New Madonna logo shows the Queen of Pop can still cause controversy

Madonna has always known the value of controversy. It's been part of her brand throughout her reign as the Queen of Pop, from her juxtaposition of sexuality and religion in the video for Like a Prayer to the explicit coffee-table book Sex and, er, that NFT depicting her giving birth to a tree.

So, should people really be shocked that the star would drop a logo design featuring a three-way speaker unit amplifying her nether regions?

Madonna has updated her website with Confessions II branding ahead of an album launch expected some time this year. The new logo design shows a pair of open legs in stockings and knee-high boots forming the letter 'M' with a speaker unit providing the middle stem, while alluding to unseen anatomical features.

The imagery is causing a bit of a stir online, with some labelling it "obscene" and "vulgar" on social media. "Why must everything be sexualized?" complains one person, presumably not a long-time Madonna fan, on X.

Others think the design is reductive and unoriginal. Some claim that it borrows an idea from Jeff Koon's Lady Gaga statue, the robotic stage design from Beyoncé's Renaissance tour or even from a Geri Halliwell performance at the Brit Awards back in the year 2000.

I think that, rather than copying anyone, this is Madonna declaring that the mother of all those artists is back. It's also a direct reference to imagery from the upcoming album's namesake, 2005's Confessions on a Dance Floor, when Ms Ciccone iconically straddled a beat box in the video for Hung.

The shiny boots and retro bloom effect complete an aesthetic that's very much in keeping with that album's electro vibe. Perhaps the real controversy, then, isn't the logo design but that at 67 Madonna is finally making a sequel to a previous album rather than looking for something fresh after what's been the longest recording gap in her career. The phrase “Time goes by so slowly… (a lyric from Hung Up) appearing on her Instagram bio adds to the idea that we're in for a retro-looking release.

Embracing nu-disco and club pop in a continuous mix, 2005's Confessions was massive, setting a record when it hit number 1 in over 40 countries. But Madonna is Madonna because of her ability to continually reinvent herself and do new things, not revisit past glories. Is the queen of reinvention finally getting nostalgic?

But who knows? Going by the audio on the website at the moment, there is just a chance we might be in for an album of experimental ambient soundscapes, which could be the ultimate surprise from the Material Girl.