A strong return to Madonna’s fabulousness

Another review of Madonna’s new single, this one coming from PitchFork Media.

Any song that samples the throbbing beat and Ren Fest keyboards of Abba‘s “Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)” at least has a solid foundation; no surprise, that sample is the best and biggest part of the track.

“Hung Up” is another non-song like “Music“, where the structure is loose enough to emphasize the music and the lyrics are general enough to pertain to either religion or cute boys. Still, there’s enough of a rewrite here to justify the love: that big two-part chorus, those pop melodies that ride Abba’s groove, even the way the time-keeps-ticking theme acknowledges that the inspiration for the song (and the sample) is decades old.

Kylie, Gwen, and so many others have shaken ass on this particular dancefloor before, but “Hung Up” still sounds like a strong return to Madonna‘s former fabulousness.