Madonna
Veronica Electronica
WARNER/RHINO
If 1998’s Ray of Light was Madonna’s most sea-, sky-, and earth-shattering leap into taking rave culture beyond the dance floor, think of its companion album, Veronica Electronica, as its best friend—a series of shaggy-dog edits, remixes, and demo tracks from producers William Orbit, Patrick Leonard, and Marius de Vries meant to expand the vision of its origin story album. What’s amusing and crucial (at least where Madonna’s innovation is concerned, at this point) about her finally releasing Veronica Electronica is how weirdly fresh this sidepiece sounds. Remixes from 2024 don’t hold up well, let alone those from 1998.
Such is the airy, future-forward tone and boundaryless rhythms of Orbit and his team on Veronica Electronica (the title stemming from an alter ego Madge created for herself) that a second near-classic has been created. Everything from the ruined love affair rumination of the “Gone, Gone, Gone” demo—its melancholy breeze and its soft jungle skitter—to the sparely chanted vocals, stammering pulse, and after-hours Reggae Lounge feel of “Nothing Really Matters (Club 69 Speed Mix Meets the Dub)” is as dreamily sad as “Skin (The Collaboration Remix Edit)” is fluty and rich with foreign intrigue.
The schematic for the present-day idea of a banger is revealed in this disc’s slow-to-boil chill-time sensuality of “Frozen (Widescreen Mix and Drums)” and the click-clackity, mesmerizing balladry of “The Power of Goodbye (Fabiens Good God Mix Edit).” Then there’s “Ray of Light (Sasha Twilo Mix Edit),” a prayerful, shwooshing remix that lifts Madonna’s vocal into becoming another theatrical instrumental element in its overall kitchen-sink drama. You’ll be inspired to tap into Ray of Light all over again.
