Madonna and Charli XCX have shared their new collaboration ‘Danceteria Afterhours’ – listen to it below.
The track is a reworked version of ‘Danceteria’, taken from Madonna’s recent album ‘Confessions II’, and sees the two pop stars looking back at the club scenes that helped shape them.
Produced by Madonna, Andrew Watt, Cirkut and Stuart Price, ‘Danceteria Afterhours’ takes its name from the legendary New York nightclub where Madonna spent time during the early stages of her career.
The singer references figures from the city’s early-’80s downtown scene including Fab 5 Freddy, Jean-Michel Basquiat and the Rock Steady Crew. Danceteria also played an important part in launching her own career, with DJ Mark Kamins playing her ‘Everybody’ demo at the club before producing the song, which became her debut single in 1982.
Charli, meanwhile, uses her verse to revisit her own clubbing history, recalling being “sweet 15 in a weird outfit” and performing in London, before jumping forward to her time with A.G. Cook and the late SOPHIE in Los Angeles.
Listen to ‘Danceteria Afterhours’ below.
The collaboration was first previewed last week, when Madonna shared a clip of the pair dancing together and asked: “You wanna talk about Madonna and Charli?”
It follows months of playful exchanges between the two artists. Earlier this year, Charli declared “I think the dancefloor is dead, so now we’re making rock music” on ‘Rock Music’, from her latest album ‘Music, Fashion, Film’.
Madonna subsequently appeared to respond on social media, writing: “If your Dance floor feels dead, maybe you’re playing the wrong music,” sparking speculation of tension between the pair.
However, they were later spotted partying together in Paris, and Charli later revealed that they had effectively enjoyed a “mini-break” together.
“She’s so cool,” Charli said at the time. “And she is so interested in really talking about the music that she makes, and how and why, and I found it very inspiring to hang out with her.”
‘Danceteria Afterhours’ follows another recent reworking of ‘Confessions II’, with Madonna joining forces with Kylie Minogue for ‘Love Sensation (Afterhours Mix)’ last month.
‘Confessions II’, a sequel to 2005’s ‘Confessions On A Dance Floor’, was released in July and later topped the Billboard 200.
In NME’s four-star review, Nick Levine called it Madonna’s “most vital album in over two decades”, singling out ‘Danceteria’ as “a thrilling tribute to the New York nightclub where she found her sound and her chosen family”.
Madonna is due to perform at the MTV Video Music Awards this Sunday (September 27), marking her first musical performance at the ceremony in 23 years. She leads this year’s nominations with 11, including Video Of The Year for Confessions II – The Film.
Charli, meanwhile, is currently touring North America behind ‘Music, Fashion, Film’. She will bring the tour to the UK and Europe in February, including shows in Dublin, Glasgow, Manchester and two nights at The O2 in London.
NME awarded ‘Music, Fashion, Film’ four stars, describing it as “a snapshot of stardom from a true modern artist”.
