6 APRIL 8-21, 2015/THE WESTERN SUN

You wanna bite?

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MADONNA is back with a new, saucy recording.

Brand-newmaterial ‘girl’Madonna reinvents herself again with ‘Rebel Heart’

By Lola OlveraWestern Sun staff writer

It’s amazing how people keep in-sisting than Madonna tuck her cleav-age away and buckle down like any other “proper” aging female pop star would. As she points out in the title track of her new album, “Rebel Heart,” she never did intend to follow the rules anyway -- which is good for her, and good for her music.

Madonna appears to be leaving be-hind her dance-heavy “MDMA” phase, though not entirely. “Rebel Heart's"

sharp, sudden bursts of EDM -- most of which are thanks to Diplo’s produc-ing efforts -- give the album an edge and much excitement.

“Devil Pray,” in which she teams up with artist Avicii, first strums like a country song and then slips into a wa-tery submersion of vocal effects.

“Unapologetic B***h,”meanwhile, mixes a reggae groove with a sing-song hook and sudden doses of dubstep, nar-rowly missing “kinda annoying” for “pretty cool.” It doesn’t hurt that Ma-donna’s spitting out some blistering lyrics on the track-this could, after all,

be her anthem. A rawer talent is spotlighted on the

equal parts gospel/rave opener “Liv-ing for Love,” and shiny ballads like breakup reflection “HeartBreak City” and “Ghosttown,” which she recently performed with her “new favorite gui-tar player” Taylor Swift.

And, of course, what’s a Madonna album without a few songs about sex? On the surprisingly fresh and minimal “Body Shop,” she takes auto imagery for a raunchy test drive, then likens her body to a religious experience on the track “Holy Water.”

One of the more interesting things about “Rebel Heart” is its contrary, or maybe complementary, sense of self. On one hand, there’s “B***h I’m Madonna,” the playful, throne-assert-ing blast to which Nicki Minaj lends a fierce rap. On the other is “Joan of Arc,” exposing a devastating vulner-ability under constant scrutiny and judgment.

Madonna has and always will be a multi-faceted, relevant pop musician, no matter how much the media loves to hate her. She’s right: “You can’t mess with this lucky star.” H H H H

ROSE McIVER has the brains in “IZombie.”

‘IZombie’ turns the genre on its head

TelevisionBy Thom deMartinoWestern Sun entertainment editor

Being a brain-eating zombie, shall we say, bites.

Promising medical student Liv Moore (Rose McIver) had so much to live for -- with a successful career ahead of her, a handsome, charming fiancee just waiting to sweep her off her feet... until a random invitation to an evening boat party became an unso-licited opportunity to become undead.

Six months later her career is de-railed, her pigmentation drained, and her stomach growling for brains.

Fortunately, her new boss in the city morgue Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti (Rahul Kohli) not only suspects her secret, but once he knows, he even embraces it as an opportunity to both study and help her. Ravi sees her zombification as a disease vector and thinks he can some-how find a cure -- something she never dreamed possible since turning.

While Liv finds a steady supply of gray matter through the help of her friend and co-worker, she also finds