You’d be forgiven, in recent years, for thinking Madonna had little left in the tank. Since the middle 2000s, her string of albums — 2008’s off-kilter Hard Candy, 2012’s baffling MDNA, 2015’s meek Rebel Heart, and 2019’s ambitious but overstimulating Madame X — showed her flailing, trying to put her spin on contemporary music but ending up missing the mark. She tapped a slew of collaborators, from Madame X’s slew of burgeoning Latin artists or politically defunct rappers like Nicki Minaj, Kanye West or M.I.A., trying to get back on top. For a long period, Madonna no longer set trends, but attempted to follow them.

It makes sense that her best album in years, CONFESSIONS II, picks up where Confessions on a Dancefloor left off, and why she’d want to produce a sequel. Recent albums by Rochelle Jordan and Charli xcx have shown the dancefloor isn’t dead, and the late-career success of Kylie Minogue says that it’s never too late to stage a monumental comeback (Janet, are you listening?) For CONFESSIONS II, Madonna enlists the same producer, Stuart Price, embarks on the same vibe, and finally, thankfully, becomes cool again.

“The dance floor is not just a place, it’s a threshold,” she begins one extraneous spoken word intro, “A ritualistic space where movement replaces language.” CONFESSIONS II is built on this principle, creating an hour-long testament to movement and nonverbal community — its energy is addictive, and you get the sense Madonna could still come back for more. Price’s crystalline house beats are simply joyous, and Madonna feels at ease. “It’s really hard for me to trust people,” she whispers, almost in pain, on “I Feel So Free,” the opening track. “That’s why I like to go dancing / Safety in numbers.” Her call to movement ranges from the family-friendly “Danceteria” motto “Everybody get up and dance!” to the dig at agoraphobes and homebodies on “Everything”: “It’s not okay… I don’t fuck with it!”

There’s plenty of partying to be had—“Danceteria” is a roaring romp, and “Love Sensation” is like Sabrina Carpenter-helmed “Bring Your Love,” just less garbled—but CONFESSIONS II’s sly third act makes room for intimate reflection. “Betrayal” shows a pained relationship between Madonna and her stepmother: a diss track that holds no punches even when the enemy has already died—“You’ll never take my mother’s place,” Madonna calls out. She pays tribute to her late brother on the breakbeat of “Fragile,” and the gentleness of closer “L.E.S. Girl” recalls some of Ray of Light’s tamer moments, speaking about two artists trying to make a way for themselves in the world, late on rent, fragments of her time with a “Lower East Side boy.” She examines her history of hardships and controversies on the icy downtempo of “My Sins Are My Savior,” saying that it’s only made her stronger, but takes accountability on “The Test,” a duet with her daughter, where Madonna apologizes for thrusting her into fame: “You didn’t ask for all the flashing lights.”

CONFESSIONS II digs its claws into contemporary house music, but it’s also a retrospective on her life’s work, with built-in clues: The swanky “Vogue” rerun on “Danceteria” and its frenzied “Music” interpolation, or the pulsing rhythms that recall Erotica on “One Step Away” or “Love Without Words.” A Latin guitar riff emerges on “Read My Lips” that feels a leftover from Madame X—speaking of, sleek as CONFESSIONS II is, it misses some of the oddities and freak factor that made her previous album such a bizarrely compelling listen (though it may be best to avoid rapping about “positive vibes” with Quavo on a reggae track again).

The Queen of Pop reigns—bolder, brighter and more exciting than she has been in years. Madonna clearly knows there’s more music to soundtrack her eternal life on the dancefloor, and we should be thankful she’s still up to the task.

Order CONFESSIONS ll by Madonna HERE