Tender yet spiky&like a night out

New Madonna album Confessions II reviewed

- BY TOM BRYANT

MADONNA has never shied from mining her own life for inspiration.

And after a tumultuous seven years since her last record, she has plenty of of material to harvest.

A brush with death, the passing of her brother and a strained relationship with her daughter all leave their mark.

The hour-long record, produced by Stuart Price, is up there with her most vulnerable work, revealing a tenderness at odds with her often spiky persona - none more so than on the haunting Fragile, an ode to brother Christopher Ciccone, who died aged 63 in 2024.

The siblings had a fractious relationship which culminated with him writing a tell-all book about her.