Dear listeners,
I confess that I did not have particularly high hopes for the new Madonna album. With a few exceptions, the material on Madge’s last few releases mostly has been a cornucopia of cringe, leaning too much on empty provocation and trend-hopping collaborations with the hitmakers of the moment (the phrase “featuring Chance the Rapper and Mike Tyson,” which appeared in the credits of her 2015 album “Rebel Heart,” tells you just about all you need to know).
So I am delightfully surprised to report that Madonna’s new album, “Confessions II” — the sequel to her last great album, “Confessions on a Dance Floor” — is actually quite good. Structured as a kind of continuous mix, “Confessions II” is a welcoming invitation to get into the groove and stay there for its entire hourlong run-time, which serves up euphoria, camp and just the right amount of nostalgia. Yes, I did say “nostalgia”: The queen of pop reinvention is, for once, looking back, recreating the sound, spirit and settings of the underground New York clubs where she got her start in the late 1970s and early 1980s. But somewhat paradoxically, staring her past in the eyes makes her sound fresher and more alive than she has in at least 15 years.
One of my favorite “Confessions II” tracks kicks off this quick mix of notable songs released in the last week or two, which also features some atmospheric indie rock from the young British upstarts Mary in the Junkyard, fleet-fingered shredding from the bluegrass wizard Billy Strings, and lighter-than-air alt-pop courtesy of Empress Of. In just 22 minutes — roughly the time between World Cup hydration breaks — you’ll be caught up on new music.
Get on the elevator, I run into Debi Mazar,
Lindsay
Listen along while you read.
1. Madonna: “Danceteria”
Call it “Vogue 2026,” or perhaps “Vogue 1982.” Proudly quoting the whisper-cool delivery of one of her biggest smashes and vamping across a track that shape-shifts like an especially kinetic D.J. set, Madonna vividly recreates what it must have felt like to strut through the doors of the legendary Midtown nightclub Danceteria, where she hobnobbed with all the iconic scenesters she name drops here: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Debi Mazar, Nile Rodgers and Keith Haring, among others. It’s a New York history lesson disguised as a dance-floor anthem — and the freest I’ve heard Madonna sound in years.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
2. Mary in the Junkyard: “Blood”
Another album released on Friday that I’m digging is “Role Model Hermit,” the full-length debut by the alluringly strange British indie group Mary in the Junkyard. Like this enchanting single, the LP is full of off-kilter rhythms, intricate riffs and an overall air of haunted fairy-tale weirdness conjured by the vocalist and guitarist Clari Freeman-Taylor. (Yes, it’s a Hootie and the Blowfish situation: Don’t call her Mary.) I like the whimsical music video for “Blood,” too, which plays out like a kind of low-budget rom-com starring Freeman-Taylor and a yeti. How romantic.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
3. Ciara: “Yes”
Here’s a new song that celebrates a very rare phenomenon: The marital union between a pop diva and an N.F.L. star. No, not them! I’m talking about Ciara and Russell Wilson, who just celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary. To mark the occasion, Ciara released this dreamy bop that finds her still saying (and spelling out) “y-e-s” with the gusto of a new fiancée.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
4. Billy Strings: “Burn the Other End”
The psychedelic bluegrass virtuoso Billy Strings will release his latest album, “So Much for Goodbyes,” on Aug. 28. This brooding and ominous tune is the album’s first single, and among those credited with shouting the chorus’s “gang vocals” are Jack White and the album’s producer, T Bone Burnett. “Burn the Other End” possesses an essential quality that I look for in a Billy Strings song, which is that I can imagine him turning it into a 15-plus-minute jam when he plays it live.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
5. Smirk: “Cheap Greed”
“Speculative Fiction,” the dark and stormy new LP by the punk singer-songwriter Nick Vicario’s project Smirk, coats moody power-pop melodies and lacerating lyrics in the corrosive textures of ’80s underground rock. Vicario lashes out against the cruelty of consumerism on this hypnotic album highlight, which kicks into another gear with an unexpected mid-song tempo change.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
6. Empress Of: “Wild Storm”
Finally, here’s an ephemeral banger from Lorely Rodriguez, who records as Empress Of. Rodriguez wrote most of her upcoming album “Dream House,” out on Sept. 18, after her childhood home was destroyed in the Altadena, Calif., wildfires, and the experience prompted her to reflect on themes of grief and resilience. Her falsetto leads the way toward transcendence on this lovely single, which finds her weightless voice floating high above all earthly concerns.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
The Amplifier Playlist
“Madonna’s Retro Reverie and 5 More New Songs You Should Hear” track list
Track 1: Madonna, “Danceteria”
Track 2: Mary in the Junkyard, “Blood”
Track 3: Ciara, “Yes”
Track 4: Billy Strings, “Burn the Other End”
Track 5: Smirk, “Cheap Greed”
Track 6: Empress Of, “Wild Storm”
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