Madame X (album)
Madonna's fourteenth studio album, inspired by her life in Lisbon.
Madame X is the fourteenth studio album by American singer and songwriter Madonna, released on June 14, 2019, under Interscope Records. It was her final album with that label before she returned to Warner Records in 2022. The album was creatively influenced by her expatriate life in Lisbon, Portugal, after she relocated there in mid-2017 to place her son David Banda in a top football academy. A concept album, Madame X represents a musical and lyrical departure from Madonna's previous releases, focusing on Latin, trap, art pop and world music, and dealing with political themes including sexism, gun control, freedom of speech, racism and gay rights.
Quick Facts
- Artist
- Madonna
- Released
- 14 June 2019
- Recorded
- 2018–2019
- Studio
- Lisbon
- London
- Los Angeles
- New York
- Length
- 56:01
- Language
- English
- Portuguese
- Spanish
- Genre
- Latin
- trap
- art pop
- world
- Label
- Interscope
Facts from the source article.
Background
In August 2017, Madonna relocated to Lisbon after seeking a top football academy for her son David Banda. While she thought the move would be fun and adventurous, she felt depressed without local friends and began meeting artists who invited her to living room sessions where musicians played Fado and samba music. One of the first musicians she met was Dino D'Santiago, who taught her to speak and sing Portuguese and Cape Verdean Creole, and introduced her to other musicians. Believing music is the soul of the universe, she decided to record an album based on her musical experience in the country, which she called a melting pot of culture.
Madonna announced in January 2018 that she had begun work on her fourteenth studio album. She split her time between Lisbon, London, New York and Los Angeles to record, a process lasting over 18 months. She turned to producer Mirwais, who had co-produced three of her earlier albums, and sent him demos. Mirwais added elements such as a Roland TR-808 and turned the demos into something she found amazing. The first song they wrote together was 'Killers Who Are Partying', built around a guitar sample Madonna recorded during a Fado session; she later stated this was her favorite song. Madonna also worked with the Cape Verdean drummer collective Batukadeiras Orchestra and Guinea-Bissau native Kimi Djabaté, with D'Santiago acting as translator.
Madonna co-wrote and co-produced the album with musicians including Mirwais, Mike Dean, Diplo, the Picard Brothers and Jason Evigan. Guest appearances include Anitta, Maluma, Quavo and Swae Lee. Four singles were released: 'Medellín', 'Crave', 'I Rise' and 'I Don't Search I Find'. Promotional singles 'Dark Ballet' and 'Future' were also released. To promote the album, Madonna performed on television shows such as the 2019 Billboard Music Awards, incorporating augmented reality. She embarked on the Madame X Tour, an all-theatre tour visiting North America and Europe from September 2019 to March 2020, chronicled in her documentary film Madame X (2021).
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Medellín (with Maluma) | Madonna Ciccone, Mirwais Ahmadzaï, Juan Luis Londoño, Édgar Barrera | 4:58 |
| 2 | Dark Ballet | Ciccone, Ahmadzaï | 4:14 |
| 3 | God Control | Ciccone, Ahmadzaï, Casey Spooner | 6:19 |
| 4 | Future (with Quavo) | Ciccone, Thomas Pentz, Brittany Hazzard, Clément Picard, Maxine Picard, Quavious Marshall | 3:53 |
| 5 | Batuka | Ciccone, David Banda, Ahmadzaï | 4:57 |
| 6 | Killers Who Are Partying | Ciccone, Ahmadzaï | 5:28 |
| 7 | Crave (with Swae Lee) | Ciccone, Khalif Brown, Hazzard, Dean | 3:21 |
| 8 | Crazy | Ciccone, Jason Evigan, Hazzard, Dean | 4:02 |
| 9 | Come Alive | Ciccone, Bhasker, Hazzard, Dean | 4:02 |
| 10 | Faz Gostoso (featuring Anitta) | Rodrigo Carmo, Duarte Nuno, Emanuel Oliveira, Mateus Seabra, Luíz Vieira, Karla Rodrigues, Ciccone | 4:05 |
| 11 | Bitch I'm Loca (featuring Maluma) | Ciccone, Lauren D'Elia, Londoño, Barrera, George James, Marvin Rodriguez, Stiven Rojas | 2:50 |
| 12 | I Don't Search I Find | Ciccone, Ahmadzaï | 4:08 |
| 13 | I Rise | Ciccone, Evigan, Hazzard | 3:44 |
| Total length | 56:01 | ||
Track listing from the source article.
Did You Know?
- Madonna's dance teacher Martha Graham gave her the moniker 'Madame X' at age 19 because she changed her identity every day.
- Madonna had to relearn Portuguese with the help of singer Anitta, as Brazilian Portuguese felt very different from Portugal's Portuguese.
- The album's title also refers to a 1908 play by Alexandre Bisson and an 1884 portrait by John Singer Sargent.
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