Madonna released a new single today called “Crave.” It’s gone right to number 41 on iTunes, a flop out of the gate. “Crave” follows “I Rise,” which did nothing when it came out last Friday, and “Medellin,” which is lodged at number 91 in a remixed version.
Two more singles are scheduled for release, next Friday and on June 7th, before the June 14th release of the album “Madame X.” By then five of the twelve songs on the collection will have failed to launch, if the other two do as poorly as the first three.
Madonna is trying the throw everything-at-the-wall approach and see what sticks. So far nothing is sticking. Those songs are well made but dull. There is no excitement about them. Meanwhile, Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber teamed up and went to number 1 today with the average “I Don’t Care.” It took the two of them to knock Lil Nas X off number 1 with “Old Town Road.”
Madonna could have used a duet partner from the contemporary world of pop. She had a hit a few years ago with Justin Timberlake. She needed that again. Maluma, with his Latin American following, didn’t even make “Medellin” do much. There are so many young singers out there who’d be thrilled to duet with Madonna. But the partners she’s chosen to collaborate with aren’t bringing fan bases with them.
As for Sheeran and Bieber: “I Don’t Care” isn’t very good. Let’s see how long before Lil Nas is back on top.
