A sequel to an album is not unheard of, but it is uncommon. Madonna returns with Confessions II, a clear sequel to Confessions from a Dancefloor, the album that pushed her back into the spotlight after her boom of quality in the 1980s. What purpose does nostalgia serve? This is a fascinating example of how a listener will want what they know but be surprised when it turns against them. There’s a lot to love about the tone of change heard across Confessions II. Madonna may be presenting an image that feels the same as her hits from before but there is a deeper meaning here that sees the pop icon refuse to pass the torch to the next generation because she still has more to give. More than the next generation, more than her previous albums, and it sounds as though she’s reignited a fire that had long simmered after Confessions from a Dancefloor was released. Bounding back into the spotlight by using a past hit is the bait and switch needed to bring a wider audience in.
Nobody is searching out new music, not like they used to. For those who know the name Madonna they’ll no doubt head into this wanting more of what they remember. What they remember is from twenty years ago and this is a follow up to that. Fairly smart to draft people in that way, especially when the music at hand is of real quality. Songs that are good for the soul is what Madonna promises and she delivers early with the aptly titled Good for the Soul. Much of Confessions II is built around carefully crafted pop-adjacent beats. They work despite the ongoing genre changes. Relatively solid experiences is what Confessions II offers, and consistently enough to make it a great piece of work. Consider the pop alternatives out right now. Nobody is close to Madonna because the bar has been lowered, not thanks to Confessions II heightening all that much. It’s refreshing to hear good pop music, and Madonna reaches greatness a few times here, but not consistently.
That dance-pop reliance is shuffled through a bounty of sub-genres. Repetitive but likeable notions from track to track. Read My Lips into Everything is nice work, one of those segues you don’t quite hear and it keeps the energy up and ongoing. Confessions II does an excellent job of that but shows it off best of all when Madonna leans into this house beat backed by venomous lyrics. Everything is best of all for that, a biting track that looks for freedom heard earlier in the album. A good chunk of Confessions II is the suggestion of secrecy, but Madonna doesn’t have all that much to hide from her listeners. A song like Bizarre doesn’t quite work because there’s no mystery prevailing, just decent instrumental work and lyrics that are on the lesser side when compared with what precedes it. Still, those striking instrumental pieces make all the difference here.
Fairly well balanced pop work which was built up well by the singles. But the rest of the album can’t deliver. It’s closer to the Carpenter collaboration in that passive yet enjoyable quality than it is to the staggering power of I Feel So Free. Confessions II comes to life in the latter moments though, and Betrayal may be one of the best Madonna songs to release this century. Not exactly the toughest set of songs but some great fun to be had here. Beyond the dedicated Madonna listener, there’s enough here to spark encouragement, that liberation that should come with pop music but what has been absent in it for so many years now. Solid work from Madonna is par for the course but it’s always nice to hear that at play, the sincerity which comes through Confessions II is genuine, and it results in some great moments.
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