Madonna issuing a sequel to one of her most notable albums over twenty years later, it’s a sign of the times. Confessions on a Dance Floor oozed disco thrills and dance floor spills. Recapturing that for the next generation is, by the sounds of I Feel So Free, not as hard as first thought. Pooling the resources that made Confessions on a Dance Floor together again for Confessions II means profiling the changes to nightlife across the world. Little has changed. The fundamentals remain the same. People will still dance and drink and devolve, or evolve in some instances, when the music takes them. Madonna has found herself feeling for a scene which has lost its momentum. Not because there is less love for dancing and flooring but because the world is still reeling, still building back to those spots of light and life in the independent scene. I Feel So Free is a reminder of that spirited scene, and it’s a staggering return to form for the pop sensation.
Blurring that classic pop tone with the house style provides clear evidence as to how well Madonna understands the changes to the genre. This is not a trip down memory lane, far from it. I Feel So Free pushes for a classy, contemporary sound and gains it with its spoken-word interjections, the catchy and well-mixed beat, and that feeling of freedom and liberation, which is what Madonna has offered with the best of her songs. Seven years on from her last studio venture, and it sounds as though Madonna has taken stock of what makes pop work once again. Few songs can both manage a return to form and become an endlessly replayable piece of work, but Madonna has done just that with I Feel So Free. Her “thanks for coming” opener is a bold gamble, backed by the new persona and subsequent instrumental thrill. It’s a brief and necessary explainer to how Madonna views the pop music scene.
Persona is everything. If it’s not an era or image, it’s not enticing. There needs to be a multimedia presence from an artist now to make a go of the pop music scene. Flash visuals, the right interview spots, it’s not enough to release the music anymore, and it’s refreshing to hear Madonna has done away with this idea of a new image and, instead, revived an old one. That is, in turn, an image in of itself, but Madonna has worked hard to remove the nostalgia bait that could have come to light with such a decision. Nostalgia is hard to capture anyway, and when it’s distributed by the old guard, it doesn’t sound all that convincing because their voice is different or the instrumental style has changed. Embracing the change is what Madonna does with I Feel So Free, a fantastic commentary on how much should be changing, and yet how little has for the genre.
Few are going to push or pursue a new sound actively, and doing so does not have to be an event. There are no confines or boundaries that an artist should or should not be beholden to. I Feel So Free is a critique of such a way of thinking, and a powerhouse one at that. There are bold artists still working in pop music now, but their message can often be distilled to a single notion or comment. Madonna, too, fell foul of this, but has banked some exceptional goodwill with I Feel So Free because the meaning is genuine, the mix is incredible, and the desire at the heart of the song feels sincere. That’s all we can ask of our pop music heroes, and it’s what Madonna has managed to offer up here. She may dress I Feel So Free and Confessions II as a new era, or this link to the past, but truth be told, it’s just quality pop work from a legend of the genre.
