“Workin’ up a sweat/ that’s what music’s for,” Madonna sings on “Heartbeat,” the pumped-up fourth song on Hard Candy, her latest album, due April 29. The pop diva makes good on her promise – singing her way through an hour of Euro-flavored dance tracks infused with retro, house beats. PEOPLE.com got an early listen – and here are five fast facts about Madonna’s latest:
– On “Spanish Lesson,” produced by the Neptunes, Madonna does, in fact, go bilingual, offering loose translations of phrases like, “Entiendo,” which she says means, “I get it,” over a funked-up flemenco guitar riff. (Literal translation: “I understand.”)
– Kanye West offers a fast-paced rap on “Beat Goes On,” the eighth track, breathlessly rapping, “I think I’m going to try something new.”
– The singer indulges her choral side on the album-closer “Voices,” which features production by Justin Timberlake, Timbaland and Nate “Danjahandz” Hills. The song builds to a dark, cinematic crescendo, as the album closes with one lone tone.
– Madonna sings, “You always have the biggest heart/ though we’re 6,000 miles apart,” on “Miles Away” – perhaps inspired by living and working far away from hubby Guy Richie?
– In case you didn’t realize, Madonna really wants you to dance: Two songs – the opening track “Candy Store” and “Beat Goes On” – include overt calls to “get up off your seat,” as she sings on the latter track, bolstered by the Neptunes’ production and West’s rapping.
Bron: people.com
