Madonna happy, buoyant in new album

NEW YORK - Madonna will not let a few cracked ribs and broken bones spoil her party. Weeks after falling from her horse on the grounds of her English estate, Madonna is in the mood to dance. Not surprisingly, she wants the world to know.

After the serious tone of her last album, 2003's "American Life," Madonna wanted this collection to be happy and buoyant. "It was like, honey, I want to dance," she told Billboard during an interview in her New York hotel suite. "I wanted to lift myself and others up with this record."

The new album, "Confessions on a Dance Floor," is due November 15 from Warner Bros. (one day earlier internationally). A special edition, which includes a picture book and bonus track, arrives in December.

"I wanted a record with no ballads," Madonna says. "I wanted there to be no breaks, with one song segueing into the next -- just like in a disco."

The 12-track album was inspired by the many remixes her songs have received over the years. "Whenever I make records, I often like the remixes better than the original versions," she says. "So, I thought, screw that. I'm going to start from that perspective."

"Confessions" closes on a deeply personal note, with Madonna singing, 'This is who I am. You can like it or not." In this way, the album follows the musical arc of a club DJ's nightly set, which becomes more intense as the evening progresses.

Consider it Madonna's way of reeling in the listener. "I was only hinting early on, but then I tell it like it is," she says of the album's song order. "It's like, now that I have your attention, I have a few things to tell you."

Back to the clubs

For her 10th studio album, Madonna collaborated primarily with producer Stuart Price, who was part of her touring band for the Re-Invention and Drowned World treks.

Together they took Madonna's music back to the place where she first made her mark in the early '80s: the clubs. But they did so in a way that, while wickedly retro, pushes the beats and rhythms into the future.

"Our intention was to give a nod and a wink to people like Giorgio Moroder and the Bee Gees," Madonna says. "Stuart and I didn't want to remake the past, but make it into something new."

The album was recorded in Price's London flat. "I'd come by in the morning and Stuart would answer the door in his stocking feet -- as he'd been up all night," Madonna says with a smile. "I'd bring him a cup of coffee and say, 'Stuart, your house is a mess, there's no food in the cupboard.' Then I'd call someone from my house to bring food over for him. And then we'd work all day."

Pausing for a moment, she laughs and says, "We're very much the odd couple."

Whatever the approach, Warner Bros. Records chairman/CEO Tom Whalley likes the fact that Madonna returned to her roots for the album. "It is a tribute to dancing and having fun, which is very needed right now," he says.

'Up' and running

Lead single "Hung Up" is off to an explosive start. The energetic, ABBA-sampling track first appeared in September, in a TV spot for Motorola's iTunes-compatible ROKR mobile phone that features Madonna and other artists jammed into a phone booth.

This week, the track moves 38-29 on the Pop 100 Airplay chart and 30-21 on the Adult Top 40 chart. It also reaches the summit of the Hot Dance Airplay chart and climbs to No. 5 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. It resides at No. 21 and No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Pop 100, respectively.

On November 7 and November 9, the catchy song will be featured in episodes of "CSI: Miami" and "CSI: NY," respectively. "Hung Up" also has been made available worldwide as a master ringtone with various mobile providers.

"We are off to a better than good start," Warner Bros. executive VP Diarmuid Quinn says. "Because her last album ("American Life") didn't do quite as well as we had hoped, we really weren't sure what the reception would be this time around."

The interest in the new album underscores Madonna's place in pop culture. "With her last album, many naysayers were questioning her relevancy," Whalley says. 'This new album puts all that to rest."

Rabbinical row

In signature fashion, Madonna has not escaped controversy with "Confessions." Album track "Isaac" has drawn the ire of some rabbis and religious scholars, who claimed the song is about 16th-century Jewish mystic/Kaballah scholar Yitzhak Luria.

Madonna only sighs. "You do appreciate the absurdity of a group of rabbis in Israel claiming that I'm being blasphemous about someone when they haven't even heard the record, " right?"

According to Madonna, "Isaac" -- which is about letting go of and tackling your fears -- is named after Yitzhak Sinwani, the track's featured vocalist, who sings in Yemenite. Madonna, who needed a title for the song, chose the English translation of Sinwani's Hebrew first name.

She adds, with a twinkle in her eye, "It's interesting how their minds work, those naughty rabbis."

Madonna, who is considering a "Confessions" tour for next summer, also has her sights set on the big screen. "I want to direct a film," says the singer, who is married to British filmmaker Guy Ritchie.

She credits this newfound interest to the "great experience" she had working with director Jonas Akerlund on her new documentary, "I'm Going to Tell You a Secret." The film, which chronicles the 2004 Re-Invention world tour, debuted on MTV, with subsequent airings on VH1 and Logo. A DVD release is expected next year.

Madonna says she was very involved in the filmmaking process, from preproduction and filming to editing and postproduction. "It's a lot harder than making a record," she acknowledges. "All the grading, color-timing, off- and on-lining and special effects. Oy vey!"

- REUTERS