Madonna Channels Apocalypse, Stevie Nicks in “Ghosttown” Video

With the media continuing to root for her failure, Madonna persists in being their greatest nemesis with her latest single, “Ghosttown,” which has managed to climb to the top of the Adult Contemporary chart (where Madonna also made friends circa 1995 with her Something to Remember album).

After dismal album sales, which the internet relishes pointing out in spite of the fact that Rebel Heart is among Madonna’s best works, the success of “Ghosttown” is a much needed boost for the record. The video, which premiered this afternoon, already caused controversy–but not due to its content, so much as its defective platform, Meerkat, a new video streaming service. Nonetheless, M carried forth as well as she did after taking a tumble at the Brit Awards, opting instead to keep it classic and showcase the video on Vevo.

Echoing tinges of Children of Men and Blindness, the narrative finds Madonna in a desolate world (projected to be one year from now), with no one left but her, a dog, a rando little boy and a vaguely sexy non-white guy (which Madonna has always had a predilection for) a.k.a. Terrence Howard. As she traipses through the dilapidated town in a cape and a top hat (this is where her inner Stevie Nicks comes out), she sees her own image–specifically the Rebel Heart album cover–burned in effigy, befriends a wild dog and dodges a few bullets in between.

The final scene is the most dramatic, with Madonna engaging in a tango with the only other of the “two souls in a ghost town.” Part tussle, part affectionate romp, their dance is a metaphor for gripping to the last source of comfort you have in a world evermore on the precipice of demise.