Madonna proves she is still the dance floor queen on 'Confessions II'

Madonna's taking listeners to the club this Summer with the release of her fifteenth studio album, Confessions II, a sequel to 2005's Confessions on a Dance Floor and easily her best work in the last two decades.

Although a continuation of her exploration of dance and electronic music, it is certainly not a retread of its predecessor with producers Madonna and Stuart Price exploring new avenues.

Where COADF focused on 70's disco and 80's house, Confessions II is all over the board giving listeners a true "full evening at the club" atmosphere beginning with the album opener/first single "I Feel so Free" as she invites everyone to meet her on the dance floor.

There's Detroit House on the Sabrina Carpenter collaboration "Bring Your Love," UK Garage on "Good For the Soul,"dark techno on "Everything" and a Euro-pop thread through "Read My Lips."

The continuous flow of the album's 16 tracks tells a story from start to finish that features some of the singer's most reflective and personal lyrics.

The autobiographical slant clearly stems from her brush with death, recent losses and the work she was doing for her currently shelved biopic.

At the center of the album is "Dancetaria," which is a reflective track on her days spent on the New York club scene and the night she got deejay Mark Kamins to play her first single "Everybody."

The song harkens back to "Vogue" with a name-dropping rap.

The second half of the album slows things down with the poignant "Fragile," a eulogy to her brother Christopher Ciccone, who passed away in 2024 from pancreatic cancer.

Here she is at her most vulnerable as she acknowledges the rift between them that was only closed on his death bed, "We shared a name, a home, we shared a fragile bond. I know you're fragile, cause you've been hurt, been let down."

She is less forgiving on track "Betrayal," which is aimed at her stepmother Joan Ciccone, who also passed in 2024, "You couldn't see your fall from grace, so take the hammer, hit the nail. You'll never take my mother's place."

And then there's the powerful, but quiet beauty of " The Test" written and performed with her daughter Lourdes "Lola" Leon.

The song is a story of tension between a mother and a daughter magnified by fame with Madonna referencing her Ray of Light lullaby "Little Star," "I tried to put you on a pedestal, you didn't ask for all the flashing lights," and Lola sharing, " I trace the line of what you have sewn. Keep my own design."

The album takes a turn with the intimate stripped down ballad "L.E.S. Girl," which details a lower east side relationship with an ex with a "Marlon Brando face" and feels like a perfect end to a night out as Madonna quietly croons "Everything fades away."

Confessions II is available on various vinyls, CD and cassette and the Icon version of the album features a 17th tongue-in-cheek track "Hot Sauce," a collaboration with Absolut.

Madonna will be co-headlining the first ever halftime show for the FIFA World Cup 26th Final on July 19th.