“Danceteria Afterhours” is a nonstop guided tour through nightclub lore
Madonna and Charli XCX guide us through nightclub lore on their collaborative new single, a reworked rendition of the acclaimed Confessions II track “Danceteria.”
Produced by Madonna, Andrew Watt, Cirkut, and Stuart Price, “Danceteria Afterhours” delves into Madonna’s nights in New York City at the legendary club Danceteria, which opened its doors in midtown Manhattan before settling at its 21st Street location in 1982. (Madonna is said to have handed DJ Mark Kamin her “Everybody” demo at Danceteria, who played the single for the first time to a packed crowd; the club is also where she gave her first live performance.)
Alongside Madonna’s verses that name-dropping her fellow clubmates like Fab 5 Freddy, Basquiat, Rock Steady Crew, and more are Charli’s own club recollections. In “Danceteria Afterhours,” Charli looks back at being “sweet 15 in a weird outfit” and performing in London before fast-forwarding to hanging out with with A.G. Cook and Sophie in Los Angeles, where she finds “different DJs, flavored cocaine.”
The result is a joyful collaboration that spans nearly 50 decades — with each verse simultaneously nostalgic and timeless.
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Prior to the song’s release, Madonna and Charli threw a Club Confessions party with Saint Laurent during Paris Fashion Week and swapped a series of social media exchanges to promote the single. Rolling Stone‘s Rob Sheffield praised Madonna’s return to the dancefloor on Confessions II, calling it “her best album since the original Confessions 21 years ago” and “a 64-minute nonstop groove that flows like a club-DJ set, each song fading into the next, drawing from all over the history of dance music.”
Madonna is slated to take centerstage for her first performance at the MTV Video Music Awards in 23 years on Sunday, Sept. 27. The icon leads the night with 11 nominations, thanks largely to the short film she crafted for Confessions II — the film is up for Video of the Year, as well as a swath of other categories including Best Direction, Cinematography, and Choreography.
