Rebel Heart (Madonna)

EN “Rebel Heart” is Madonna's thirteenth studio album, released by Interscope Records on March 6, 2015. She worked on the album throughout 2014, co-writing and co-producing with several musicians including Diplo, Avicii and Kanye West. Thematically, “Rebel Heart” represents the romantic and rebellious side of the singer, and ideas for the project came naturally during the writing and recording sessions. Musically, it's a pop record, adding a variety of genres such as house, trap and 90s reggae, using guitars and even a gospel choir. Some of the songs are autobiographical, while others talk about the artist's love and career. Unlike her previous projects, working with many collaborators caused some problems for Madonna as it was not possible to maintain a cohesive genre and creative direction for the album.

The album featured four singles to promote it, with choices falling to “Living for Love", "Ghosttown", "Bitch I'm Madonna" and "Hold Tight", respectively. “Living for Love" was no longer any surprise to the singer's listeners, since the track, as well as many others from the project, leaked online in December 2014, causing the singer to speed up the promotion of the album, officially releasing it on December 20, 2014 The track served its purpose, being a great single to introduce the album, with a strong message about how it is possible to recover from the end of a relationship, and besides, it's funny to know that the artist was accompanied by Alicia Keys on the piano. The second single, "Ghosttown", was released a little later, only on March 13, 2015, immediately following the release of the album. The song, which oscillates between pop ballad and electronic, was inspired by images of a city destroyed after Armageddon, and how the survivors went on with their lives, with love being the only thing they can hold on to. Then came the iconic "Bitch I'm Madonna", released on June 15, 2015, a collaboration with Nicki Minaj in an EDM style mixed with trap and dubstep. It's partying and glorious, and Nicki's verse is capable of being one of the most energetic 26 seconds on the album, but at the same time it's artistic, progressively growing into something that grabs our attention and makes us want to dance, ending with a dispersive beat between synthesizers. Finally, the last and fourth single, "Hold Tight", was released on July 24, 2015 in certain countries, not being a single globally. Continuing on an electronic register, but not so danceable, the song talks about the love that is capable of triumphing in stormy times, with a message of attachment to the other and being strong, no matter the situation. In this case, as in “Living for Love", there is also a surprise artist, MNEK, who besides helping with its composition, was invited by Madonna to contribute with some vocals on the track.

“Rebel Heart” is a kind of long, passionate, self-referential meditation on how to lose love and find purpose. It's also an opportunity for the Queen of Pop to reflect on how she has carefully made a path that others have happily followed since her debut in 1983. With so many producers with disparate working methods at the helm, “Rebel Heart” seems overwhelmed, the duality of its title is confused by the inclusion of vibrant party songs, but it fails by the existence of tracks without much lyrical content like "Unapologetic Bitch"and “Auto-Tune Baby", existing, however, exuberant songs like "Holy Water ”, cwritten with Natalia Kills, which has a very provocative melody and lyrics, effortlessly including the word "genuflection" in a pop song.

The large number of songs on the album (19, not counting six more in the “Super Deluxe” edition) means that there is a vast panoply of genres and styles, ultimately resulting in an apparent lack of internal editing that is reflected in a lack of vision and also of a lead wire. Consequently, the album is stronger when Madonna leaves collaborations aside and just tells us what she wants directly. It is logical that she ends the deluxe edition with the title track, remembering how she went from a strange child to a narcissist and spiritual thinker with the brilliant and orchestrated production of Avicii. Deep down, Madonna has a rebellious heart, and we can't blame her for reminding us that pop music is better that way.

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