- The Italians Do It Better squad lends their signature sound to Material Girl classics and deep cuts.
- For her 63rd birthday, Madonna announced a career-spanning series of deluxe album reissues. The same day, Johnny Jewel's label Italians Do It Better released a Madonna tribute compilation with 20 Madonna covers recorded for the occasion, which, in some nerdier corners, was even bigger news. Tribute albums are typically patchy affairs—full of covers that never needed to exist—but Italians Do It Better's effort feels reverent, not a tossed-off gimmick, but a bold artistic statement in itself. After all, Italians Do It Better is named for a T-shirt Madonna wore in her iconic "Papa Don't Preach" video. Its very existence is, on some level, an homage to the American singer.
The Italians Do It Better compilation reflects a deep love and respect for the music of Madonna. Their versions range from faithful remakes to nearly blasphemous reinventions, drawing a throughline between Madonna's many eras and the ostentatious, sensual post-disco upon which Italians Do It Better has built a mini-empire. It's a rare beast, highlighting both the genius of Madonna's work through the years and the legacy she's left on the contemporary electronic music scene.
Madonna and Italians Do It Better exist on different planes, though they run parallel to each other. Both are dance music-adjacent, making eyes at the dance floor while keeping their feet firmly planted in a pop-oriented crossover space. (After all, you're more likely to hear an Italians Do It Better song in a neo-noir film than a packed nightclub.) Both value aesthetic almost as much as sound, and they're impossibly stylish, cherry-picking from bygone eras to create an instantly-recognizable look and sound.
And with such a cultivated vibe, you can probably guess what Italians Do It Better sounds like: mournful and romantic noirish synth-pop versions of Madonna songs. At its best, the results are both on-the-nose and impressive, like Glüme's cover of "Material Girl," whose deflated synths and detached vocals turn the tongue-in-cheek song into a weary lullaby. Sally Shapiro's version of "Holiday," meanwhile, takes it to a rarefied, airy place without losing sight of the tics that make the original so good, while Belarusian band Dlina Volny make "Hollywood," Madge's paean to LA's underbelly, sound morose, even sinister.
Some of the best (and funniest) results come when an artist simply chooses to blow things up: Love Object's "Frozen" emphasizes the eerie chord progression of the original and takes it somewhere totally new—who would think to turn one of Madonna's greatest ballads into an deadpan electroclash song? By the same token, Farah takes "Gang Bang"—one of my least favourite Madonna songs, from 2012'a MDNA—and transforms it into a stomping, sinister strut, with teasing, almost childish vocals that complement the ridiculous lyrics ("Bang bang / Shot you dead / In the head"). "What It Feels Like For A Girl" becomes a jaunty New Order-esque jam. And Lou Rebecca takes a risk on "Burning Up," combining it with "Hung Up" for a disco mash-up that would earn screams of excited recognition on the right dance floor.
There are so many small, neat moments like that on Italians Do It Better—like how MOTHERMARY's version of "Like A Virgin" switches to a staggered, wobbly waltz for its verses, or how Jorja Chalmers' adds a cloud of perfumed smoke (and saxophone) to "Justify My Love," making it sound like some long-lost downtempo remix from the '90s. Even at their most faithful, these covers can tease unexpected nuance from the songs. Above all, they lay bare the melodic genius of the originals. It's like hearing them through new ears.
You might ask yourself if you need a collection of Madonna covers, and really, it's more for the Italians Do It Better stans than the Madonna diehards. The label has created such a distinct sound world that it's a pleasure to hear it applied somewhere else, even for 20 covers in a row. It might be best summed up by the version of "La Isla Bonita." If the original sounds like something that could score a Sandals commercial, Double Mixte's cover is the work of the has-been lounge singer who's worked at the resort for decades, singing the song night after night. The melody becomes a tad mournful, the Italo disco arpeggios and industrial drums lending it a sad pallor. It's both completely ridiculous and totally convincing, like so much of Madonna's best work. That Italians Do It Better could channel this paradox so well, and even make it their own, speak volumes about the label's vision, talented roster and the enduring genius of Madonna, which is more than the lion's share of tribute albums can claim.
Tracklist01. Joon - Papa Don't Preach
02. Desire - Angel
03. Sally Shapiro - Holiday
04. Dlina Volny - Hollywood
05. Farah - Gang Bang
06. MOTHERMARY - Like A Virgin
07. Club Intl - Lucky Star
08. Love Object - Frozen
09. Orion - Into The Groove
10. Number One Popstar - Hung Up
11. Double Mixte - La Isla Bonita
12. Juno Francis - Beautiful Stranger
13. Glüme - Material Girl
14. In Mirrors - Addicted To Your Love
15. Causeway - Crazy For You
16. Jorja Chalmers - Justify My Love
17. MOTHERMARY - Like A Prayer
18. Pink Gloves - What It Feels Like For A Girl
19. Lou Rebecca - Burning Up
20. Bark Bark Disco - Borderline