After the algorithm decided that I wanted to see little more than Madonna clips for virtually an entire weekend, I lost some of the enthusiasm for Confessions II. It was overkill and I resent feeling like I’m being manipulated by my fucking phone. On Friday morning, though, I gave the whole album a listen. Then I bought it and listened a second time and a third. I think I’m on the fourth listen as I start to write this. It’s good. Really good, but maybe not in the way the album’s title to leads you to believe.
Confessions II is a real sequel to Confessions on a Dance Floor. It’s not a rehash of the 2005 hit album, but rather a continuation of the work that Madonna and Stuart Price began some twenty-odd years ago. So, it’s an album of club music that’s about the club and about life. It’s incredibly smart and thoughtfully made, the opposite of the slop that overwhelms us on the daily. That might be part of the point. (Speaking of slop, ignore all the hype clips and watch the full video of Madonna’s tour of her London home in Vogue Italia. It’s worth 10 minutes of your time.)
Back to Confessions II. It’s a heavily referential album, both to Madonna’s back catalogue and to other dance music artists. It’s also an album-as-a-memoir, with Madonna delving into stories from her early years in New York, her romances and her relationship with eldest daughter, Lourdes Leon. The music history and personal history come together on “Danceteria,” which is the song that I played at Club Underground last night. It’s an important song because all the song’s musical references, as well as the names she drops throughout the song, are foundational to what we know as alternative and club culture now. This is the album’s, “Listen to Mother” moment.
I’ll probably have more to say about Confessions II in time, but, my first impression is that this is an incredibly strong Madonna album, easily up there with Confessions on a Dance Floor, Ray of Light and Music in the hierarchy of Madonna albums. Get it. Listen to all one hour and four minutes of it. No skips.
And now onto last night’s set list from Club Underground. New-ish songs (released in 2025/26) are in bold and link back to previous mentions here on Beatique.
Automatic – Don’t Wanna Dance (Mario C Remix)
Avalanches – Every Single Weekend
New Order – Confusion
Siouxsie and the Banshees – Cities in Dust
Lebanon Hanover – Babes of the ‘80s
Sally Shapiro – Rent
Electronic – Getting Away with It
Depeche Mode – Get the Balance Right
Pulp – Countdown
Hot Chip – Ready for the Floor
Actors – Only Lonely
Sisters of Mercy – Lucretia (request)
Kittin and the Hacker – 1982
ADULT. – Hand to Phone
Twin Tribes – Monolith
Siouxsie and the Banshees – Christine (request)
Editors – Munich
Bloc Party – Banquet
Joy Division – Disorder
The Cure – Primary
The Smiths – This Charming Man
Blur – Girls and Boys
Human League – Don’t You Want Me (Purple Disco Machine Remix)
Boy Harsher – Machina
Green Velvet – La La Land
The Rapture – House of Jealous Lovers
Fcukers – If You Wanna Party Come Over to My House
Fatboy Slim – Praise You (Purple Disco Machine Remix)
Daft Punk – Around the World
Mylo, Scissor Sisters – Drop the Numb
Phoenix – 1901
Depeche Mode – Personal Jesus
Franz Ferdinand – Take Me Out
The Strokes – Last Night
New Order – Bizarre Love Triangle
Slayyyter – I’m Actually Kinda Famous
Cerrone, Christine and the Queens, Purple Disco Machine – Supernature MMXXV
Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams
Kittin and the Hacker – Frank Sinatra
Peaches – Fuck the Pain Away
Le Tigre – Deceptacon
B52s – Give Me Back My Man
Vampire Weekend – A-Punk
Postal Service – Such Great Heights
A-Ha – Take On Me
Turnstile – I Care
M83 – Midnight City
Psychedelic Furs – Love My Way
Q Lazzarus – Goodbye Horses
Chromatics – Shadow (Maceo Plex Remix)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix)
New Order – Blue Monday
Sextile – Women Respond to Bass
Prodigy – Breathe
Basement Jaxx – Where’s Your Head At
Pulp – Common People (request)
Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart
The Cure – Just Like Heaven
Robyn – Dancing on My Own
Daft Punk – Instant Crush
Chromatics – Time Rider
MGMT – Time to Pretend
Interpol – Evil (request)
Fontaines DC – Favourite
The Smiths – Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now