Debut "Godspeed"

Blessed Madonna: risk, pain and joy

Currently the hottest thing on the electronic DJ market: Blessed Madonna - now with a debut album.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Warner Music, Eva Pentel)

The Blessed Madonna is a permanent fixture on the world's dancefloors. It's no coincidence that she was named DJ of the Year in 2016 by leading magazine Mixmag. Together with pop singer Dua Lipa, she made her second album club-ready in 2020 with the remix version "Club Future Nostalgia". Now Marea Stamper, whose real name is The Blessed Madonna, is releasing her first album "Godspeed" on Friday.

On it, she proves that she can not only make people dance with electronic music, but also make them think. "Maybe part of me wanted to imagine what it would be like if dance music wasn't just about getting high in Ibiza," explains Stamper, who lives in London and was born in the USA, in an interview with the German Press Agency. "I felt hungry for risk and pain and joy."

Party and good humor
With driving disco house beats and bright piano chords, but also a wide variety of influences from singers from the gospel, R&B and folk pop genres, the songs on "Godspeed" radiate a lot of joy and initially invite you to let yourself go on the dance floor. In "Edge Of Saturday Night", for example, pop icon Kylie Minogue sings about how the party just keeps going on a Monday morning, turning it into Saturday night again. The two performed the song together in a club in Ibiza in the summer. "Serotonin Moonbeams" also exudes an infectious good mood with sounds that resemble a cheerful whistle. Singer Uffie lends her sugar-sweet voice to the previously released song.

For The Blessed Madonna, however, "Godspeed" is primarily about bitter themes - the passage of time and loss. The titular expression is used to wish someone all the best on a new path - or to say goodbye. The ticking of a clock runs through the album as a common thread, which can be heard more or less strongly. Whether the clock ticks forwards or backwards is something you have to decide for yourself, explains Stamper. It's about being aware that time is passing. "We are all trying to beat the clock."

Glue for the songs
Stamper's father died during the making of the album. The song "Somebody's Daughter" was written only a short time later. It is one of the few technoid tracks on the work - rough and pounding. At the end, there is a recording of the father's voice talking about how proud he is of his child. "I secretly record people all the time," Stamper reveals. Stamper's mother and stepfather can also be heard making statements such as "Do something pretty while you can" on the album, in the so-called interludes. Seven of the 24 tracks are designed as such interludes. They act like glue between the individual layers of the album, are both a connecting element and a braking threshold, giving the listener pause.

The Blessed Madonna also weaves in her own voice. Many know her from the successful house track "Marea (We've Lost Dancing)" by Grammy winner Fred Again. He sampled excerpts from a conversation between the two. On social media, The Blessed Madonna is often seen with other artists. Many photos show her hugging others, she radiates warmth. This is the theme of "Secretariat". The song is named after a successful US racehorse. According to Stamper, an examination after his death revealed that he had an extremely large heart.

Room for more heart
Sometimes she feels like she has too much heart herself, says Stamper, adding: "I think it's very important to learn to live with a little more heart." She wanted someone to learn something about her through music. And she has succeeded. On "Godspeed", she combines pain and joy into danceable songs and tells her own story in the process.