Madonna, eternal godmother of female pop

Pop has never been so feminine: 2024 was the year of “female supremacy” in the genre, led by Charli XCX and Sabrina Carpenter, among others. And 2025 has already seen its share of revelations, like Addison Rae.

Behind the catchy yet intimate tracks lies a shared inspiration: the queen of pop and eternal godmother of emerging talent, Madonna.

“If there’s one dominant tone in pop this year, it’s the melancholic electronica of 2000s Madonna,” writes Adam White, culture editor of the British website The Independent .

After a forty-year career and 14 albums, Madonna intends to show that she is not just a relic of the past.

She returns this July 25 with Veronica Electronica, a new project consisting of remixes of tracks from her seventh album, Ray of Light.

Released in 1998, it sold 16 million copies worldwide and earned him four Grammys.

If it is not his most listened to album, it is “his most consensual”, considers The Guardian : “By blending trip-hop, electronica and Britpop, she has above all proven to a skeptical public that she is one of the greats of pop.”

First teased in 1998 but ultimately scrapped, Veronica Electronica features seven remastered singles, remixes by 1990s DJs, and a new demo.

Announced several months ago, this release was highly anticipated, assures The Times . Even if the artist has never really left a void, recalls the British daily.

Recently, Madonna released the album Madame X (2019) – which generally disappointed her fans – and a massive compilation album.

She has embarked on two world tours and is currently filming a Netflix series about her life.

But British music critics, who were champing at the bit, are divided.

Will Hodgkinson, a pop expert for The Times, is enthusiastic and believes that “the queen of pop is at her emotional peak [and offers] some real gems.”

Conversely, in the columns of the Daily Telegraph , Neil McCormick formulates a scathing criticism of this laborious “musical reworking” : “Here she is again almost thirty years later, fetishizing her own past.”

William Orbit, the British producer behind Ray of Light , also expressed his disappointment, saying he expected "a little more than vintage covers and remixes."

But for the Independent, the quality of this new project ultimately matters little.

“Whether innovative or not, Veronica Electronica is here to remind us who was the first to venture into this [pop] territory. Or at least, who met

the greatest success.”

Adam White, head of the culture section of the British website The Independent

Two of the year's most acclaimed pop records, FKA Twigs' Eusexua and Addison Rae's Addison , have a Ray of Light feel to them, Adam White continues, "melding pop hooks with a darker, more introspective vibe."

In 1998, Madonna paved the way for this ambivalent style: taking on the role of singing about grief, depression and the difficulty of early motherhood – and doing it while dancing.

From critics' favorite pop singer Caroline Polachek to Jade, from Little Mix, who is starting a highly successful solo career, all have Madonna as their "sound matrix," says the Independent critic.

Faced with these “inspirations” that border on plagiarism, the pop icon has a response of her own, jokes the Independent .

“There's still that touch of passive-aggressive ambivalence in Madonna's rather hilarious way of saying, 'I know, I like, and I support the fact that you're so blatantly pillaging me.' Pure Madonna.” —