Nog meer nieuws... enne ik krijg er steeds meer zin in!
From Rolling Stone's Rock N Roll Daily:
Madonna has managed to keep most details about her still-untitled follow-up to 2005's Confessions on a Dance Floor (due April 29th) under wraps, but Rolling Stone got an early listen to five tracks today and some behind-the-scenes info from producer Nate "Danja" Hills.
Fans who worried that Madonna might be losing inspiration as she approaches fifty need not be concerned. The new album takes a few steps away from the hyper-polished future disco of Confessions toward a more urban-oriented, thumpy funk, featuring production by Timbaland and Pharrell, as well as collaborations with Justin Timberlake. Danja says he worked on the album in London, and that Madonna indicated “she just wanted uptempo, dance, club [sounds] and everything to have a hip-hop underlining.” He adds that Madonna was easy-going and frequently in the studio putting in long hours alongside himself, Timbaland and Timberlake: “She would come in and sit in her chair in the corner and just vibe with us.”
The record’s first single is "4 Minutes to Save the World," the track Timbaland partially debuted during a Philadelphia Christmas concert in December. "4 Minutes" has a bit of a marching band aesthetic as blasting brass play a scale-like riff, a hard, clanging beat enters and Madonna sings that the "road to hell is paved with good intentions." Timberlake and Madonna trade verses, and he appears on the chorus, doing his best Michael Jackson impression while quickly crooning, "We've only got four minutes to save the world." The track ends after a brief breakdown where everything drops out but one of Tim's signature Bhangra beats, some stabs of brass and Madonna’s urgent tick-tock’s. It's a loud, busy, energetic track that is apparently getting an equally adventurous video: As previously reported, the clip (which is still being completed) is directed by hot French duo Jonas & François (Justice’s “D.A.N.C.E.”). Timbaland makes an appearance, and Madonna and Timberlake play superheroes tackling physical obstacles.The clip features choreography by Jamie King, who worked on Madonna's Confessions, Re-Invention and Drowned World tours as well as her video for Confessions' "Sorry."
The Pharrell-produced "Candy Store" opens with a big beat and Madonna’s invitation to "Come on in to my store, I got candy galore." The track is pretty bare on the verses, but there's a flash of brassy soul on the chorus when harmonies join Madonna singing, "I'll be your one stop (one stop) candy shop." The track is punctuated with throbbing breaks filled with hypnotic synths, and Pharrell jumps on the mike for a brief rhyme.
The most lyrical of the five songs is "Miles Away," a wistful tune about a long-distance relationship with a melody that resembles Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds, an album Danja says Madonna admired. "We would come up with a track and him and Madonna would come and do lyrics and melody together," Danja explains. The song opens with a quickly strummed acoustic guitar, then a stuttering beat drops in and the track slowly swells until it’s filled with atmospheric synths. "You always seem to have the biggest heart when we're 6,000 miles apart." Madonna sings grandly, lamenting, "I guess we're at our best when we're miles away." The song has a more airy aesthetic compared to the heavy beats on other tracks, which reflects its more emotional lyrics.
The track that sounds most like a more urban, edgy continuation of Confessions is the excellent "Give It to Me," which bumps along to a thick synth tone Danja employed on Britney Spears' Blackout. It's an aggressive, clubby track with a raw, house-y beat that’s ripe for remixing, and Madonna sings, "When the lights go down and there's no one left I can go on and on." It ends after a fast, killer breakdown where she chants "Get stupid" over a xylophone chime as the beat builds into a frenzy and she proclaims, "Give it to me / No one's gonna stop me now."
The dance floor theme returns again on "Heartbeat," which boasts a thumping hip-hop beat with a sandpaper shuffle and twinkling Eighties-reminiscent synths. Madonna opens up her voice more, singing, "Can't you see when I dance I feel free / Which makes me feel like the only one the light shines on." The song features a brief rap breakdown that recalls Nelly Furtado's chanty "Promiscuous" ("See my booty get down," Madonna speak-sings), but returns to its clubby roots in the end.
EN
Now that you heard it from the Music Bible itself, let's get back to where you heard it first. It was more than one year ago - January 2007 - and on MadonnaTribe you read some exciting new info about a new Madonna album that will be soon in the making as we happily broke the news about Madonna recording materials with producer Pharrell Williams, to make an hip-hop influenced album, that would put her in the American mainstream for a change.
Nine months later - November 18 - and M-Tribe had a chance to report the first detailed info about six tracks from the new album recording sessions. It was then when you first heard about a song called "4 Minutes to save the World" - an upbeat and very catchy hip-hop Madonna/Justin Timberlake duet, and the beautiful "Miles Away" - a song that has "hit" written all over it, full of acoustic guitars, uptempo and with Justin on backing vocals again (the song structure may recall "Love Profusion", but it's much better, we had the chance to report at the time).
Rolling Stone talks about five songs from their exclusive first listen, but you actually heard more about the Madonna/Timbaland/Timberlake collaborations in the new album as M-Tribe had the chance to report insider's talks about "Dance Tonight", a cool disco track inspired by the classic of the late 70's and early 80's, an amazing ballad called "Devil Wouldn't Recognize You", and "Across The Sky", another very cool song that eventually did not make the final cut of the album - and yes, those are all M/T/T's babies.
We also told you how "Give it to me" - a cool uptempo hit produced by Pharrell Williams - sounds like, and reported that this very catchy uptempo song reminds of early Madonna tracks from the "pre-Madonna era" such as "Love on the run". The song's break is very strange, stopping suddenly while Madonna says "Don't Stop It" and the male voice, probably Pharell himself says "to the left, to the right".
MadonnaTribe also reported news we heard about Madonna's new record containing a song titled "Ring My Bell", which is not a cover of the popular 1979 disco song by Anita Ward but a totally new and original track.
You also heard here that the new album will also have another unexpected collaboration, because when Madonna was putting the finishing touches to her CD at RecordPlant studios in L.A. Kanye West was recording his own stuff in the next room: a fortunate coincidence that brought the rapper to temporarely switch from the King to the Queen of Pop... and you'll find out how cool it works when you'll listen to the brand new "Beat Goes On".
Speaking of surprises, you may have spotted here the news about Madonna digging back her love for Latin culture as she will be singing again phrases in Spanish in one of her new album tracks, going to give Spanish lessons and explaining the English meaning of Spanish phrases such as "te quiero" (I Love you), "callate" (shut up), "besame" (kiss me), and many more.
Yesterday Rolling Stone reported about another track they heard called "Heartbeat", and we've been told that the song is yet another Pharrell production: yes, from what we hear the guy has seven songs out of 12 on the album as it is compiled now (or should we say "up to eight"...) while Timbaland and Timberlake "stop" at five (and by the way, it's "Candy Store" eventually, no shop anymore, even if somehow you already know all about it).
Something else you happened to read first here as well was the news about Steven Klein and Giovanni Bianco teaming up with Madonna again for the photo session and artwork of her new CD, with a photoshoot that took place in London right before Xmas.
And in case you happen not to remember that we got the Jonas directing her new video wrong (oops, not Jonas Akerlund but Jonas & François) well, erm... we don't mind (sorry again, folks!).
Get your voices ready to sing along, because Madonna's new album is incredible.
Nothing takes the past away like the future!