Madonna's best album cover since True Blue

Madonna's next album is (almost) here:

You can pre-order Rebel Heart (March 10, 2015 release) now at iTunes, with the songs “Living for Love”, “Devil Pray”, “Ghosttown”, “Unapologetic Bitch”, “Illuminati” and “Bitch I'm Madonna” (feat. Nicki Minaj) available immediately. More music is coming February 9, 2015.

Madonna is harkening back to what was arguably her ultimate good year: 1991. Amazing shot!

Clearly, this is how Madonna's team has reacted to the unfortunate leaks. Thank God Kim Jong-un had no horse in this race.

Madonna says:

"I was hoping to release my new single 'Living For Love' on Valentine's Day with the rest of the album coming in the Spring. I would prefer my fans to hear completed versions of some of the songs instead of the incomplete tracks that are circulating. Please consider these six songs as an early Christmas gift.”

My thoughts:

Stick a f**k in him, he's Dunn.

Bobsledder Simon Dunn (above) is hot. Much proof here.

Elusive perfect pec bounce captured on film!

President Obama says U.S. racism is “deeply rooted.”

Is you're obsessed with/repulsed by Grindr...click here.

Attempts to change the narrative on Ferguson should be resisted.

Extremely tense confrontation between protester and NYPD.

Chicago FurFest convention hit with dangerous chlorine gas attack.

This is one reason why I can't bring myself to see the new Annie.

Labour MSP calls Madonna a “silly exhibitionist,” condemns her boobies.

Mayor de Blasio to intro bill (today) to ban horse-drawn carriages.

Angelo's “Delusions of Grandeur”.

You thought that he was weak...

Is Bianca Del Rio the “Joan Rivers of drag”?

Even Hugh Hefner thinks Bill Cosby's a freak if the allegations are true.

THE GAY BLADE: Olympic figure skater Eric Radford comes out.

Nick Jonas gets naked for Kingdom.

The luck's run out for Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana).

Meth-smuggling gay pornstar Bruno Knight gets 2 years.

Boston's Santa Speedo Run raises $ and hope.

Journalist Liz Jones, writing for The Mail on Sunday in the UK, has conducted a little experiment based on the Mert and Marcus photos of Madonna that currently adorn Interview. Jones claims:

“When I first saw her provocative, vaguely sado-masochistic photo shoot in Interview magazine, I was full of admiration.”

I say claims because Jones has had vicious things to say about Madonna in the past, so it's very hard to accept that her first thought on seeing those photos wasn't really, “Oh, here's an opportunity to bash Madonna and get some clicks.”

She then spent money on Botox and fillers, and recreated the shots. She was not into any of the styling, complaining of how everything fit, felt and even smelled.

At the end of her breattakingly short essay, Jones has transformed from an admirer of the images to a vocal critic of Madonna and of the message she assumes Madonna is sending. With the certainty of a religious fundamentalist—one concerned about not the arousal of male desire but the incitement of female self-doubt—Jones declares:

Madonna has co-created another memorable cover and spread for Interview, this time with her most recent photographers of choice, Mert and Marcus.

In a series of images for the venerable magazine's “Art Issue,” she is serving attitudinous trout pout, a full helping of boobs, and the kind of daring that involves snakes, crosses, and sitting too close to the TV (which can cause cancer...move back! screams everyone's mom).

Three girls three

Touches of the Like a Prayer era as well as the “Hollywood” video, but otherwise, it's a really fresh, bold shoot and look for her.

She tells the mag:

“We’re in the world of creating illusions and giving people the ability to dream and be inspired.”

Her interviewer? Publicity-whisperer magician David Blaine.

Madonna also brings up her roommate Martin Burgoyne, who died of AIDS, as well as the artists Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat (an ex) and Andy Warhol, all of whom she has survived by many years:

“I was attracted to creative people. You don't want to be the smartest person in the room; you want to be the dumbest in the room. You want to be surrounded by other thinking people who are going to say something that makes you think, 'Oh, my God, that's an amazing idea. Why didn't I think of that?' And somehow we found each other in Manhattan. That's the crazy thing. We found each other and we connected to each other and we moved around the city together. They supported my shows. I supported their shows. We were a unit. And I don't even know how it happened. It just did.”

It's a fantastic interview to match the great portfolio. The magazine describes her thirteenth studio album as coming in 2015; no word yet on whether all the leaks in recent days will affect that.