Take some time out, put on the headphones, drop the needle on the record, or queue up the latest releases on your phone.

Here’s four recently released albums that we’ve been playing at OUTinPerth HQ, new records from Madonna, Tuğçe Şenoğul, Jens Lekman, and Alev Lenz.

- Advertisement -

Madonna
Confessions II
★ ★ ★ ★ ★

There was a period in recent years where it looked like Madonna had lost her way. She released a series of reworks of past hits, revisiting songs such as Material Girl, Hung Up and Frozen with Tokischa, Fireboy DML and Saucy Santana. A collaboration with Sam Smith briefly drew attention before fading quickly. She also appeared on tracks by Dua Lipa, The Weeknd and Beyonce, while an old demo of the unreleased song Back That Up to the Beat surfaced.

She later re-signed with Warner Bros Records. A series of releases from her back catalogue were promised but not all materialised. However, fans did receive the long-lost remix album Veronica Electronica, a companion to Ray of Light that had been shelved in the 1990s. This was followed by unreleased tracks from Bedtime Stories and a new edition of Confessions on a Dance Floor featuring B-sides, remixes and rare tracks. As the years passed, it became the longest gap between studio albums in Madonna’s career.

Her Celebration Tour, focused on her greatest hits, brought her back together with producer Stuart Price, who had worked on Confessions on a Dance Floor. Together, they began work on a new record. For an artist known for constantly seeking new sounds and collaborators, revisiting the past marked a notable shift.

Renewed interest in her catalogue emerged on TikTok. A section of Thief of Hearts from Erotica gained unexpected popularity, while the transition between Forbidden Love and Jump from Confessions on a Dance Floor became a viral trend. Was Madonna cool again?

Any fears that Madonna had lost direction were quickly dispelled with the release of new music. I Feel So Free recalled the spirit of Into the Groove, celebrating the dancefloor as a place of freedom. Subsequent tracks, including Bring Your Love, featuring Sabrina Carpenter, and Love Sensation, were well received. A promotional film teased additional songs such as Good for the Soul, Read My Lips, One Step Away and the widely shared Danceteria.

Now the full album has arrived, and it stands among Madonna’s strongest work in decades. Presented as a cohesive journey, it moves from high-energy dance tracks through club-driven sounds into more intimate moments.

Madonna has long drawn on her personal life in her songwriting, from family relationships to loss. In the final section of the album, the tone shifts. Fragile reflects on the death of her brother Christopher, while My Sins Are My Saviour features Stromae. Betrayal explores her relationship with her stepmother Joan, combining piano, restrained beats and brass to create a somber atmosphere.

Among the standout tracks, Danceteria is a highlight. The song revisits her early days in New York, referencing figures such as Haoui Montaug, Martin Burgoyne, Debi Mazar and Mark Kamins. The extended version adds further nods to the Rock Steady Crew, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, David Byrne and the B-52s. The track is filled with little sound surprises, the ding of an elevator, a vocal shout out to Madonna’s first single everybody, and the congas of a rap street dance crew.

Elsewhere, Everything delivers an acid house-inspired sound, Love Without Words pulses with energy, and Bizarre, a collaboration with Martin Garrix, feels expansive. School is another strong addition to the record.

The closing stretch turns reflective. The Test, featuring her daughter Lola Leon, explores the pressures of growing up in the public eye. The album concludes with L.E.S. Girl, an ode to her time in New York’s Lower East Side, leaving a lingering sense of nostalgia and quiet emotion.

Tuğçe Şenoğul
Atlas
★ ★ ★ ★

This is the second album from Turkish singer Tuğçe Şenoğul, and it’s a mesmerising collection of songs filled with bold electronic soundscapes and warm vocals. The album follows two EPs, Atlas Earthsea and Atlas Skysea, which explored themes of different elements and emotions, now brought together here in a complete and cohesive work.

The album is rich with unexpected twists and turns. On Cenet, the first half of the song features a foreboding and shimmering electronic soundscape paired with a steady, pleading vocal. Midway through, it opens into a serene moment of birdsong, operatic high notes, and metallic clicks.

Aklımda Fırtınalar feels like a walk through a magical jungle, while Gizli Yüz offers an oasis of pleasurable chill-out sounds. Bu Gece brings pianos to the fore, adding emotional depth, and Aşk Deli stands as the album’s most upbeat moment, almost bursting into dance music. The album’s closer Bu Yaz Ve Sonra is just the sound of a simile piano being played in at atmospheric room.

You do not need to speak Turkish to enjoy the beauty of this record, which fans of Björk, Massive Attack, or William Orbit will readily embrace.

Jens Lekman
Songs for Other People’s Weddings
★ ★ ★

Swedish musician Jens Lekman has out out his seventh album, it’s a concept record that accompanying a novel he’s written with author David Leviathan. It draws on Lekman’s experience of playing at many weddings over the years.

Filled with gently strummed guitars, pianos, violins and Lekman’s crooning it’s rich romance rich and tales of love and affection. As individual songs these are delightful, but listening to them all in quick succession can leave you with a saccharin taste of too much sweetness.

Enduring love is celebrated on Still in Love With You, perseverance and determination are the focus of Working on a Script which explores how couples find their way through disagreements, while Advice For The Young is hymnal with its reflection of a failed relationship. Many of the songs are named after couples, Thor & Meta, Claude & Allie, TJ & Maghony and same-sex couple David & Christopher.

Alev Lenz
4 in a Cycle of Thirds
4 in a Cycle of Thirds
(Jas Shaw Versions)
★ ★ ★ ★

German-Turkish singer Alev Lenz released her album 4 in a Cycle of Thirds in January. It is a collection of songs featuring her stark vocals and a classical backing. Now, a new version of the album has arrived, giving it a remarkable twist. Simian Mobile Disco founder Jas Shaw has remixed all the tracks, turning them into ambient pieces – sometimes removing most of the vocals, and at other times stripping back the music and layering the vocals.

Both albums are stunningly beautiful – sparse and simple, yet rich in emotion. Listening to them side by side is recommended to fully experience the depth of this work. The original version of Domesticizer is a folky, fiddle-filled number, but the remix takes it into more foreboding territory, stripping much of the music away. Meanwhile, Mountain in its remixed form becomes a beautiful instrumental. Both versions of Dawn are delightful, although the remix is more layered, particularly in its use of vocals.

If you are looking for other companion album listening experiences, consider Ruby’s 1994 trip-hop record Salt Peter and its remixed version, Revenge, the Sweetest Fruit. Primal Scream’s 1997 album Vanishing Point was later reworked into the dub-influenced Echo Dek. Similarly, The Cure’s most recent album Songs of a Lost World was released alongside an ambitious remix companion.