Confessions II, singles covered: III
[Video]
[6.92]
Julian Axelrod: Madonna locates the exact midpoint between “Bring Your Love” and “I Feel So Free” but swaps out Sabrina for Kylie, the last grande dame to find redemption on the dancefloor. Stuart Price and Madonna supercharge the original’s bleary pulse to suit the talent involved, crafting a delirious diva summit that sounds like the texture of a velvet rope. Decades on from her 90’s remix heyday, Madonna still knows how to iterate on perfection.
[7]
Alfred Soto: In its original form “Love Sensation” was a rote album track; newly remixed it sounds like a market concession to Madonna’s most formidable global competition. Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t dance to it.
[6]
Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Is it possible for something to be thrilling rote? All involved parties here do exactly what they’re supposed to do — Madonna and Kylie hover icily over the track while Stuart Price digs out a hypnotic groove. This is, essentially, a song you could recreate in your mind without ever hearing it, a big placeholder image reading “Madonna & Kylie House Masterpiece.” But the version of that song in your head is glorious, of course — the reality is only slightly tarnished from that high.
[7]
Claire Davidson: I warmed to the idea of Madonna collaborating with Kylie Minogue on a Confessions II single, not just because they’re both pop veterans of a similar generation, but because their voices have aged in similar ways: their elasticity having slackened to the point of leaving them slightly alien, almost droidlike in their displays of emotion. That kind of timbre can work in the right context. One reason why the best songs from Minogue’s Disco shine so brightly is their smooth, plastic sheen, which takes the stalwart grooves of the titular genre and polishes them into perfectly rounded, reflective surfaces. “Love Sensation,” on the other hand, has no distinctive sonic approach, coasting on a churning synth-bass wub and flattening its vocal lines into abstracted melodies that most resemble circus horns. There’s no reason for this song to be six minutes, either—yes, I know it’s a house track intended to disseminate vibes above all else, but even then, nothing about the song’s evolution strays from the banal. At this point, I’m starting to feel actively gaslit by the reception to Confessions II; surely, somewhat must be hearing what I am.
[5]
Katherine St. Asaph: An otherwise euphoric dance track drained of dopamine by the unsoaringest vocals I’ve heard since Madonna’s last single.
[7]
Ian Mathers: Song’s ok, but Minogue sounds so much better than Madonna vocally that it’s kind of distracting. I suspect I like this remix more than I’d enjoy the original. This Afterhours guy seems pretty psyched to be in a limo with the two of them!
[6]
Nortey Dowuona: If you think i’m goin to lazily give this a [10] off the strength of Stuart Price…you’re right!
[10]
Wayne Weizhen Zhang: I love love <3.
[8]
James M Errington: Stuart Price has done a fantastic job with this pulsating house track, but I’m a bit put off by the constant (for want of a better word) toasting from Madonna on the lyric video/live version of this — “ladies and gentlemen, the beautiful Kylie Minogue, has arrived, wooo!”
[7]
Will Adams: A solid self-remix by Stuart Price, taking the original’s sparkly house sleekness in a deeper direction. There’s something almost sweet about how the harmony stays still until Kylie arrives, gradually stepping up as with one of her most glorious singles.
[6]
David Allun Jones: The relentless, dark electronic throb of Stuart Price’s “Afterhours Mix” pulsates with such vampiric nightlife vividity you can almost taste the atmosphere of high-end cologne, sweaty underarm stank and heavy, drug-laced exhales. Slightly prefer the “Afterhours Radio Edit” though for injecting more of the exhilarating French disco whirls of the original ([8] for both). Most importantly, while I’ve seen plenty of DJ’s have already hopped on the obvious, I’m frustrated that none of the official mixes have managed to stitch in a reference to Loleatta Holloway’s own “Love Sensation”. What better way to celebrate these two titans of dance pop finally coming together than by bowing down to the ultimate exercise in disco divadom (with the same title, no less!)
[7]
Charlotte Gaze: Two of the greatest living divas cross off a well-needed bucket list item and set a near-record maximal joint slay. Oh, and they made a pretty good song too. Well appreciated!
[7]