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Madonna has released her new album. It’s dance music, and it’s good. A woman who’s always been one step ahead of her time.
It’s late 1984, and I hear Madonna’s «Like a Virgin» playing on the radio for the first time. My reaction: well, yeah. A decent song, but it’s a slow start. Madonna chose a year to launch her career that was marked by incredibly big hits. Don Henley’s «The Boys of Summer» was playing nonstop, Prince is setting an entire movie theater ablaze with «Purple Rain,» the Boss is singing about an America that no longer trusts itself in «Born in the U.S.A.,» U2 is sending «Pride (In the Name of Love)» out into the world, The Cars have an entire generation in tears with «Drive,» and Van Halen is blasting out of every radio with «Jump.» In this deluge, Madonna’s first big song gets lost on me. Yet even then, it should have been clear: Here comes the Queen of Pop.
What followed is history. «Into the Groove,» «Papa Don’t Preach,» «Vogue,» «Like a Prayer.» Madonna reinvents herself every few years, from ballerina to flamenco cover girl, to disco icon, to cowgirl. Then, in 2005, «Confessions on a Dance Floor,» her biggest dancefloor statement and masterpiece.
Twenty-one years later, she’s now delivering the official sequel. Sixteen songs, about an hour long, packed with disco and house. Producer Stuart Price is back on board, along with guests like Sabrina Carpenter, Stromae, and her daughter Lola Leon. At 67, Madonna takes the dance floor with such youthful energy and playfulness that you momentarily forget how long she’s been doing this. Critics are already hailing the album as her strongest in two decades. Not the best album of her career overall, but truly strong, with absolutely no compromises. If this were a debut, the artist would become a superstar overnight! Straight to the top!
There aren't any official tour dates for 2027 yet. But Madonna has hinted that «something bigger» is coming after the summer. Fans can hold out hope. So am I.