While you were carefully zigzagging around keeled-over frat boys decked out in green tees and over-sized shamrock hats on the streets this past weekend, Madonna‘s graced us with one, but two new previews from her upcoming twelfth studio album, MDNA. Better still, one of the previews is a full song leak!
“I Fucked Up,” produced by Martin Solveig, is one of the most personal, post-divorce moments of MDNA we’ver heard thus far, slow-tripping above a staggering organic beat (very Guy Sigsworth-y!) and ambient string sections, recalling the introspective quality of Ray of Light‘s “Drowned World/Substitute For Love.”
My favorite part is the second verse’s sudden energy build: As the music quickens, Madge begins listing off a couple dozen coulda-woulda-shoulda moments: “We could have bought a house with a swimming pool,” “We could have toured the world in a private jet”) until finally resigning: “We could have lived life crazy ’til the day we died/Instead I made you cry.”
Beautifully executed, sweetly sung…I’ve never heard the words “I fucked up” sound so very delicate and somber before!
“I fucked up, I made a mistake. Nobody does it better than myself…”
Along with “I Fucked Up” comes a 60-second snippet of “Best Friend,” a track featured on the deluxe edition of MDNA produced by the Benassi Bros. and the Demolition Crew.
Sadly, this one’s not quite working for me as well as any of the other snippets. With that electronic hip-hop beat and generous heaps of Auto-Tune, the song’s giving me all shades of the try-hardness that made Hard Candy occasionally hard to swallow. I’m not really feeling it…
But look on the bright side: It’s just a bonus/deluxe track!
“I cannot lie and I won’t pretend/But I feel like I lost my very best friend…”
“Beautiful Killer” | “I Don’t Give A” | “Falling Free” | “I’m Addicted” | “Love Spent” | “Gang Bang” | “Superstar”
MDNA will be released on March 26. (iTunes)
