Haze

Life must be torture for you. Britney's career was derailed by abuse from her family, which she'll be lucky to recover from, and still she'll always be more relevant than Xtinct.

She does sleek, slinky, sexy so well. It's delicate, it hints rather than shows and is all the better for it; the sonic equivalent of someone dropping their towel and getting in a jacuzzi, inviting you along (does that make sense?). Timeless.

This banner do be lying, but there's something fun, early '10's about it -- the verses are reminiscent of One Direction (don't shoot me!) and the outro finally does justice again to her massive voice. The chorus is just there though.

Gorgeous album, but I'm also not too fond of the lyrics. No issue with the subject matter (relatability as a necessary condition is the death of art!) but I don't find her take on it particularly compelling, tbh? There's a specificity to her way of phrasing, which is great, but if it lands on a conclusion that is all in all a bit trite, it sort of pulls unnecessary focus. I think Hers before Hers is by far the most poignant of the songs lyrically, because it hints at a bit more complexity in how she views herself in a generational chain: "Nice to think that nothing my daughter will do will shock me, I'm gonna age well" is the sort of deep lyric that says so much with so little that I wish there was a little bit more of. But the melodies, the music ... gorge.

Why did I think this song was by 30H!3 all along

I think Beyoncé's career trajectory, from girl group member to solo artist to foregoing pop domination to focus on building a musical legacy, is more influential than any single album of hers, tbh. I think she did redraw the possibilities for a pop artist to go outside cultural norms and trendy music to focus on the narrative of who you are as an artist. It's a clever bit of image crafting, because she has retreated completely from the human being Beyoncé outside of what she decides to present. Everything Beyoncé you get is curated by her from the start. While I personally mourn the glimpses we got of her personality, it's fascinating and smart nonetheless.

It's one thing to say these diseases should be screened for beforehand, and another to say that they should be euthanized after birth. I get the sentiment where this is coming from, but that opens a whole can of worms: who decides what constitutes a livable life? What kind of suffering is too much? It's a slippery slope to eugenics.

As always, I'm not too invested yet because who knows when (if?) they'll release, but I trust her vision more than anything.

Your dedication to never read anything I write ... call it Love Without Words

I haven't given my full thoughts on the album yet because it has me feeling a bit wistful and emotional to hear something with this much flesh and blood in the main pop scene again. It makes me pensive about my own likings in music, because I know I stan artists who's prime are 20 to 30 years behind them, and yet still they pull me in more than almost any current pop star. But why does an artist of 67 years old looking back on her life nail what it feels like to living my current life so much better? I genuinely don't believe myself to be a reactionary person, I don't want to glorify a past that I have not consciously lived, but what has been lost in modern culture for this album to arrive as such a sensory jolt of electricity and tension, for me to think Madonna was maybe the first and the last true pop star. And I fear that there has been a real dumbing down of experience, of the words and the music to put those transitory feelings of connection (through movement, through sweat, through eyes catching each other across the club floor, to a moment arising between persons from the moment itself, unplanned and spontaneous ... connections that transcend the unerotic aesthetics of attraction that are so prevalent now, of homogenous perfection rather than uniqueness) -- and Madonna sells that experience because she lived it. She sells it because she knows abandon in the way the current crop of stars doesn't, where their self image is almost equal to their self consciousness, and everything they do or say is filtered through the possibility of it being seen and interpreted in myriad ways. In that way they cannot sell me what Madonna has sold me throughout her career and life, namely that her (way of) life is an extension of her craft, that her artistry informs the way that she is as a person and vise versa. Madonna is the dancefloor as holy place, she shapes culture because she tries to live her life forwards, not in an attempt to capture the moment, to force a narrative, but to let herself be seized by it. She makes art because she is art, I am envious of her because of the depth of her life, not what she has achieved. And Confessions II is just a testament to all that. Confident but fragile, looking back but never to retrace glory, but to push her forwards psychologically and creatively. These songs have the length and space to breathe, every 'easy' moment comes in as a moment to underline that there is a danceable joy in finding what drives you. But the highlights for me are when she taps into the spiritual and emotional keys to her work, particularly 'One Step Away' with its 'Nobody's free until they're broken' line. And I think 'Betrayal' is one of the most devastating but so effortlessly chic songs of her career. ( @Démodé since you wanted to know my (pretentious as always) thoughts. )

The vocal arrangements with the angel witches at 4:40 ... stunning. Though this song does not need them the whole way through.

I think my favourite thing about this album is how everything has space to expand. Pop music in the streaming age almost always tries to make the most out of every second, cramming as much vocals and production flourishes into the tightest of spaces, but it is antithetical to dance music, and I love how Madonna just luxuriates in her soundscape here. There's room for a feeling to take hold; it's a sensory and sensual experience as opposed to a quick rush.

Now if I would've know The Wind would've gotten anywhere near the top, I wouldn't have talked about f*cking ringworm. Anyway, I love Rid of Me, but ever since hearing the live version the others just won't do. And I lowkey hate that! But as a Tori stan, that's also just part of the deal of listening to terrific musicians. This rate was a wonderful deeper dive into her work for me. I've grown really, really fond of her over the past months, in which my chronic illness had me locked inside my home. She's a wonderful companion for your darkest thoughts nnn. I find her a very healing voice because she just loves to roll around in filth of humanity and find some beauty in it. Thank you for the rate, @HonourableVomit. Loved your write ups, always great to have a fan guide you through an artist's work. Keep writing about music @Kabrona, it was lovely to read.

Rid of Me's brilliance is just not captured on the album recording

Top 2 are fantastic songs, but they would not have been in my top ten.