Accidental Innovation: Madonna's MDNA

 

Madonna’s in an incredibly tricky position, whether you love or loathe her. There’s no road map for her to refer to; generally popstars follow a certain trajectory that has been defined by their predecessors. Madge has never been one for conforming to expectations, but at this point she’s doesn’t even have any real referents. By the age of 50 most female popstars have resorted to a Las Vegas residence, retirement, or acoustic, sedate versions of their previously fiery material. In this sense, while MDNA is largely quite conservative and trend-chasing sonically (more on that later), Madonna is still very much a pioneer within the music industry – perhaps more than ever before.

In a holistic sense, much of the criticism levelled at Madonna can be attributed not to the lady herself, but to the society and industry in which she operates. The idea of a woman over the age of fifty being sexually active, and even – gasp! –actively soliciting sexual activity isn’t something where used to, or culturally equipped to deal with. The sight of Madonna cavorting with men half her age in the ‘Girl Gone Wild’, for instance, causes most of us to automatically revert to the “put some pants on, you old woman!” position that has largely been adopted towards the icon in the last few years. Upon examination, however, Madonna has to be admired for her continual challenging (whether conscious or otherwise) of these attitudes.

Throughout her career she’s managed to subvert many ideas about female sexuality and objectification, but whether she’ll be able to overcome the culturally-defined ideas of what women ‘of a certain age’ should or shouldn’t be doing is in doubt. I suspect Madonna’s efforts to combat ageism within both the music industry and society in a greater sense won’t be appreciated for a few decades yet, with our focus currently on other facets of equality.  The old adage about age being nothing but a number, while idealist in sentiment, doesn’t necessarily ring true in terms of the way we react to the embodiment of the phrase.

Forgetting the cultural context within which Madonna finds herself, MDNA is a solid, if not brilliant, record. The deluxe edition clocks in at over an hour, and would be far more palatable if cut to about two thirds of its current length. The album’s first half is quite brash, with the tracks’ sexual, ‘age-inappropriate’ lyrical content taking the brunt of the aforementioned criticism. These songs are the most immediate, tending tend to follow the dance trend that has held perhaps held variety within pop captive in recent years The likes of ‘Beautiful Killer’ and ‘Some Girls’ , while pleasant enough, feel entirely superfluous. ‘Superstar’, despite starting off promisingly, quickly recedes to almost-offensively bad territory, with frankly unrealistic professions of love from Madonna such as “I’ll give you a massage when you get home”, and name-dropping that traverses a few millennia (Caesar right through to Michael Jordan)!

M.I.A.’s contribution to the album is similarly disappointing. The thought of the innovative, fresh artist injecting her spirit into the work of a woman who has debatably lost some of those qualities in recent years is mouth-watering, but the end result falls flat. The simplicity and inanity that plagues ‘B-Day Song’ (unless there’s some sort of profound second meaning that I’m missing) is deflating; it was evidently relegated to bonus track status with good reason.

This mediocrity, however, lies between an enticing core of tracks that suggest Madonna still has much creative potential left in the tank. The attitude-laden ‘I Don’t Give A’, despite harking back in some respects to the late Noughties, feels like one of the more honest, personal moments, veiled in rather frenzied production and an uptempo feel. Amidst a listing of daily tasks for the icon are some illuminating confessions about her ill-fated marriage to Guy Richie, which for subsequent tracks becomes a central topic.

‘Masterpiece’ is perhaps the most enjoyable cut. Its subtlety and comparatively reposed feel immediately separates it from the more uptempo tracks. The track’s extended ‘work of art’ metaphor, while hardly groundbreaking, is consistent and pairs well with the restrained but sombre melodies. This welcome movement away from relentless dance beats is continued with curious closer ‘Falling Free’, the final moments of which see Madonna’s vocals at their most exposed and emotional.

These later tracks, while still largely electronically-based, are less sex-centric and feel fare more nuanced. There seems to be conscious effort throughout MDNA to cater to two quite different audiences. One ‘side’ of the album (concentrated around the album’s latter half) feels more geared towards concerns plaguing people of Madonna’s age, among them divorce and loneliness. The album’s first few singles, in contrast, are obviously an attempt to garner and maintain the attention of the youth audience Madonna’s traditionally pandered to.

MDNA is Madonna’s fifteenth album (including soundtracks). At the end of the day, music is bound by an ultimate number of potential melodic patterns. Only twelve tones exist within an octave, and this scope is further limited depending on chordal movements and that sort of thing. Lord knows how many Madonna songs have been released in some form or another during her career; she can’t be blamed if some songs (primarily the middling moments discussed previously) feel plagued by a sense of melodic exhaustion and predictability.

As with the Madge-directed W.E., it’s quite likely that this album would have received a warmer welcome had it been by someone without the weight of the (pop) world on her shoulders. I can’t help but return to my hypothesis that it must be incredibly difficult for an artist of Madonna’s stature to not constantly cross-reference her current choices with what she’s done before, given the lack of external precent in terms of the position in which she now finds herself. As she proclaims in ‘Masterpiece’, “it can’t be fun/to always be the chosen one”.

7/10

B-U-Y Madonna! 

If you rearrange some of the letters in Nicki Minaj's name you can come up with 'Ninja'; here's a review of her new album.

A steady hand is useful when applying makeup liberally..

Nicki ‘I’m Not A Popstar!’ Minaj has become just that with the release of her second full-length album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded. Despite the rather misleading title, the set isn’t a re-release of her debut Pink Friday, but rather an entirely new collection of songs that frequently see the rapper stray to the ‘dark side’ and take on the chanteuse role that saw her reach new commercial heights with ‘Superbass’. Nicki’s teamed up with pop producer RedOne (Gaga, J.Lo, Jason DeRulo) for a number of commercially-oriented tracks, including the euphoric worldwide smash ‘Starships’. Across much of the album there are traces of the dance-pop craze that has taken most commercial genres by storm in recent years. Among these pleasant transgressions from Minaj’s original sound, she also ensures her musical roots are also well-represented.

Hip-hop beats find a welcome home on the title track and a handful of others. Taking up rappers’ tendency to rap about their own success, ‘Come On A Cone’ is an enjoyable, if slightly disconcerting, way to become acquainted with Nicki’s achievements and ego. To solidify her status within the upper echelon of the rap scene, Minaj collaborates with a slew of peers, including Lil Wayne, Rick Ross and Young Jeezy. 2 Chainz features on the captivatingly sparse, sinister ‘Beez In The Trap’, which is a definite highlight.

At time Minaj’s gimmicks (holding syllables for as long as her breath allooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooows, her penchant for unintelligible gobbledegook) become grating. However, her conscious exploration of multiple genres allows results in an album that never becomes too stale; the mixture between rapping and singing means that aformentioned ‘trademarks’ are only utilised fairly sporadically. Overall, the album serves as an interesting example of the multiple (and frequently contradictory) expectations put upon someone in Minaj’s position: as a female operating in what is primarily a man’s genre, she has to be sexy, assertive, polished, rough, bold, self-centred, humble and sassy, among umpteen other qualities. These conflicting pressures result in an album that, despite lacking in a definitive sense of identity, is enjoyable in its variety.

3/5. 

Buy Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (Deluxe Edition) from here! If you're not from Australia then YOU CAN FIND IT YOURSELF, please and thank you.

Nobody's Perfect! Jessie J @ Horden Pavilion - 08/03/12

"Paws u-oh dear, that isn't my catchphrase, is it?!"

Fans caught their apparent first glimpse of Jessie J just half an hour after the doors of the Hordern Pavilion opened – a rare feat for a star of Jessie’s stature. A figure bearing an uncanny resemblance to the star, sporting the trademark black bob, a figure-hugging leotard and what appeared to be a sequin-coated Elizabethan collar walked nonchalantly into the heart of the Entertainment Quarter; a handful of fans abandoned their places in the sprawling queue to get a up close and personal with what they thought was their idol. Unfortunately, their hopes were dashed when it became clear that this was not the star they had paid to see come to greet her fans on a whim, but rather an enthusiastic fan-come-impersonator. We’d have to wait for a few more hours yet to lay eyes on the star herself. Not that this was dead time – far from it, in fact.

In Australia headlining the 2012 Future Music Festival, Jessie’s own concert was close enough to a festival in its own right, given the calibre of the supporting acts. VJ-turned-DJ Ruby Rose entertained the crowd with chart highlights, while Amy Meredith impressed with their sharp blend of electropop and rock. Professor Green, who has previously played at the Hordern in support of Lily Allen, paraded his hits to date, including an emotional performance of recent Gold-certified single ‘Read All About It’ that increased the crowd’s anticipation for the quickly-approaching main event.

Jessie seemed in good spirits from the commencement of her set, sporting a white dress that lead to a series of endearing, if slightly cheesy, jokes about marriage. At one point the star seemed to accept a proposal complete with a ring, only to discard the prize moments later, surely leaving one fan rather disappointed. Perhaps Jessie’s costume, when combined with the her continual efforts to involve the crowd, and the stream of empowering anthems concentrated near the show’s opening, lent itself more strongly to the role of a preacher – not that any of the 8500-strong crowd needed converting.

Although the Hordern inevitably ensured that the concert’s staging was somewhat restricted, Jessie used this to ensure the focus never wavered for a second from her. Some of the show’s highlights were the moments in which Jessie relinquished the trappings of the ‘pop show’ crafted around her – the huge backing tracks, the flashing lights and the extensive live band – and let her voice shine through unobscured, with only the light chords of a guitar for accompaniment. ‘Technology’ was perhaps the best example of the show’s greatest assets; Jessie began the track improvising lyrics concerning her imminent ‘marriage’ (continuing the good-natured yet cringe-worthy theme she’d established earlier), before segueing into a stripped version of the track that undoubtedly sent chills down the spines of the sold-out audience.

While Jessie J’s vocal techniques may have won her criticism in the wider arena of public opinion (her third single should probably be renamed ‘N-N-N-N-N-N-N-Nobody’s Perfect’ in light of her live interpretation of the melody), the crowd went wild for her quirks, eating up the marmite brand of stuttering and ad-libbing. The setlist saw many of Jessie’s signature hits (‘Price Tag’, ‘Do It Like A Dude’, ‘Domino’) consigned to the final minutes, meaning that casual fans were subjected to long spells of potentially unheard music. This said, the dynamism displayed by Jessie J – both in the songs themselves, and her energetic, enthusiastic delivery of them – ensured that the crowd’s excitement never dipped too low.

The majority of songs performed tick boxes from one of two categories – 90’s-influenced, upbeat tracks, and 60’s-esque soul (best exhibited in the passionate ‘Casualty Of Love’ and the sultry, commanding ‘Mama Knows Best’). Amongst these influences were splashes of reggae and breezy, early-Noughties pop, as in the shiny catchiness of ‘Abracadabra’ - think S Club 7 with a little more bite, and the entire group’s vocal range consigned to an individual.

Given Jessie’s penchant for genre-hopping, the audience spanned generations, genders, and any number of other demographic indicators. The singer’s charms and appeal, while diverse and engaging on many levels, are concentrated around the name of her job: her ability to sing. The undeniable highlight of the night was Jessie’s awe-inspiring delivery of the title track from her debut album, ‘Who You Are’. Carefully balancing vocal acrobatics, controlled subtlety and emotional vulnerability, Jessie’s performance of the song caused tears for a few spectators within this reviewer’s line of sight. The voice is what made the night memorable – few others could fill a venue with such effortless power, bringing together a diverse cross-section of music listeners in appreciation of a voice that will likely continue to wow crowds for years to come.