Ariel Pink is currently working with Madonna on her follow-up to 2012's MDNA, but that gig might be toast after recent comments he made about the aging pop star.
"Interscope are calling me to help write Madonna's record," Pink told Faster Louder. "They need something edgy. They need songwriting. She can't just have her Avicii, her producers or whatever, come up with a new techno jam for her to gyrate to and pretend that she's 20 years old. They actually need songs. I'm partly responsible for that return-to-values thing."
So what sort of music will he be making with her?
"I guess it's called 'throwback', but the first record [1983's Madonna] was so good because of the songs," he said. "It's been a downward slide [since] ... Ray of Light is not cool. And all the other stuff she's done after that, it's not like it matters. It really shows a drain of values. People need more substance in their mac-and-cheese. People need more sugar or something."
Obviously, this is all a very blunt assessment of Madonna's current state, and not one that she's likely to enjoy. Either Pink doesn't much care for holding onto this production job, or doesn't mind biting the hand that feeds him.
"It's not because of her age," he said. "It's because of the things that she thinks she needs to do to stay in her narcissistic domination of the world. Which is totally hers to have. But it's about not just being a yes person. I'm sure Interscope signed her like, 'Okay, the last record didn't do so well. We gotta do something about this. We're gonna get all new songwriters together and we're gonna try to come up with this thing. 'Cause she needs help with this.' And she's happy to let them do that for her."
Meanwhile, Pink's new album, pom pom, is due Nov. 18.
