The title of Madonna’s new MDNA is working on several levels. There’s the association with MDMA, the already-passé drug of choice among the current crop of nü-ravers who have been steadily influencing the pop charts, and whom MDNA is clearly courting with shiny club-pop that’s begging to be plugged into the playlists of unimaginative DJs everywhere. The title also obviously references Madonna herself, appropriate for an album that spends considerable time reminding listeners of the Material Girl’s legacy: lyrical winks to “Lucky Star” and “Like A Virgin,” a song that essentially repurposes “Ray Of Light,” a Like A Prayer-evoking opening benediction. But the titular acronym can also be read through the lens of evolutionary science as referencing mitochondrial DNA—or rather, Madonna DNA. Though it’s almost certainly not meant to, this interpretation speaks to Madonna’s problematic place in the current pop-music landscape: After three decades of appropriating and propagating contemporary dance- and pop-music trends, Madonna in 2012 is now seeking inspiration from artists (and a fan base) who have never lived in a world where Madonna wasn’t pop royalty. Madonna is such a fundamental part of the genetic makeup of today’s pop music, is it even possible for her to break out of this recursive loop and move her music forward in any meaningful way?
It’s a delicate question that rides on the assumption of pop music as a young person’s game, and invites hacky dismissals rooted in ageism. Then again, it’s hard to overlook the absurdity of a 53-year-old mother of a teenager repeatedly referring to herself as a “girl” on MDNA. Pop is a hard genre to grow old in, arguably more so than rock ’n’ roll or hip-hop, and Madonna’s solution thus far has been to imitate rather than adapt, with generally non-embarrassing results. But the disconnect between Madonna on record and Madonna in person is becoming harder and harder to overlook. We want to believe that musicians would actually listen to the music they make, but it’s tough to imagine the Madonna of today wanting to spend significant time in the sorts of clubs she came up in, for reasons beyond professional obligation. And “obligation” isn’t a word that should be associated with party music—or music of any sort, really—but it’s a feeling that unfortunately permeates MDNA, an album that’s competent, but equally perfunctory.