Please note: with how many farkakte versions of this album there are, I will be referencing the 16-track length streaming version, as available on Spotify.
Confessions II marked a weird time in Madonna's storied career. Almost 7 years ago, her last album Madame X came and wound up being an anomaly. Madame X marked another #1 album to her name but was her first commercial release to yield no Billboard Hot 100 charting single. Cut to the anniversary re-release or some new-fangled source of "promotion" for pop acts about her 2005 album Confessions on a Dance Floor. Madonna album eras require context or "doing your homework" before you get into the latest one. Here's what went down this time.
Between MX and the 2022 dance singles compilation Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones, her Madgesty had wanted to make a biopic about her life. Then, from October of 2023 to May of 2024, she embarked on the Celebrations Tour, which was the first time she toured with just her hits. It is before this tour that the biopic had gained buzz and notoriety for having an unusually intense casting process [ask any gay friend of yours about "Madonna boot camp" and they'll fill you in.] Celebrations Tour takes attention off of the biopic and then in 2025 after returning to Warner Records [MDNA, Rebel Heart and Madame X being the Interscope but actually LiveNation era of her career], CoaDF got a re-release for streaming, which for those who didn't already buy the CD version, was a revelation as they discovered the album was supposed to be a non-stop mix.
It would not be until a feature and interview in Interview Magazine from last month, June 2026, https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/madonna-confessions-on-a-dancefloor-nadia-lee-cohen, that we find out the biopic died because in her words:
"We had a falling out, me and Universal, regarding budget because I needed—I’ve had an extraordinary life. I’ve had a huge life, so I needed a big budget."
"I found a way to make it for less money in Serbia, but I don’t think they were into the idea of—I don’t know. Maybe they just didn’t believe in me. One of their first reactions was, 'We don’t believe you’d stay in Serbia more than four days.'"
"I was in limbo when that fell apart, and then Netflix reached out to make a series. That was a whole other long process, because I couldn’t use the script I had with Universal unless I bought it from them for an extortionist’s price, even though I wrote it. Don’t ask."
Imagine telling Madonna in only so many words, that her literal life fucking story is only worth four days of filming with a major movie studio backing. That in turn led to her contacting Stuart Price [main producer of CoaDF] about new music and thus began work on her 15th studio album.
Jump to the release of the buzz single/promo single "I Feel So Free", the lead single "Bring Your Love" with current gen pop tart Sabrina Carpenter, the 2nd single "Love Sensation" and the Confessions II film on YouTube. Commercially, a small yet significant victory was achieved when "Bring Your Love" debuted and peaked at #74 on the Hot 100. That essentially saved us from a timeline where Madonna's last ever charting single was the atrocious "Bitch I'm Madonna" at #83. However, there's two things that proved Madonna at any point in time can be on her fucking game.
Case 1, the inclusion of Sabrina Carpenter in the Madonnaverse. For those like me who wondered "how the fuck is this gonna work?", all Madonna had to do was think "light as a FEATHER, stiff as a board." In other words, it took me remembering that once upon a time, Sabrina filmed the music video for her actual "oh she's up next" single "Feather" in a church and that leads to "shock and outrage" before a conspiratorial spin into the downfall of former NYC mayor Eric Adams. Religious outrage and political controversy are the easiest ways for Madonna to take note of someone, or is basically how I processed how this pairing came to be. One thing leads to another and Sabrina Carpenter ended up on a Madonna single.
Case 2, the Confessions II film. Premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival before its June 8th, 2026 release on YouTube, the film gives a primer on what Confessions II could entail. The smartest route was taken in not only reestablishing the singles released [promo and lead, making it two], but also world building around the first six songs on the album proper:
"I Feel So Free" acting as the primer for the film, "Good for the Soul" featuring pussy lasers, "One Step Away" on a table while a car crash happens later on, a dance party in "Bring Your Love" with Sabrina in the video, werk, "Danceteria" being chaos in a bathroom and a hilarious Kate Moss cameo when the words "hide the cocaine" are said and "Read My Lips" with Feid.
I mean, let's not be shocked at "Madonna" and "pussy lasers" being in the same sentence. This is the woman who on the Rebel Heart Tour used a cross shaped stripper pole to perform the song "Holy Water". This is light work for her. Speaking of light work, see shot below for proof that severe yet soft glamour has no age limit.
Meanwhile, Confessions II gained an early fan favorite in the film featured song "Danceteria". Not merely because the scene featuring it made the entire film come to life. "Danceteria" was determined to be the fan favorite, because it reinforced the steadfast dance pop sensation status Madonna has had since 1982. OK, depending on who you ask, it could very well be the group shot seen here that did it for people:
That aside, release day came and introduced listeners to an album that also has features in some capacity from French music act Stromae [of "Papaoutai" fame] and Lola Leon [her daughter Lourdes who in 2022 debuted as a pop act in her own right. She had the stage name Lolahol then which worked...even if it was short hand for and pronounced like "LOLA HOLE".] This is not the most outlandish set of features on a Madonna album as of late. Look at who the fuck showed up on both Rebel Heart and Madame X.
This brings up that on the surface, Madonna is living up to the warning in her unreleased song "History (Land of the Free)": "We all need to change...or just repeat History". Not to say this is entirely of her doing. She's been openly confronting her biggest enemy since 2012. No, not a sexist media landscape. But rather, a confounding social media landscape driven by perpetual nostalgia. Perpetual nostalgia that is actually a derivation of retrospection and in turn, the first born of her sworn enemy: time.
A forward-thinking presenting diva like Madonna in both practice and theory until 2012, actively fucking despises time and retrospection; especially when presented in a "she's desperate for relevance"/"give it up" manner. What happened in 2012 that had her confront time? MDNA. Not a goddamn one of Madonna's fans have ever forgiven that album for its horrific quality/lack of quality control. However, it's an album that had her confront time, in that hers had come to the present without being forward-thinking.
MDNA suffered the most from sounding so 2012, it was dated on arrival. Features from artists that if I typed them out would have you think "god, what an awful year 2012 was for music." While history has been kind in seeing "Masterpiece", "I'm Addicted", "Best Friend", "Girl Gone Wild", and basically none of the other singles or other album tracks as subtle career standouts, time was not kind to her here.
Retrospection was confronted on Rebel Heart, when course correction had her attempt mixing her forward-thinking presentation with elements of looking back at what brought her to the "Future" she was looking to. Then again, a secret flaw of Madonna is that she has poor understanding of polarity and juxtaposition. For fuck's sake, she's been like this since Hard Candy. Rebel Heart was famously described as her being both a rebel and a romantic. Both "Hard Candy" and "Rebel Heart" are screwy attempts at polarity and juxtaposition that can be taken down with surface value observations: a "hard candy" or at least most of them can be dissolved or made less “hard” but will still be sweet; a "rebel" can be made good and that “rebel” is subjective based on whatever that person is rebelling against but regardless are capable of romance.
Cut to Madame X and it being the result of Madonna's conundrum of musical identity, or more so, a line from a corresponding documentary The World of Madame X. In the documentary, she says the following about the initial recording phase of the album with living room sessions with local Portuguese musicians: “money had nothing to do with it; fame had nothing to do with it; Instagram followers had nothing to do with it.”
That was Madonna confronting time and retrospection as openly as she ever will. Confessions II is almost 7 years after the dust settled and she's simply going with the ebb and flow of time, no longer viewing it as an adversary. Then again, by the time her biopic bit the dust and she was raking in money from the Celebrations Tour, her outlook on retrospect and time was going to be kinder.
Something that uniquely burdens this album is the past and time bringing up CoaDF through social media powered perpetual nostalgia. Outside of whatever the fuck the internet learns about the album this time, let's be real: CoaDF is the album viewed as her best. Not in an annoying way like Ray of Light, but in a way that takes Madonna album consumption to delve into. Every album up until CoaDF has a sharp contrast between the singles and the album cuts. Especially Madonna, Like a Virgin, Ray of Light and twice as much on American Life.
The bad side of CoaDF being considered her best album? It's the one that after release, a less than subtle sentiment of "alright she can retire now" that had been boiling over since American Life. CoaDF had to come in and clean the mess that horrendous album made, but also acted as when society had called "time" on her. This made Hard Candy and her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame all the more of a giant "fuck you" to everyone, as this was about the third or fourth major time she had confronted age (another derivation of her sworn enemy, time.)
As for what works on Confessions II, it's everything with her in charge or as the lead. From straight up admitting she cannot defeat time, as she sings on "Good for the Soul": "Time is a river we cannot unwind". "One Step Away" also sees Madonna's penchant for being so close, yet "one step away" from someone she loves. "Danceteria" inadvertently becomes the second time a pop diva outright does Debbie Harry cosplay, to the listener's benefit [much like Gaga on "ZOMBIEBOY" from Mayhem.]
"Everything" is the icy, sleek club atmosphere she wanted to implement on an album from Hard Candy but has a solid foundation here. "School" is in session and its successful melding of "Justify My Love" delivery, subtle vocals and the gay club "bitch track" earns it high marks. "Fragile" being exactly what the song title says and having Madonna be both fragile and resentful of her fragility letting down her guard. And of course what happens is "Betrayal", which is basically what happens every time Madonna opens up reluctantly and is still hurt. The iciness here sells it as a more realized version of "The Power of Goodbye".
"Bizarre" is the main exception here as Martin Garrix does actually deliver on something both Italo-disco and Eurotrash at the same time. It should not work but it does! "The Test" is also a pleasant surprise as Lola delivers her best vocals on a song to date, but creates a song where mother and daughter are about as warm...OK about as honest as mother and daughter could be, but still in admiration of one another.
Basically, if you know your shit about Madonna's unreleased material, I can mention the demo of "It's So Cool" and you know exactly why this is a full circle moment.
As for "L.E.S. Girl", it makes sense as a closer if you're just viewing Confessions II as a club album. After the club comes the trip home and sleeping off all the shit one does after a night out. "Read My Lips" wasn't useless, but Feid was inessential on the song. "Love Without Words" was fine as an album cut, but whelming on an album like this isn't going to be recommended. It isn't bad, but merely whelming.
So why after all the posturing of "returning to the dance floor" or whatever the album message was in-between Grindr versions of this album existing, would I or the listener feel like it's not completely honest? Well, the answer is kind of complicated.
There's still a sense of Madonna choosing to present as an outsider looking in, but with a defensiveness that history...not time...is going to be kind to. She's been and will continue to be the bitch playing the long game with how she presents herself to the industry that has taken from and given to her with a 50.01% to 49.99% split. Even she would tell you which is which changes on different days in different ways.
15 albums in, Madonna is still singing about, love, sex, dancing in clubs and shit that ageist double standards have society say "there's a time and a place for that". That's the derivation of time that Madonna will still actively confront, even if retrospect and time by its lonesome laid their arms down. Vocally, she's always been limited but exceptionally disciplined in how she delivers them in the studio. That being something that takes time, but more importantly, technique: the derivation of time that she's actually fond of.
Overall, Confessions II has Madonna present herself, having addressed and adapted with time instead of fighting it. The highlights are more than reflective that this was a success, rewarding the listener willing to give this album the time of day. History is going to be kind to her career and how she handled certain moments in her career. As for this album's impact down the road? Time will tell.
Highlights:
- "One Step Away" 🏆🏆
- "Danceteria" 🥇
- "Love Sensation"
- "Bring Your Love"
- "Good For The Soul" 💎
- "Bizarre"
- "Everything"
- "Betrayal"
- "Fragile"
- "The Test"
- "School"
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