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Continued from page 8 blues harmonica player, but he offers a bristling reminder here( and does so again on“ You Know I’ m No Good”). The record closes with a stripped-down acoustic cover of Chuck Berry’ s“ Beautiful Delilah,” with the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith as another unanticipated guest. Both songs recall the delights of the quickly-made covers album Blue & Lonesome co-produced by Watt’ s predecessor Don Was. The fresh partnership with Watt was not universally seamless on Hackney Diamonds, but it now seems fully formed on Foreign Tongues. As with results heard on Paul McCartney’ s The Boys of Dungeon Lane, Watt guides the proceedings with insight and energy while leaving the artist on the album cover sounding like themselves. One of the satisfying shifts on Foreign Tongues compared to Hackney Diamonds is a less conspicuous use of Autotune to alter Jagger’ s unmistakable voice as one of the most seasoned and emblematic in popular music. The singer likely received sprinklings of electronic fairy dust here and there(“ Covered in You,” for example), but the sounds are authentically fierce and feral overall. Jagger’ s commanding performances are no small feat, considering he was 82 when making the record. There may be no cooler great-grandfather alive, although Richards may eventually score points while sneaking candy cigarettes under the dinner table to his new great-granddaughter.
There are those who expect Foreign Tongues to be the Rolling Stones ' final album. Time takes its toll on us all. This could be the last time; I don’ t
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know. But with a two-album winning streak, fans can hope the Stones at least go for the triple crown with one more just as good.
-Jeff Elbel
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MADONNA
Confessions II( Warner Records)
Sequel albums rarely find greater success than their predecessors. Usually what made the original album a hit can be difficult to replicate in a different era. Meat Loaf’ s Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell from 1993 is the rare exception to the fact, selling over 14 million copies a full sixteen
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years after the original album. When Madonna announced that she was releasing a sequel to her 2005 album Confessions On A Dance Floor, it seemed like an odd choice. Sure, the album was a late-career hit, spawning the Abba-sampling smash“ Hung Up,” but Madonna has probably 5 or 6 other albums in her career worthy of a sequel. Take her 1998 comeback album Ray Of Light for example. Teaming up with William Orbit, the Queen of Pop infused her work with an Eastern mysticism that had never been there before. Instead of late nights at the club, this music was made more for early mornings at the yoga studio, and that gamble paid off, making Ray Of Light her biggest album of the 90s. For Confessions II it’ s all about going back to the dance club. At one point she returns to the Danceteria, the cultural hub that started it all for Madonna Ciccone in the early 80s, where she crossed paths with Andy Warhol, Keith Herring, Jean-Michel Basquiat and even Sonic Youth on her road to stardom. She brings back Confessions producer Stuart Price to create a blatant love letter to NYC club music, with all the tracks mixed together for one seamless dance party. Amongst the many standouts is“ Bring Your Love,” where she passes the baton to Gen Z’ s pin-up queen Sabrina Carpenter for a raucous late ' 80s jam that wouldn’ t sound out of place as a soundtrack to MTV’ s The Grind. What makes Confessions II so intriguing is that, instead of looking back in full, there is no doubt that, even in her 60s, Madonna is making a contemporary statement.“ Bizarre” finds her working with 30-year-old Dutch DJ Martin Garrix for a pop hit so luxurious and detailed it sounds like it was mastered for IMAX Theaters. Then there is the pick to click,“ My Sins Are My Savior,” a darkly psychedelic hiphop track that merges multiple samples to a harrowing effect. It sounds like a mix of Enigma, A Tribe Called Quest, and Aaliyah, and it is the most fascinating thing Madonna has released for |
decades. It’ s not all gold;“ Read My Lips” is a paint-by-numbers pop track flanked by a rather lifeless Spanish guitar, and opener“ I Feel So Free” comes off as a copy of a copy of Donna Summer’ s“ I Feel Free.”
However, the hits far outweigh the misses and Confessions II makes for a fun listen that never drags or bores. One gets a sense that Madonna had a blast making this album, and that the positivity is certainly detectable in the mix, production, and guest appearances. It’ s cool to hear one of the most provocative and controversial artists of the 1980s sound so fresh and vital in 2026.
-Andy Derer
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KRAFTWERK Radio-Activity 50th anniversary( Warner Bros.)
Even after 50 years, the music of electropop pioneers Kraftwerk still sounds futuristic. The group’ s fifth album, Radio-Activity, was its first set of fully synthetic arrangements and is divid-
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