I wanna talk about Madonna and Charli.
“Danceteria” was already one of my favorite songs on Madonna’s fantastic latest album, CONFESSIONS II, and Charli XCX just made it even more iconic on their new remix/collab, “Danceteria Afterhours.”
The original “Danceteria”—and this one, to an extent—is an homage to the New York City club of the same name. The Danceteria is where Madonna got her start, and many artists would go there, from East Village-based visual artist Kenny Scharf to Talking Heads icon David Byrne. Madonna paints a picture of an infectiously fun and artistically invigorating club.
Charli’s additions bring parts of the track into more recent places. Her first verse is about when she was fifteen and performing at underground raves she found out about through Myspace. Her second verse takes place in 2015, around when she met her producers and friends, A. G. Cook and Sophie.
Names matter in “Danceteria.” A huge portion of Madonna’s original track is names, many of which are in the remix as well. Carli includes three: A. G. Cook, Sophie, and one in her first verse: Le Couteau Jaune, a noise performance group that Charli met in 2007. All of the names that Madonna and Charli shout out both honor the artists and set a chaotic and exciting scene.
The beat of this track is infectious. That is no surprise, of course, because this is Madonna and Charli XCX we’re talking about. The vocals are panned in really interesting ways that sound great in headphones but would probably sound even better with good speakers. This song was made to be danced to, but that didn’t make listening to it at home any less enjoyable.
According to Madonna and Charli, everyone at the Danceteria is a work of art. They’re definitely included on that roster.
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