Updated
Updated · Billboard · Jul 3
Madonna Releases 16-Track Confessions II, Her First Sequel Album in 21 Years
Updated
Updated · Billboard · Jul 3

Madonna Releases 16-Track Confessions II, Her First Sequel Album in 21 Years

3 articles · Updated · Billboard · Jul 3

Summary

  • Billboard critics Katie Bain and Joe Lynch ranked all 16 songs on Madonna’s newly released Confessions II, calling it her strongest set since 2005’s Confessions on a Dance Floor.
  • Stuart Price, who helmed the 2005 album, returns after reconnecting with Madonna on her Celebration Tour, giving the sequel its clearest link to the Billboard 200-topping original.
  • Top-ranked songs include “Good For the Soul,” “Everything” and “Danceteria,” while standout collaborations feature Lola Leon, Sabrina Carpenter, Stromae, Feid and Martin Garrix.
  • The album mixes club euphoria with mortality, family and memory, drawing on Madonna’s 2023 near-death experience and her early-1980s New York life rather than simply remaking the earlier disco record.
  • Confessions II is Madonna’s first sequel album, emerging after years of online speculation and extending a dance-floor vision that also nods to Ray of Light and Bedtime Stories.

Insights

After a near-death experience, what raw confessions does Madonna reveal on her most anticipated album in decades?
Is Madonna’s sequel album a brilliant return to form or a safe retreat into her past glory?