Madonna on the cover of HX
Here’s the first look at the gorgeous cover of “HX” – Homo Xtra – the hottest guide to gay nightlife and culture in New York City – celebrating the release of Madonna’s Hard Candy.
Click to zoom.
Special thanks to our friend DyeAnotherDay.
Track by track, Madonna’s latest album is a tasty pop confection. Candy’s dandy indeed!
By Trenton Straube as posted on www.hx.com.
Can’t. Think. Clearly. Sugar rush from Hard Candy. If this article’s jumbled, that’s why. Madonna’s 11th studio album drops April 29, but tracks will inevitably leak online before you read this. Nonetheless, we’re giddy from a recent exclusive listen to the entire disc. Here’s a recount of us kids in the candy store-uh, make that “candy shop.”
After navigating three levels of security, we’re lead to a Warner Brothers conference room atop famed Rockefeller Center. We – a cadre of local homo journos – walk reverently past framed records and posters of icons Michael Stipe, Fleetwood Mac, the White Stripes and, yes, Madonna (Ray of Light). The listening room itself is beige, bare, windowless. Two rows of desks with sleek Herman Miller chairs face each other in V-formation, branching to a wall of intimidating speakers, a flat screen-TV and stereo equipment. At each desk awaits a bottle of water and press materials. Liz Rosenberg, Madonna’s longtime publicist at WB, welcomes us, tossing in the requisite go-go boys and poppers jokes (the lady knows her market). We all sit. Liz types on the lone computer, and seconds later, we’re enveloped in the loud opening percussions.
The following are the scribbled notes from our virginal listen for each track, along with quotes from the candy-stripper herself. Haters to the left, lovers to the right. Left, left. Right, right. Get stupid. Get stupid.
• “Candy Shop”
Notes: Just like the version leaked months ago, though with richer, layered percussions. Great loud. “Sticky and sweet.” Sounds like a stripped-down Madonna track with Pharrell Williams influences, not vice versa.
Madonna: “One of my favorites on the record. It personifies the mood I was in making the record – lots of innuendo. You can get so many things in a candy shop!”
• “4 Minutes”
Notes: Not crazy about this track. Lead to fears the album would amount to tired Timbaland beats that happen to feature Madonna vocals. Our own DJ Brenda Black said it tested poorly at the bars—until the gays realized it was you-know-who. Now they love it.
Madonna: “‘4 Minutes’ is the axis with which the rest of the album rotates off of because there’s a sense of urgency and seriousness about it—but a sense of fun as well.”
• “Give It 2 Me”
Notes: Jaunty! Dance! Energy! The room loves it. Leave it to Madonna to sprinkle inane rhymes over a thumping polka beat to create ecstatic dance-floor reverie. Wait—what’s this unexpected breakdown and call outs: “To the left, to the right, left, left, right, right. Get stupid. Get stupid.” Whacky runway. This is the next single release.
Madonna: “It’s going to be a great song to do live. I can see the whole place jumping. And a great song to work out to.”
• “Heartbeat”
Notes: Still upbeat, more urban syncopation. Likable filler. Lyrics: “I feel it in my heartbeat, don’t you know / can’t you see / when I dance I feel free.” Let’s get this out of the way now: Mother Goose can out-rhyme Madonna. Her voice is tinny. She’s a vampire who feeds off top-notch producer blood. Hasn’t that been the charm all along?
• “Miles Away”
Notes: Nice strumming guitar. Influence of Justin Timberlake, Nate Hills, Timbaland (all co-wrote) is obvious—but it works as a Madonna track. Potential for huge mainstream crossover. Wistful yet upbeat. Sample lyrics: “You always have the biggest heart, when we’re 6,000 miles apart. You always love me more miles away.” Is she sad that her lover’s miles away, or that he doesn’t love her when they’re in the same room?
Madonna: “This is the first song I wrote with Justin. Definitely a song people in my business can relate to. All of us in the studio were like, ‘yeah, I get that.'”
• “She’s Not Me”
Notes: File under “Sassy Single White Female Has Funky Meltdown.” Love it. A thinly veiled bitch slap to all the fans who’ve discarded Madonna for flavor-of-the-day divas. Wendy Melvoin, the guitarist formerly known as Prince and the Revolution, funks up the guitar hook. Sample lyrics: “She started dyin’ her hair and wearing the same perfume as me / she started readin’ my books and stealing my books and lingerie / I just want to be there when you discover / you wake up next to your new lover… / she’s not me.”
Madonna: “We were listening to a lot of Debbie Harry records. It’s kind of Debbie Harry meets Gloria Gaynor ‘I Will Survive.’ Pharrell came up with the hook, ‘She’s Not Me, She Doesn’t Have My Name’ and so we concocted a story about the ultimate jilted lover.”
• “Incredible”
Notes: Hmm. Challenging rhythm. Recalls “Dear Jessie,” only melancholy despite fun synths. Lyrics: “I want to go back when everything was incredible.” Very theatrical.
Madonna: “It starts off as one song and turns in to another song. There’s a lot of angst in it and a lot of desire. Wanting to re-create some feeling of happiness and fulfillment—but also about abandonment and having a good time kind of thing.”
• “Beat Goes On”
Notes: Totally improved from the leaked version. Rap interlude is tolerable because of cute disco chimes, funky disco vibe à la Bad Girls’ toot-toot, beep-beep.
Madonna: “Lucky for us, Kanye West was recording his album across the hall while we were making our record. We were also channeling Marvin Gaye and different artists from the past.”
• “Dance 2night”
Notes: The album’s slowing down, she’s singing in lower range. More guitar strumming. But no ballads yet.
• “Spanish Lessons”
Notes: Quirky filler. With clichéd “Spanish” sound effects and literal translations: “Te Quiero means I love you.”
Madonna: “Pharrell was playing me all these songs from Baltimore. There’s this sound coming out of Baltimore. He kept calling it ‘The Be More.’ There’s this dance called “The Percolator” and we were watching all these clips on YouTube of people dance and I said, ‘Okay let’s try that.'”
• “Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You”
Notes: Album is coming in for a landing, complete with Timbaland thunderstorm rain effects and a tinkling piano. A sudden chorus of “Aaahs.” This album’s full of dramatic slowdowns and builds, unexpected key changes. Lyrics: “Over and over you keep pushing me down on the floor. Over and over I keep coming back for me…Even the devil wouldn’t recognize you. I do.” Domestic abuse?
Madonna: “‘Devil’ is a song about a person that everyone has in their life: a person that gets away with everything.”
• “Voices”
Notes: An a cappella chorus (think Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”) queries, “Who is the master, and who is the slave?” Is Madonna talking bedroom or studio politics? Pharrell told Blender: “Madonna doesn’t fuck around. We did battle every day. She was like, ‘Work it out. I’m paying you, you motherfucker.'”
Madonna: “‘Voices’ is about people playing mind games and who go on ego trips. It’s like who’s in control here? These last two songs really make you think, and there’s something very orchestral and lush about them. We started out light with “Candy Shop” and ended in a thoughtful way with voices. I think it was good journey to go on.”
What a wonderful surprise. As we exit down the hall, Madonna’s voice follows: “Don’t stop me now, don’t need to catch my breath / I can go on and on and on / When the lights go down and there’s no one left I can go on and on and on…”