All of a sudden Madonna has five new songs out… but are any of them any good?

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Madonna has caught everyone’s attention with her new collaboration with Sam Smith, but Vulgar is just one of five songs that have recently been released featuring the singer.

The singer also appears on three tracks on the new album from Christine and the Queens, as well as a collaboration with The Weeknd for the new television series The Idol. 

The ballroom inspired collaboration with Sam Smith has been praised for bringing together the two provocative entertainers, but others have described it as outdated and an attempt to generate false controversy.

After all Madonna first tapped into Ballroom culture for Vogue back in the late 80s. While Vulgar has generated some short-term attention it’s unlikely to go down as one of either singer’s greatest hits.

Esteemed music critic Alex Petridis wrote in The Guardian that the song would have actually benefited from having a chorus, and said it sounded like a house track from decades ago. He also described it as an attempt to create outrage.

On Christine and the Queens new album Paranoia, Angels, True Love Madonna appears on three tracks, Angels Crying in My Bed, I Met an Angel and Licj the Light Out. Madonna’s contribution to the songs however is just a spoken word piece read out during all three songs. A huge disappointment to fans who had hoped for a genuine duet between the two performers.

The collaboration for The Idol is primarily a track from The Weeknd with Madonna and Playboi Carter popping up for a verse.

The smooth RnB track is the kind of sound Madonna toyed with on her Bedtime Stories album back in 1994 when she teamed up with producers Dallas Austin and Babyface. Of all the collaborations Madonna has had in her career this is possibly the most laid back of them all.

With the singer about to head off on her world tour it’s rumoured that she has some more new tracks waiting in the wings. Of particular interest is a collaboration with Swedish producer Max Martin.

Madonna shared a photo of the two working together in the studio back in March. Martin is behind some of the biggest hits from Brittney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry, so maybe he can bring Madonna back to the pop charts. But it’s an unexpected move from the singer who has built her career on finding success via working with up-and-coming talents over big producers.

When Madonna signed her new record deal with Warner Brothers in 2021 it was announced that she’d be re-issuing all her previous albums but so far none of them have appeared. There have however been several of her older songs reworked with rap artists including 070 Shake, Fireboy DL, Salty Santana and Tokischa, and the release of forgotten track Back That Up To The Beat.

While loyal fans wait for some bonafide pop hits from the singer, Australian fans also await news of an Australian leg of her world tour that will soon kick off in Canada before travelling across the USA and heading to Europe.

OIP Staff, 12-06-23 20:30 An earlier version of this article said Madonna collaborated on two tracks on the Christine and the Queens album, this was incorrect she appears on three songs. 

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