GODSPEED
by BLESSED MADONNA

The Blessed Madonna's long-awaited debut album, Godspeed, was written over the course of three years and comprises 24 tracks including the singles Mercy ft. Jacob Lusk, Serotonin Moonbeams, Edge Of Saturday Night with Kylie and UK Top 20 single, Happier ft. Clementine Douglas. The album is both a testament to Marea Stamper’s far-reaching influence, and a homage to her roots in underground electronic music. 

Drawing on a rich groundswell of collaborators — from  pop megastars to long-established names at the beating heart of the US underground like Jamie Principle and A-Trak, breakout acts like Joy Anonymous and vocalists tracing classic soul (Danielle Ponder), new-age gospel (Jacob Lusk) and UK RnB (Joy Crookes) — Godspeed successfully explores the sounds, eras and touchpoints that make The Blessed Madonna the artist she is today. 

At its core are some deeply personal themes, balancing the twin flames of rave and religion — both of crucial importance to Stamper — Godspeed explores the full spectrum of human emotions, tackling everything from joy to grief with equal gusto. 

On the release of Godspeed, The Blessed Madonna said “Godspeed: the word marks the beginning of a journey and sometimes the end of one.”

“After nearly a year in lockdown, when I signed the paperwork and knew that I was going to be allowed to make this album, I called my dad in Kentucky to tell him the good news. He could not contain his pride and in a way his relief. I was going to be ok. He says it better than I do at the beginning of the record. I lost him suddenly just weeks before the first session, but his voice will live in Godspeed forever and make a million more journeys to everyone who hears it.

This is a welcome and a farewell. The end of a journey and the beginning. A clock running out and an alarm. These are the days running over the hills like wild horses and nights that never end. There is no second of this album that was not touched, heard, shaped and believed in by The Godsquad, and first and foremost my twin, my brother Pat Alvarez. And then by some miracle Jon and Dom from Sportsbanger appeared and seemed to instantly understand how to get inside of this project and speak on my behalf in visual ways. They saw me immediately and helped me make sense. To be able to trust them was a relief, a vindication and a blessing. I have no higher respect for any group of artists.

So here it is: This is Godspeed. This is your chance. Now do your dance.”

With creative direction overseen by acclaimed DIY bootlegger artists, Sports Banger, the album also makes a visual statement, drawing inspiration from Stamper's pentecostal church upbringing, for example, and recreated a scene from the ‘60s tent revival movement for the front cover, which depicts a young girl as the subject of a laying of the hands ceremony. A black & white photograph of Stamper’s husband, Vadim, wearing a custom-made Godspeed belt buckle is also depicted on the reverse of the vinyl sleeve, while the vinyl’s gatefold features a collection of repurposed club relics lifted from across The Blessed Madonna’s 30+ year DJ career.

“The album artwork and supporting material are image-based and distinctly scrappy as a reaction to the mundane design that plagues dance record sleeves” Sports Banger explains. 

“The artwork had to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. We took a ride through Marea's extensive rave archive to understand The Blessed Madonna's origin story. The girl pictured on the cover could easily be Marea, having grown up around the Tent revival and Pentecostal rituals of her home state of Kentucky.

What we ended up with was a Crass-meets-religious-Midwest-rave-degenerates via an industrial estate in Tottenham, London.”

Tracklisting - Godspeed by The Blessed Madonna 

1 God Has Left The Room (Intro)
2 Somebody's Daughter 
3 Nowhere Fast
4 Henny, Hold Up Feat. Mother Marygold, Ric Wilson
5 Jinterlude 
6 Serotonin Moonbeams
7 Edge of Saturday Night with Kylie Minogue
8 U Want 6 Grand 4 Wut? (Interlude)
9 Blessed Already Feat. Ric Wilson, Mabl
10 Strength (R U Ready) Feat. Joy Crookes
11 Why Trax Records Still Sucks in 24 (Interlude)
12 We Still Believe Feat. Jamie Principle
13 That's The Shhh (Pure Love) (Interlude)
14 Carry Me Higher Feat. Danielle Ponder
15 Henterlude Feat. Joy Anonymous
16 Back 2 Love Feat. Jin Jin
17 Brand New Feat. James Vincent McMorrow, A-Trak
18 Count On My Love Feat. Daniel Wilson, KON
19 Godspeed Feat. DJ E-Clyps
20 Secretariat Feat. Shaun J. Wright, KON
21 Mercy (The Welcome) Feat. Jacob Lusk, Jyroscope
22 Mercy Feat. Jacob Lusk
23 Your Mom <3 (Interlude)
24 Happier Feat. Clementine Douglas