After the longest
stretch of her career without releasing
any new music, Madonna came back after a
two year break from the recording studio
with the theme to the James Bond film
"Die Another Day." Working with
Mirwais, the song is the logical
continuation of her work on the
"Music" album. This interesting
track boasts similarities to
"Music"'s thumping beat and
"Impressive Instant"'s
auto-tuned vocals, while also borrowing
the deliberate "skipping" that
was featured on "Don't Tell
Me." This is combined with Michel
Colombier's vaguely Bond-like string
arrangement and a set of simple but
slightly cryptic lyrics. The end result
is one of Madonna's more intriguing
singles and is perhaps a glimpse at what
we may see from her on her next album.
Continuing with the violent trend of her
recent visual work (the videos for
"What It Feels Like For A Girl"
and "Paradise" as well as her
physically rough relationship in
"Swept Away"), the video for
"Die Another Day" resembles an
episode of the TV show "Alias,"
as Madonna is beaten and tortured, her
head is shoved underwater, and she is
strapped into an electric chair, all
while sporting bloody clothing, bruises,
a split lip and various other signs of
extreme physical wear. Meanwhile, in her
subconscious, black (evil) and white
(good) versions of herself battle each
other with fencing foils and eventually
swords, axes, razor-rimmed hats and
harpoon guns before the good Madonna
triumphs in one fatal blow. The very end
of the video has sparked some discussion
as Madonna appears to escape Houdini-like
from the electric chair, leaving behind
only a bewildering Hewbrew inscription.
It's a dark and unsettling clip.
As seems to be
standard practice now for highly
anticipated new songs by major artists,
"Die Another Day" was subject
to numerous internet hoaxes before the
real version of the song finally premired
on radio stations worldwide in late
September. Several radio stations
actually began playing the unreleased
"Ray of Light"-era track
"Revenge" during the summer,
claiming it was Madonna's new single.
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