Tuesday, May 7, 2019
Madonna - I Rise - Single [Review]
"I Rise" is the second single released from Madonna's upcoming studio album Madame X, a bit of a comeback album considering the fact that it has been four years since the Queen of Pop has released an album (2015's Rebel Heart). I prefer the song to the album's first single "Medellín" (which I reviewed here), but it is still far from being a highlight from Madonna's overall catalogue thus far. The song begins with light static as if it's a vinyl being played with the needle just having made contact with it (a technique also used on "Erotica"), which is quickly interrupted by Emma Gonzalez, who, along with David Hogg, has been a rabid activist for gun control after witnessing and surviving a shootout in February 2018 at her high school in Parkland, Florida. In the intro of "I Rise," Gonzalez angrily and passionately asserts, "...Us kids don't know what we're talking about, that we're too young to understand how the government works! We call B.S.!" The audio was likely lifted from a rally/protest, and the sentiment definitely sets the tone and the stage for the remainder of the song. "I Rise" calls back to political songs from the Rebel Heart era such as "Freedom" (this song even borrows a line from "Freedom": "Freedom's what you choose to do with what's been done to you"), "God Is Love," and "Revolution" (all of which ended up on the cutting room floor and were not used on the final product). "I Rise" addresses rising against tyranny and becoming stronger as a result of trauma, abuse, and hardships, my favorite lyrics being these from the first verse: "There's nothin' you can do to me that hasn't been done. Not bulletproof, shouldn't have to run from a gun" (which obviously makes sense in tandem with Gonzalez being at the beginning). Near the end of the song, the orchestral accompaniment featured reminds me of "Vogue," and the song also sort of has a folktronica flavor that reminds me a bit of American Life, my favorite Madonna album so far. I have seen some fans criticize the song for the melody being relatively static and never going anywhere interesting, and I agree to an extent; it's definitely not the catchiest song that she has ever done, although the chorus (especially since it keeps repeating "I rise") feels anthemic, which is very likely the point (in that it's probably intended to remind listeners of a chant being called out at a rally or protest - again calling back to the song's intro). I have also seen some fans criticize her use of a vocoder on the song's vocals, comparing it to Cher (who definitely overuses autotuning and vocoding in a lot of her music), and while I do understand that, I don't find it anywhere near as annoying or egregious as I do in "Medellín." I definitely appreciate the culturally relevant and important lyrical content and am definitely hoping for more of that from Madame X (the standard version of which will actually close with "I Rise"), but I have to admit that after now having heard two songs from the upcoming release (scheduled to drop on June 14th, 2019), I am a bit worried about this album's direction and am afraid that I am not going to be too fond of it. (I feel that way primarily because I am not overly impressed by either single thus far.) Two songs also isn't anywhere near enough material to make that judgment yet, however (especially since they are very different from each other), so only time will tell.
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