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Madonna delivers captivating confessions on a pulsating dancefloor in this solid follow-up to her 2005 tour-de-force

Review by Clove Mera 10 July 2026

Album released 3 July 2026

Published by Warner Records

On July 3 2026, Madonna returned to music with Confessions II, a jam-packed sixteen-track dance record guaranteed to move your body, open your mind and ultimately, remind you why Madonna is a legend. The 90's house-infused record follows 2019's Madame X and acts as a spiritual successor to 2005's Confessions on a Dancefloor. By doubling down on the latter's autobiographical themes and cleverly exchanging then-current (and still fresh) 2000s dance music sensibilities for 90s house and trance, the music industry veteran gives herself the wiggle room to produce an album which simultaneously defies comparison and meets the original's high-as-the-moon bar.

Confessions II doesn't hesitate to pivot from its spiritual predecessor's blueprint for success with its album opener serving as a perfect amuse-bouche for what's to come. The evergreen hit "Hung Up", opener for 2005's original Confessions on a Dancefloor, was a frustrated conversation about the way time seems to move for those who wait and those who don't. What followed was a set of tracks on love, career, and the world. "I Feel So Free" is, by comparison, more upfront about the album's topics of vulnerability, spirituality, and sentimentality. No ticking this time. No ABBA sample. Instead, "I Feel So Free" opens with an airy pad and rumbling bass, its captivatingly ominous mood instantly reminiscent of Cyberpunk 2077's thrilling yet perilous video game world. Like the veil Madonna wears in the album's cover art, the track is shrouded in a sonic darkness that persists through its duration until track three. Much of the track is comprised of quietly uttered soliloquies, confessing to her unlikely social insecurities: "Honestly, I wish I could be like other people", "I never know why people like me", and explains why "safety in numbers" is better than being alone with someone – which she finds "really hard".

Photo Credit: Rafael Pavarotti

It is Madonna's experienced, refined, and unique point of view which holds this album afloat through its leisurely opening act. Tracks "Good For The Soul" and "One Step Away" are tranquil and at times musically unsettling meditations on healing and connecting with reality. The former track vacillates between dark and bright energy; homilies on the link between space, nature and the soul told over cosmic trance. It's in the house-influenced chorus where the track shifts its musical key, its mood, and loses me. Madonna moans "It's good for the soul / To let down your hair and breathe in the air" in a droning, robotic tone that lingers for too long. Unfortunately, the majority of the track spends its time in this gear, including the long-winded outro.

Such is also the case with "One Step Away", a repetitive lesson on the inimitable healing that is always… one step away. Madonna offers what should be heartening words of encouragement with a register that somehow twists the delivery into an incredibly lonely, menacing sound. The track is repetitive and, after a long outro rife with moaning and murmuring, finally fizzles to a merciful end.

The journey through tracks one-three, while soporific, is kept afloat by Madonna's unique point of view – uniquely philosophical reflections that "the violence and trauma you've survived" is a necessary hardship that will ultimately set you free, charting a journey "through space and time, up to the sky, a thousand birds fly". Madonna's recipe for success of bravely pursuing her ideas off the beaten path of what's popular at the time does the trick, keeping Confessions II engaging even in its weaker moments.

Thankfully for Confessions II, it is further salvaged by balancing its (subjective) highlights and lowlights evenly. The album has no good half or bad half. Instead, it's one or two tracks I struggle with, then a prize ("Everything" to "Love Sensation", "School" to "Fragile"). It's just unfortunate the album takes three tracks and 11 minutes before it kicks into gear with "Bring Your Love".

A miraculous achievement worth praising, even in its weaker tracks, is this album's ability to flex and bend how it interprets its roots in 90s house music an album with absolutely zero similarities anywhere in its 16 tracks and 64 minute runtime.

"Love Sensation" is a pulsating, jubilant ode to love with a thumping beat and funky bass. "Fragile" is a moving tribute to the artist's late brother, reminiscing on their childhood and lamenting the strain their relationship endured late in his life. She sings, "As children we would dream/ We thought we'd run away/ And we'd be free" in a heart-piercingly high register akin to Ray of Light's opener "Drowned World/ Substitute For Love". Her voice is just as smooth here as it was then.

Finally, "My Sins Are My Saviour (feat. Stromae)" pivots into sultry tip-hop. Against a "Justify My Love" type instrumental, Madonna and Stromae sing of their resolve against those who would bring them down. Stromae's imagery of "light is the most beautiful weapon/ Love is the strongest armour" (translated from French) is particularly interesting.

Photo Credit: Rafael Pavarotti

What surprised me as a minimal feature purist is how well each feature serves its respective track on Confessions II. The original was a timeless masterpiece and its singular feature, "Isaac" is a personal favourite. For an evergreen tour-de-force album which only needed a guest singer for one track out of 12, I was of the volition that Madonna didn't need anyone's help hitting the bar she set with such little aide the first time. I was particularly curious about the reasoning for Sabrina Carpenter guesting on "Bring Your Love". Her inclusion, at face value, seemed like a very business-oriented choice due to her current popularity. Sabrina is in fact a well-chosen guest for the track's topic. Together, a music industry veteran Madonna and rising star Carpenter battle against external pressure from fans and labels, demanding, "Don't try to distract me with numbers" and declaring "I did it all for love". My only hang-up is, I wish Carpenter enunciated her words more clearly. Carpenter affects a sultry tone and consequently, phrases are slurred together throughout her parts.

Madonna rebukes a partner in the latin pop "Read My Lips", calling out the other party's destructive brokenness, "I don't believe a word that you say/ I wonder if you like it this way". Guest artist Feid's Spanish language verse suggests Madonna is just as guilty as he is. Ultimately, the two characters can't communicate. I imagine it's not accidental Madonna went bilingual with this subject matter. That, and the song's frantic percussiveness, amuses me greatly.

Madonna reinterprets the original's overarching themes of defiance, spirituality, and retrospection by shifting the focus from the sacrifices made to the unseen family conflicts she's kept from the public. "The Test" with Madonna's daughter Lola Leon is a tear-inducing candid reckoning between a mother and daughter about their regrets and the love they share for each other atop a tranquil lo-fi score. This track is so vulnerable, it felt like I was snooping on a private conversation.

I particularly like Madonna's verse, "I tried to put you on a pedestal/ You didn't ask for all the flashing lights/ I didn't think of how it could disturb/ Or how it hurt". Throughout the song, the mother and daughter are working towards mutual understanding by honouring each other's legacies and allowing themselves to both be influenced by the other and be their own unique person.

I may have already mentioned that Confessions on a Dancefloor and Confessions II are distinct enough to evade comparison, but it is worth mentioning. The original is musically stronger. Confessions II trips and stumbles, almost out of the gate, with tracks like "Good for the Soul" and "One Step Away." It takes ten minutes to truly bring the energy up to a 10. On the other hand, "Hung Up" achieved that in the first few seconds. Where Confessions on a Dancefloor has very few low points, Confessions II features blemishes such as "School," to the point it's difficult to resist skipping.

The song is woozy, as if intentionally invoking a bad trip, with an overuse of spoken singing to the point of abuse. There's a nauseating, side-chained rhythm and modulated vocals which make my head spin. And to cap it all off, this slog of a song has the most abrupt, least smooth transition of the entire record into "Fragile."

On the other hand, the weakest tracks on Confessions on a Dancefloor ("Let It Will Be", "Like It Or Not") are only a few shades inferior to the best tracks ("Forbidden Love", "Jump"). Despite this, I believe the albums are almost neck and neck in Madonna's discography because Confessions II's high highs are as high as those of its predecessor.

While it doesn't match the stratospheric bar set by Confessions on a Dancefloor, this album is distinct enough to still be enjoyable on its own. Confessions II is a fabulously rich album, generous with its variety of musicality and lyrics. Not only does it further solidify Madonna's legacy as an influential figure in pop music, it's also just a highly enjoyable album.

Confessions II is available to stream and buy right now. You can watch Confessions II - The Film on YouTube here.