“4 Minutes,” the first single from Madonna’s Hard Candy, her last album for Warner, has just surfaced. Produced by Timbaland & Danja and featuring Justin Timberlake on guest vocals, “4 Minutes” is a clear break from the disco-heavy Confessions on a Dancefloor, but is it any good? AMG Editors Stephen Thomas Erlewine and Heather Phares offer their initial take on Madonna’s return.

Heather Phares: So, I’d say this is poppier than Confessions on a Dance Floor’s singles, but there’s maybe not as much substance here. There’s a lot of stuff going on, but not a lot of hooks. It also continues Madonna’s habit of picking up on the big pop trends that happened after she released her last album, what with recruiting Timbaland and Danja to produce and Timberlake to duet.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine: It’s interesting — I grant you, it’s poppier than Confessions, but mainly in the sense that it feels more modern. Confessions was an exercise in stylized retro-disco — almost a back-to-basics move from Madonna, really — but this feels like it’s designed to say that she’s still cutting edge.

HP: Yeah, but it feels like 2006’s cutting edge. That said, it’s growing on me each time I listen to it, kind of the way that Timbaland and Timberlake’s “SexyBack” did.

STE: True, Confessions picked up on trends after the fact but that fit her comfortably. This, I do agree, does feel a couple years out of date, not something that’s on the edge.

HP: I mean, even if Confessions was self-consciously retro, its cleaner production just sounds more appealing to my ears.

STE: Yeah, this is a cacophony, to the point where Madonna is being swallowed up by the blaring synth-brass and loops — which may be a clever way to sneak her back into clubs/airwaves, but it kind of gives the impression that she’s not entirely driving the project. Which is unusual for Madonna, of course — even when she teamed with William Orbit, she felt in charge.

HP: Yeah, it feels more like she’s guesting on the track, rather than running the show.

STE: Also unusual, it’s primarily a dance track, not a pop song — almost always, the pop precedes the production in her tunes, whereas this is all rhythmic hooks.

HP: It’s definitely rhythmic, not so sure about the hooks — those take awhile to come out from under all the brass and beats.

STE: Yeah, I was trying to say that the rhythms ARE the hooks, whether it’s in the loops or that circular synth — after several spins, I’m still not discerning a strong melody.

HP: It doesn’t really feel like a grand statement, like some of her lead singles tend to do, which is kind of interesting. It’s just something that would fit in easily on the dance floor.

STE: Excellent point — it IS hard to tell which way the full album might go, other than it feels like she’s making a bid for her enduring relevance again. Which may make it not unlike American Life, only without the gloom and murk that sunk that album.

HP: Yeah, I’m all for that. It’s just not “announcing” itself as much as the American Life singles did.

STE: That said, I have to say that after listening to this single, it does seem like this album, like American Life, might take some work to get through.