Madonna - MDNA megamix, first impressions

We've seen the video. We've all got rather excited. But looking into our Madonna shaped crystal ball (because the first single is only the start), MDNA - the album - is so much more than just cheerleaders and men in American football get-ups.

So what does the album actually sound like? A three track megamix sampler offers tantalising glimpses. Give Me All Your Luvin aside (which we've already established as pretty damn good), it seems overtly dancey. And that's good. Very good. After the urban side-step Madge took on Hard Candy, it's great to see her returning to what she does best, club records.

MDNA sounds less celestial than Confessions, less magically enchanting, but rather pushes down the glossy up-beat route of Celebration, which, I suppose, would represent a logical progression of her sound. Of the two, Turn Up The Radio sounds better but both tracks strike the right balance between 'mature' and 'fun' Madonna, and while they're far from the actively explorative, innovating days of 90s Madonna, they sound infinitely more confident and grounded than anything on Hard Candy.

Psychedelic party records is what Madonna is all about, and this kind of throwing-cares-to-the-wall and drinking a load of fizzy pop good-times stuff is such a refreshing return to form for her your only hopes are that the rest of the album matches up to the promising standards set by these two short snapshots. Because when Madonna is on-form, no-one else can touch her.