Madame X

About

"Madame X" is the fourteenth studio album by American singer and songwriter Madonna, released on 14 June 2019 by Interscope Records, marking her final album with the label before returning to Warner Records. The album was creatively inspired by Madonna’s expatriate life in Lisbon, Portugal, after she relocated there in mid-2017 to enrol her son David Banda in a football academy. Madonna co-wrote and co-produced the album with collaborators including Mirwais, Mike Dean, Diplo, the Picard Brothers, and Jason Evigan over an 18-month period. Guest appearances on the album include Maluma, Quavo, Swae Lee, and Anitta. "Madame X" is a concept album representing a musical and lyrical departure from Madonna’s previous work, blending Latin, trap, art pop, and world music influences. Lyrically, it addresses political and social themes such as sexism, gun control, freedom of speech, racism, and LGBT rights, in a manner reminiscent of her ninth studio album, "American Life" (2003). Four singles were released from the album: "Medellín", "Crave", "I Rise", and "I Don’t Search I Find", alongside the promotional singles "Dark Ballet" and "Future". Madonna promoted the album through performances on television, including the 2019 Billboard Music Awards, and by undertaking the Madame X Tour, an all-theatre tour across North America and Europe from September 2019 to March 2020, which was later documented in her film "Madame X" (2021). The album received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its progressive and experimental sound. Some described it as "bizarre" and "patchwork", yet many considered it her strongest work since "Confessions on a Dance Floor" (2005). "Madame X" debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, becoming Madonna’s ninth number-one album in the United States, and reached number two in Australia, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, while charting highly in several other countries. By the end of 2020, the album had sold over 500,000 copies worldwide.

via Last.fm

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