On her most vital album in over two decades, pop music’s grande dame proves she still knows how to make us move

****

Madonna has been called the “Queen Of Pop” since the mid-’80s, and for good reason; it suits her regal demeanour as well as her pre-eminent place on the musical landscape. But only in recent years has she seemed comfortable as a legacy-curating grande dame. First, she tried to tell her origin story in a Hollywood biopic that has since been shelved. Then, she and her musical director Stuart Price weaved her gleaming discography into a career-spanning narrative on 2023-2024’s ‘The Celebration Tour’.

Now comes ‘Confessions II’, a concerted sequel to her last great album, 2005’s pulsating club opus ‘Confessions On A Dance Floor’. Once again, Madonna has co-written and co-produced the lion’s share with Price, though there are also contributions from avant-pop musician Arca and The Rolling Stones producer Andrew Watt. And, as with ‘Confessions I’, as it now seems acceptable to call the 2005 album, the entire 63-minute record is structured like a DJ set with no breaks between tracks.

Full review available at NME