint to lyrics about love at first sight being impossible -- not that Madonna cares.
MADONNA-EST LYRIC: "If it's bitter at the start, then it's sweeter in the end."
Sorry | 4:43
Strings strike a sombre tone as Maddy says sorry in several languages. As a funky octave-jumping bassline crossfades in, she offers yet another chant -- "I've heard it all before." (Indeed. We are sensing a pattern here.) Eventually, an uncluttered four-on-the-floor backbeat garnished with almost subliminal strings helps focus your ears on Madge's wronged-woman accusations.
MADONNA-EST LYRIC: "Don't explain yourself cause talk is cheap / There's more important things than hearing you speak."
Future Lovers | 4:51
As a glitchy phased sequencer lays down the beat and string synths splash about, Madge announces she's "gonna tell you about love." And she does -- but the vulcanized techno fuzz, the spaced-out whoosh and the breath-in-your-ear vocals create a planetarium-porn vibe.
MADONNA-EST LYRIC: "Forget your problems / Administration, bills and loads." Administration?
SOUNDS A BIT LIKE: Ray of Light.
I Love New York | 4:11
Synth squiggles and tympani bursts accent a straight-line beat with a menacing bass rumble. A ringing melody flits about, a pick scrapes a guitar neck, and Madonna coos a simple, catchy chorus about her fondness for New Yor-or-or-or-ork. If only somebody had the foresight to put it on a T-shirt.
MADONNA-EST LYRIC: It's a tie! "I don't like cities but I love New York / Other places make me feel like a dork" is hard to top -- but "If you don't like my attitude, then you can F off / Just go to Texas, isn't that where they golf?" just might do it.
Let it Will Be | 4:18
Layers of lush, staccato strings give way to a bouncing-ball beat, with bleepy punctuation and swishy effects sprinkled between sing-song vocals about accepting fate.
MADONNA-EST LYRIC: "Just let it be." Speaking words of wisdom, she is.
SOUNDS A BIT LIKE: Bananarama.
Forbidden Love | 4:22
The synths moan like whales, a vocorder intones the chorus and a twitchy groove takes hold. But even the swelling keys, swooping melody and hot-buttered blips can't divert us from the big question: What kind of lovin' could Madonna find forbidden?
MADONNA-EST LYRIC: "Just one look from your eyes was like a certain kind of torture."
SOUNDS A BIT LIKE: Popcorn.
Jump | 3:46
Sadly, not a Van Halen cover. Instead, the popping synths continue atop a rubbery beat with a punchy bass, well-placed tom-toms and sweetly stabbing strings. Meanwhile, Madonna reminds us yet again that time is a-wasting and you'd better get moving before it's too late. So, you know, might as well jump. Jump!
MADONNA-EST LYRIC: "Life's gonna drop you down like the limbs of a tree / It sways and it swings and it bends until it makes you see."
SOUNDS A BIT LIKE: Into the Groove, but darker.
How High | 4:40
A no-frills techno beat lays down a lockstep groove, while chilly tones, cymbal washes, tom-tom fills and vocorder lines back up Madonna's processed musings on the pointlessness of being rich, successful and famous (a sure sign you've been rich, successful and famous too long).
MADONNA-EST LYRIC: "It's funny how everybody mentions my name / They're never very nice."
Isaac | 6:03
Every Madonna disc has to have a controversial track. Isaac has done the job this time, inspiring charges of blasphemy for using the name of a prophet for profit. Esther counters it's named for the Hebrew singer on the cut. Either way, with its sensual Middle Eastern vibe, rabbinical chatter and plucked-string melody, it's the disc's warmest, earthiest and most nakedly spiritual track.
MADONNA-EST LYRIC: "Remember, remember / Never forget."
Push | 3:57
The languid desert groove continues, laced with Indian percussion, hypnotically pulsing strings, watery bass gurgles, ringing bells and sandstorm whooshes to increase the steamy languor.
MADONNA-EST LYRIC: "Every move I make, every step I take, everything I do, it's all because you push me." Or perhaps because Sting will be watching you?
SOUNDS A BIT LIKE: Every Breath You Take -- if The Police were from Morocco.
Like it or Not | 4:31
Closing with a bang instead of a whimper, Madge takes a defiant lyrical stand over a bouncy shuffle fuelled by a boogie-based bass line and flecked with fake handclaps, Painted Black acoustic guitar arpeggios and whistling effects.
MADONNA-EST LYRIC: Another tie: "I'll be the garden, you be the snake / All of my fruit is yours to take" is the funniest -- but "This is who I am / You can like it or not / You can love me or leave me / Cause I'm never gonna stop" says it all.