Madonna Previews Upcoming “Rebel Heart” Album with Six New Tracks
Madonna is the latest high-profile victim of cyber-hackers in the entertainment industry. Earlier this month, unfinished demos of tracks purportedly recorded for her upcoming album, Rebel Heart, were leaked, and spread through the internet like wildfire. The unauthorized leaking of the demos infuriated the star, prompting her to release six tracks from Rebel Heart earlier than planned. “Unapologetic Bitch,” “Devil Pray,” “Illuminati,” “Bitch I’m Madonna,” “Ghosttown” and first single “Living for Love” are available for purchase on iTunes now.
So how are the Queen of Pop’s first new songs since her MDNA album from nearly three years ago? Well, the easy answer is if you enjoyed the uneven MDNA, perhaps you’ll like Rebel Heart, at least based on the six songs released thus far. Perhaps. Rebel Heart once again finds Madonna working with the hot DJs and producers of the moment. Diplo, Avicii, Mike Dean, SOPHIE, DJ Dahi and Blood Diamonds are among her choice of collaborators. Unfortunately none of the new songs add anything remotely essential or even interesting to Madonna’s peerless catalog of pop music. Collectively they are a massive disappointment.
“Living For Love,” as a first single, fails to generate much excitement. Featuring Alicia Keys on piano, it’s a somewhat catchy upbeat track, but lacks a truly strong melodic hook. It’s not on par with singles like “Turn Up the Radio” and “Girl Gone Wild” from MDNA – not a good sign. Compared to prior lead singles by Madonna (classics like “Hung Up,” “Music,” “Frozen,” “Like a Prayer”) it’s not in the same stratosphere. “Devil Pray” echoes faintly of much better days (there is a hint of “Like a Prayer” thematically and melodically), but the song detours into a morality session set to stale, lightweight electronica, courtesy Avicii. Much better is the apocalyptic “Ghosttown,” a mid-tempo number that at least has some passion and a bit of intensity – it’s easily the best of the new tracks. Kanye West co-produced “Illuminati,” in which Madonna tweaks conspiracy theorists who see the secret society as the world’s ultimate puppet-masters. It’s all a bit ridiculous.
The electro-reggae “Unapologetic Bitch” and the frenetic, dubstep-flavored “Bitch I’m Madonna” (featuring a high-profile appearance by Nicki Minaj) scream of desperation. They’re embarrassing. Madonna seems to be putting a higher priority on asserting her pop dominance and maintaining relevance with the current batch of vacuous Top 40 pop tarts than in releasing great music. She needs to listen to Beyoncé’s most recent self-titled album to hear what a mature, sexy, fun and innovative pop album can sound like in today’s musical climate, or to Prince’s slick, quirky new “Art Official Age” to hear how a veteran artist can successfully navigate today’s pop landscape and sound current and fresh without frantically clinging to the coattails of a younger generation. Madonna has nothing to prove; her status as an innovator and a legend in pop music is secure. Unfortunately, with her last couple of albums – Hard Candy and MDNA – she seems to have lost her way. Both albums have strong moments and neither of them are terrible by any stretch of the imagination, but they are also a long way from her best work. Madonna has become a chaser of trends, not the trail-blazer she’s been for most of her career; and the early indications with Rebel Heart are that she is continuing down this path.
So far, pop music fans appear to be responding to Madonna’s new material with indifference. As of this writing, the highest placement of the new songs is “Bitch I’m Madonna,” at #179 on iTunes singles chart. The pre-order of the album, despite prominent visible placement on iTunes, is #26. Not exactly a tsunami of excitement. But who knows? Perhaps things will change when the full album is released in March, and perhaps it will contain material stronger. Hopefully that’s the case, because judging from these six songs, Madonna is creeping dangerously close to territory that she’s never before explored: complete irrelevance.
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