Price Reveals Loss Behind Madonna's Confessions II Songs — SkimNews
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- Stuart Price reunited with Madonna to produce "Confessions II," released July 3 as a sequel to 2005's "Confessions on a Dance Floor," with a house-music sound sourced partly from mixtapes Price had made for her on the road.
- "Fragile" was written the week Madonna's brother Christopher Ciccone's illness took a turn for the worse, and "Betrayal" — about her late stepmother — grew from an Erik Satie piece originally considered for daughter Mercy's piano moment on the Celebration Tour.
- "The Test," a duet with Madonna's daughter Lola, was a healing opportunity for mother and daughter; Price called watching them record it "one of the most beautiful things I've seen."
- "I Feel So Free" was sparked when Madonna brought in a mixtape featuring Lil Louis' "French Kiss," which Price combined with a hypnotic London-built track during a New York session.
- "Good for the Soul" came together on Price and Madonna's first day back in his London studio, setting the tone for an album Price says reframes "confession" from shame into power and vulnerability.
- Madonna won Artist of the Year at the VMAs, delivering her first performance on the show in 23 years; Price said the production required "tour-level preparation" compressed into a two-week schedule.
- Roughly eight songs didn't make the album — and Price cryptically hinted "good songs never die," suggesting they could surface later as part of the ongoing Confessions continuum.
Why it matters: The album pairs relentless house-music production with Madonna's most emotionally raw songwriting in years — tracks addressing the deaths of her brother Christopher Ciccone and her stepmother were written during the very weeks those losses unfolded. For an artist two decades removed from the original Confessions, this reunion with Price produced her VMAs Artist of the Year win and a creative peak that suggests the partnership still has unreleased material in the vault.
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