Madonna premiered the lavish new video for “Medellín” last night as part of a global event streamed live from MTV’s Camden studio. The visual gives fans new insight into the concept behind the singer’s upcoming album, Madame X, which she recently teased via Instagram.
The video opens with Madonna standing before an alter, shrouded by darkness. “Dear God, how could I trust anyone after years of disappointment and betrayal?” she whispers. “How could I not want to run away again and again? From now on, I am Madame X. And Madame X loves to dance… Because you cannot hit a moving target.”
Cut to Madonna-as-Madame-X, leading a sultry dance class with Colombian singer Maluma as her student. “Medellín”s reggaeton-inspired beat kicks in, and Madonna whispers its “1-2-cha-cha-cha,” hook to Maluma, who plays up his role as her love interest. The pair trade flirty lines in the track’s bilingual chorus. “Ven conmigo, let’s take a trip / Ven conmigo, I’ll be so good for you,” Madonna croons, as the pair indulge in general drinking and debauchery. The excess culminates in a glorious, carnival-esque wedding party, before Madame X grabs Maluma’s hand, and the couple escape into lush pastoral woodland as the sun begins to rise.
Madonna’s vision for “Medellín” was to craft a video that “would look like a painting”, Billboard reports the singer told a small audience yesterday. She partnered with two directors from Barcelona, Diana Kunst and Mao Morco, who have also worked with Spanish singer Rosalía. “It was really Diana’s work that I had seen first,” Madonna added. “She is very influenced by a lot of the same painters and filmmakers that I am interested in. Surrealist painters like Frida Kahlo and Leonora Carrington. I felt that all of her videos are very painterly and I loved her colour palette.”
Madame X is out June 14. Watch the video for “Medellín” below.