How sexy is a pop star really allowed to be? Not very, if recent controversies about the male gaze are anything to go by. Serving sexuality must be completely asexual to be socially permissible. Sabrina Carpenter’s album cover was derided for outfitting the singer-songwriter in a leash being dogwalked. Charli XCX’s “Wink Wink” music video seems like a response to these kinds of criticisms—putting self-pleasure back into the zeitgeist. But even Olivia Rodrigo’s babydoll dresses have titillated naysayers and prudes who say she’s feeding into Lolita fantasies.
As always, Madonna was ahead of the curve. Her 1992 BDSM-heavy coffee table book Sex featured watersports, nipple piercings, leashes, and plenty of power play. The uproar was instant. “Madonna has overstayed her welcome,” Spin proclaimed—a sentiment that would echo for decades. “Did I say something true? Oops, I didn’t know we could talk about sex,” she sings on the slinky “Human Nature” before declaring, “I’m not sorry. It’s human nature.” The video features Madonna all tied up.
In the years since, Madonna has championed the power of femininity and a post-genital expression of sexual fulfillment. Carnal ferocity and erotic aches can come in many shapes and forms. She heads to the dance floor to find transcendence, not just lust. Madonna’s sexuality has never solely been for the eyes of men, though. If it were, she would’ve stopped making music a long time ago.
The Return of the Queen
It’s not surprising, if it is funny, that Grindr has been a primary sponsor for Madonna’s new album. Confessions II serves as a spiritual sequel to the diva’s last great album: 2005’s Confessions on the Dance Floor. Even when Madonna has stumbled, her gay fans have lifted her up—buying and streaming even the flops and uneven singles. After a legendary run—from “Like a Virgin” to “Vogue” to “Ray of Light”—she started to stumble after the earthly 2000s. American Life was widely panned, and her turn towards bubblegum pop and EDM on albums like Hard Candy, MDNA, and Rebel Heart were seen by many as a washed-up woman holding on to her youth too hard. 2019’s experimental Madame X was hard to parse for mainstream audiences—too many collaborators and not enough hooks.
Everyone, except the gays. Now, nostalgia be damned, everyone is ready for the pop star’s comeback. The album, which resulted from a scrapped biopic, has garnered critical raves from Shaad D’Souza at Pitchfork to fawning interviews with Graham Norton and Bob the Drag Queen. Madonna’s back, the chorus cheers. And she is. The album is an infectious summation of her career to date. The epic music video that premiered at Tribeca Film Festival is a star-studded celebration that even lets new actresses play the role of Madonna. Julia Garner, who appears in the visual album, was originally slated to play the star in the scrapped biopic.
A Manifesto for the Club
Yet the dance-turned-megastar seems happy to turn the praise around. “Everyone here is a work of art,” she sings on “Danceteria,” a stand-out pulsing track that name-checks Keith Haring and former boyfriend Basquiat while describing how Madonna got her demo played at the titular club. It’s the closest thing she’s written to a biography and it’s an infectious manifesto for the power of the club. Her melodies are sharper, her phrasing more direct than on fuzzy albums like MDNA or Rebel Heart. “Everybody get up and dance,” she demands, simultaneously bringing to mind her first single—”Everybody.” These callbacks are an essential component to Confessions II’s success.
Club music and its aesthetics were a big part of the first Confessions, so it’s nice to see Madonna return to her roots. Both records relied heavily on the production of Stuart Price, who’s never steered his queen wrong. There is still nothing like walking around the city listening to “I Love New York,” “Like It Or Not,” or “Get Together.” Her music, from the sunny Kabbalah on Ray of Light to the sweet sunshine of Music, alternates exuding a soft femininity and a powerful, barreling womanhood. She has, at this point, gone through so many reinventions that she’s practically invented the blueprint for female popstars.
“School” seems to be the origin of a meme going around about an older woman finding you on the dancefloor to tell you all the life lessons she’s learned. It’s a role she’s played since the Truth or Dare documentary where she tries to help her dancers balance work and their private lives, all while dealing with her own family struggles. “Please someone teach me something I don’t know,” she begs on the disco-infused techno song. “School is in session,” a voice croons before Madonna raps over a house beat. This exemplifies the carefully dialed recipes throughout the record—taking cues from Europop, drum and bass, synth and clashpop, and trip hop.
As the album winds down, Madonna turns inward for some real confessions including “Fragile,” a moving song reflecting on the passing of her brother Christopher and their tumultuous relationship. Yet while going into the pain, she doesn’t lose her musical focus. It’s the kind of pain that requires dancing through. The Arca co-produced song “The Test” finds Madonna and her daughter Lourdes singing about their bond and the threat of the tabloids. “I’m not the same when I’m hanging on your coattails,” Lourdes sings. Their voices melt together gorgeously. Lourdes’ voice is smokey and thrilling, a bolt of light that re-energizes the record before the final song.
Our society enjoys writing off the sexuality of older women. The cherub. The cherub cherub who sang “Material Girl,” “Papa Don’t Preach,” and “Like a Virgin,” has become a mother with adult children. She’s faced grief and loss and undergone surgery. She’s still dancing in Times Square, but she isn’t quite delivering the same showmanship that someone like Sabrina Carpenter brings when the two perform their duet “Bring Your Love” together. It’s an interesting choice for a successor—yet their early careers revolved on fun, frothy, sexy hits. “Espresso” could easily have been a big song in the 80s. Few have had the longevity that Madonna has. Her stamina is inspiring. A workaholic who can still dance her ass off on stage.
Where would we be without Madonna? Would we still be so touchy about sex if she hadn’t tried to teach us? She reminds us that the things we take for granted—the erotic, the dance floor, techno—are “thresholds.” What we do with these rituals is up to us.