Madonna is back. And with everything. At 67 years old, instead of sitting around watching the wheels go round and round, she gave a new and unexpected second wind to her career that has her reinstated in the musical conversation with a great moment. Something that perhaps hadn’t happened since Hang Up (2005), the dance single from her album Confessions on a Dance Floor.
Read more Koke Núñez and Entremares ignite the scene with “A Besitos,” their new romantic northern cumbia
Even, rewinding the tape a bit, we can find that her closing of the 90s was particularly good, with the excellent Ray of Light(1998) and the start of the new millennium found her in good shape with Music (2000) and American Life(2003). But since the mentioned Confessions, her career has gone through rather uneven albums.
The truth is that her new album Confessions II—precisely evoking her 2005 album—has put her back at the top, reminding the world that she is still very relevant. The most tangible proof of this is that the full-length debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, showing she is still in great shape.
“There are no words to express how grateful and surprised I am by the incredible reception that Confessions on a Dance Floor has had!” she wrote on her Instagram account.
The singer also thanked her fans and “everyone who has been part of this and helped make this dream come true. Especially my fans. The goodwill and positivity have been incredible. I still pinch myself [to believe it]. I can’t believe it’s #1 worldwide.” Surely it’s a feeling the diva had lost from her skin.
Aligned with today’s trend, the album features collaborations with other artists, such as Feid, Martin Garrix, her daughter Lola Leon, Stromae, and also the young Sabrina Carpenter, on Bring Your Love (perhaps the album’s highest moment).
In the full streaming and algorithm era, Madonna broke a historic figure: the album sold more than 134,000 units during its first week in the United States. This, as we said, took her to number 1 on Billboard, but also positioned her—along with The Beatles—as one of the only artists to have placed 10 albums at number one on both the US Billboard 200 and the official UK albums chart.
Even more, Madonna will perform at the historic halftime show of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final, which will take place next Sunday, July 19 (which for the first time will be held in a final, Super Bowl-style). The big game and musical show will take place at MetLife Stadium in the New York/New Jersey area.
In general, the music critics have received Madonna’s new album well. El País, for example, noted: “Madonna looks back with pride at her best album in a long time.” And adds: “Confessions II, marketed as the second part of the fantastic Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005), is Madonna’s best work in two decades. It’s true that the bar wasn’t very high since Hard Candy, MDNA, Rebel Heart, and Madame X don’t live up to what their author means, but this doesn’t detract from this liberating album in which the singer advocates the shamanic character of dance. Renouncing her obsession with going a little further than what is most listened to, perhaps because what triumphs today doesn’t deserve her attention, the artist throws a big party with club music from past decades, like house or italo-disco.”
The specialized site Pitchfork also praised the new LP. “Madonna returns in great shape with a fresh and sincere dance music album that is not only the best in 20 years but a truly vital addition to her discography.” And adds: “By resorting to the visceral instinct and conviction of her best albums, Madonna has not only achieved an acceptable album but an excellent one, with all the pop savvy and raw emotional intelligence of her best works. She may have invented and perfected the pop reinvention resource, but this could be her most impressive album to date.”
“Madonna finds an unstoppable rhythm in her best album in 20 years,” titled Rolling Stone, a musical authority. “In Confessions II, Madonna returns to the dance floor, the place where she always reconnects with herself. It is the sequel to one of her most beloved albums, Confessions on a Dance Floor, her 2005 collaboration with London disco music master Stuart Price. But it is also her best album since the original Confessions, 21 years ago. It is an uninterrupted 64-minute rhythm that flows like a club DJ session, where each song blends into the next, drawing inspiration from the entire history of dance music. You might hear a flash of I Feel Love here, or Apache there, but it is a history lesson that she turns into her musical autobiography.”
The Guardian, meanwhile, gave it 4 out of 5 stars. “Confessions II: a nostalgic journey to the dance floor that kicks off her most vital album in two decades,” it noted. “While not as good as Confessions on a Dance Floor, it is unequivocally Madonna’s best album since Confessions on a Dance Floor, which will surely be more than enough for her fans, and might even bring back some detractors: a reconciliation with her past that bodes well for the future.”
The leading The New York Times also positively reviewed the album. “Madonna returns to the dance floor with a firm step.” And adds: “In Confessions II, the sequel to her successful 2005 album Confessions on a Dance Floor, the pop superstar injects new energy into her origin story and sheds light on the issues she managed to chase away by dancing.”
BBC also made its review. “Finally, Confessions II by Madonna has arrived, but is the 21-year wait worth it?” And it notes: “Madonna has always been a master of reinvention. For decades, her insatiable musical curiosity allowed her to stay on top of trends, often introducing new sounds into pop before they became popular. So a sequel was the last thing anyone expected. But for her fifteenth album, she is picking up where her tenth left off: Confessions on a Dance Floor, from 2005.”
“Her last undisputed classic, an anthem to the liberating power of clubs. A place where one of the most recognizable women on the planet could blend with the crowd and let herself be carried away by the music.”
