MDNA: The Dawn of a New Madonna Era

In what is surely some of the most exciting news of 2012 (at least so far), Madonna is making her official return to music this year. There were rumblings toward the end of 2011, but now there are all kinds of details floating around so it's time to share 'em!

First and foremost, the pop queen will release her twelfth studio album, MDNA, on March 26th. The album title is a play on the artist's own name, and the similarity to the drug MDMA is nothing more than a publicity-generating side effect.

Of course, March 26th is still a little ways off and Madonna's fans have been waiting quite some time for her to get back in the studio and deliver some new tunes. This will be Madge's first album in four years so to say the anticipation is high is beyond an understatement. Luckily, we only have to wait a couple more days to hear Madge's first new song since 2009's "Revolver."

The first single from MDNA, "Give Me All Your Luvin'," features M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj. The music video will premiere during tomorrow's American Idol (Thursday February 2nd, 8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT on Fox). If you don't watch AI, never fear! The video will be posted online the next morning at 9am EST. Madonna will then perform the single, along with a medley of her hits, live at the Super Bowl Halftime Show on Sunday February 5th.



Of course, there may be some people out there who simply cannot wait until Friday. Well, you're in luck! The soundtrack to Madonna's directorial debut, W.E., was released this week and it features the Golden Globe-winning song "Masterpiece." The track was written and composed by Madonna, Julie Frost, and Jimmy Harry and produced by longtime Madge collaborator William Orbit. "Masterpiece" will reportedly be included on MDNA.

As a lifelong (I literally listened to Madonna in the womb) Madonna fan, I am pretty excited about her return to music and this dawn of a new era. Judging from the glossy album cover (above), the fact that she's collaborated with hot hip hop artists, and the copycat scandal I heard about last fall that compared an MDNA song to Nicola Roberts' "Beat of My Drum," I say we are definitely in for some hard-hitting dance music that may have more of an urban, gritty vibe than past albums like Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005) and Hard Candy (2008). But since it's Madonna, at the end of the day, I have no real clue. We'll have to see what "Give Me All Your Luvin'" brings come Friday morning!