Okay so I hear this track about a week ago and was dreading reviewing it, but seeing as there is so little out at the moment worth discussing I thought I had to give it a cursory examination. It's been a rocky ride for Madonna lately, Confessions Of A Dancefloor and lead single Hung Up were utterly brilliant. Top notch pop music and the signs of an elder statesman of pop growing old with style, and still bringing something different to the table. Hard Candy her last album was the exact opposite, it was Madonna playing it safe, getting Timbaland to give her the treatment. Much like Botox rather than revitalising her sound it only served to highlight how old and desperate she was. What's always made Madonna interesting is that she's been a risk taker, it's kept her ahead of the curve, with Hard Candy she gave up being a leader and became a follower.
So what of Celebration, well it's pretty terrible. It's hideously outdated, its built on a europhic ibiza synth line that got old in 2005 and given the Madonna treatment. Some may point out that Calvin Harris has successfully vigourated this sound recently but lets be honest does the queen of pop really want to be compared to the passing fad king. This record feels like a throw back to the William Orbit Ray Of Light days but it's not half as interesting, everything about Celebration sounds stale. Rather than going wow is that Madonna, that reaction is replaced with a long drawn out sigh. This record is stale, Madonna is stale, maybe it's time she stopped trying to be cool and got back to writting good pop songs rather than trying to encapsulate passing trends. After all we're coming to the end of the decade of Girls Aloud, Justin Timberlake and most of all Lily Allen, while they may not last as long as Madonna they've all fundementally changed the game, and Madonna just can't keep up. The expectations of a girl group have been redefined, the ethic of the pop superstar has been reshaped and Lily has changed the entire perception of who and what a pop star has to be. Is there a place left for Madonna in this new landscape? Yes there's a place for everyone, and Hung Up with it's Abba sample and silliness showed Madonna can still be relevant if she gets back to writting great pop songs. Embracing her age and retro influences to create something different, when Madonna stands side by side with her contemparies all her weakness are exposed. To survive Madonna has to continue to step outisde the box and leave contemporary sounds to contemporary artists. Ultimately in this new music landscape there is no place for a cynical dirge like Celebration.
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