Madonna is back with more confessions.

The pop icon at last released her 15th studio album, Confessions II, on Friday, marking her first album in seven years following 2019’s Madame X. Sharing a release date with what turned out to be America’s royal wedding is tough luck for any artist hoping to turn their album release into an all-encompassing, culture-devouring moment, though Madonna is still primed for one of the more notable releases of the year so far.

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As the sequel to Confessions on a Dance Floor, Madonna’s last truly monumental album era, Confessions II quickly became her most-anticipated release in 20 years. Sonically, Madonna literally returns to the dance floor, a move that’s getting her early critical praise already as reviews hit Friday, calling this her best album in decades. speaking of returns, Confessions II also has Madonna back at her longtime label home of Warner Records after departing back in 2009. With all the buzz, the Material Girl gave her latest project a rollout befitting the album’s lofty ambitions.

Since announcing Confessions II back in April, Madge has been practically everywhere. She kicked off the era with a lauded surprise appearance during Sabrina Carpenter’s weekend two Coachella headlining set, coming out in the same outfit she wore 20 years prior when she played the festival during the original Confessions era. She and Carpenter performed the album’s lead single, “Bring Your Love,” introducing the song before millions of listeners on the biggest stage in live music.

From then on, Madonna kept her foot on the gas both online and IRL. As one of pop culture’s preeminent gay icons, it was fitting that one of her most unique activations came from a campaign on the dating app Grindr, where she was “taking over the Gayborhood.” She played a late-night pop-up show at The Abbey in West Hollywood in April, and another much more public spectacle in Times Square last month. She dropped a short film to accompany the album itself at Tribeca last month. Right at the buzzer, she took to TikTok Live with iHeart on Thursday to give fans a first listen.

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Credit to Madonna: This is not the marketing plan of a legacy artist content on calling it a day and merely leaning on her deepest core of longtime fans to buy a record. She’s out all night; she’s causing a spectacle. More than four decades into one of the most celebrated careers of all time, Madonna is still an artist demanding to be heard.

A critical success already, the question now turns to the charts, where we’ll see just how many people are going to listen.

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