Originally written here
This afternoon we went to a brilliantly decorated room in East London to hear the new Madonna album while sipping champagne & eating jelly beans. Sounds good huh? Well it was! Anyone fearing a full on urban attack - don't worry. 'Hard Candy' is full of long disco pop songs - it just has some heavy beats! Here's our track by track rundown:
1. Candy Shop: Here we go! Madonna wants to be our '1-stop candy shop - your lollipop'. Yum! This is produced by The Neptunes and is filled with bleeps and swirls. It ends with a 'sticky but sweet' rap by Pharrell.
2. Four Minutes To Save The World: You all know this one!
3. Give It To Me: Not a Furtado/Timbo cover but a Pharrell track that's going to be the 2nd single. Let us tell you now - it's mindblowingly amazing. There's cowbells, twinkles and a funny vocoder you might have heard on 'Music'. Think old school pop Madonna but fired up at 300 mph. There's a funky break near the end where Madonna shouts 'don't stop!', the music stops and a male voice sings 'left to the right'.
4. Heartbeat: 'Probably the 3rd single', Heartbeat has a synthy 80s sounding intro. Madge tells us that 'when I dance I feel free!'. There's something about the melody when she sings 'you know I feel it in my Heartbeat' that's really cute!.
5. Miles Away: This starts deceptively with guitar that reminds us of 'Don't Tell Me'. Is it going to be a ballad? Course not silly! 5 seconds in and here comes a pounding bassline. 'I just woke up from a fuzzy dream, you won't believe the things I've seen.' This is the first song that doesn't hold our attention all the way but it's got a dreamy ending.
6. She's Not Me: It starts with 4 claps and then all hell breaks loose. This is the tale of a jilted lover and has about 7 different elements. It sounds kind of like a sequel to 'Deeper and Deeper' with the passion, the fastness and the twirls. Totally hypnotic - it's a Timberlake/land production but it could come straight from the disco house of Nile Rodgers. Oh and it would mix into Anita Ward's 'Ring My Bell' perfectly. Also it's REALLY LONG.
