It's the stuff of freelance musicians' dreams, but within a week of posting his demos on spec to Maverick Records, William Orbit really did find himself working with Madonna. Six months later the electronic dance pioneer had co-produced all but one of the tracks and co-written six of 13 songs on the Queen of Pop's exciting new album, Ray Of Light, which is set to become her best-selling record of the decade.

Having previously been working on soundtrack commissions with film production companies and on his fifth Strange Cargo album, Orbit ­ who in 1990 remixed Justify My Love for Madonna ­ says, "I wrote to Guy O'Seary. I was at a loose end looking for musical adventures. Madonna called back five days later and said she had been working on melodies and lyrics to my demos and asked whether I wanted to work with her."

Orbit says James Dewar, who signed him to Rondor Publishing in October 1994 after his deal with Bugle Songs lapsed, is obviously delighted. "I signed to Rondor for quite a lot of money and didn't really do anything. Next thing I've co-written Ray Of Light, and I think it's really something else. I'm so excited by it. I didn't expect any of this to come out the way it has," he adds. Not only is the pumping and psychedelic Ray Of Light (out on March 2) one of the most eagerly-anticipated albums of 1998, it is the most ambitious and introspective record of Madonna's career and her best since 1989's Like A Prayer. Unlike the first single Frozen ­ a ballad chosen to ease listeners into Orbit's touch ­ the album is a gripping, magical dancefloor adventure which cuts back to 1991's Erotica. "When I heard Justify My Love I got drawn to her. That album Erotica was programmed with so many rhythms. Now it's come round to where it should go. Back to the line where she started and she's gone a step further," says Orbit.

From the restrained addictive opener Drowned World to the dancefloor killer Ray Of Light and the complex closing track Mer Girl, the album is a compilation of classic yet often understated tracks which convey the agony and ecstasy of her recent life. And her outstanding vocals demonstrate a new-found range developed during the Evita project. WEA marketing director Tony McGuinness says, "There's a leap she's made which has made us so excited. A lot of people feel that. For her it's been a brave move but nobody gets as big as Madonna unless they make brave moves. She's singing better than ever. If it wasn't such a crap line I'd put "Back On Top" on the posters but that has awful double-entendre consequences."

RELEASE CREDITS
Label WEA
Project SINGLE / ALBUM
Songwriters MADONNA/ORBIT/
LEONARD/NOWELS +
OTHERS
Publisher VARIOUS
Released FEB 23/ MAR 02 1998

The album was recorded at Larabee North Studios in LA last year where Orbit ­ who lived breathed and ate his work ­ soon found himself and Madonna were ideal collaborators. The soundscaper says, "I was definitely taken aback by it all. She's got very, very strong studio savvy and, not having worked with producers, I was overwhelmed. To be around that kind of talent is very exciting and what I want to do. We're very similar. We've got this focus and drive. We all went through a lot of different moods recording this. Madonna's been doing this a long time and when she's in an expediting mind she wants to get moving now. I need that kind of kick up the arse to stop me meandering about recording."

The 100m album-selling artist is reunited on four tracks with long-term collaborator Patrick Leonard (Live To Tell, Like A Prayer). It also includes collaborations with Marius DeVries, Rick Nowels and Suzanne Melvoin. But it is very much Madonna and Orbit's album. Madonna tells dotmusic: "William is a mad musical genius. I loved the remixes he had done for me in the past, so this time I wanted to bring him in from the inception of the project. It was everything I'd hoped for. I felt we had an incredible chemistry and an inspiring working relationship."

The single Frozen (out on February 23) is a prime example of the way Orbit works by deconstructing songs, although that proved hard for Leonard to enjoy. Orbit says, "Pat did a great job being manful about it all. It was hard for him. I believe in deconstructing as much as possible but Madonna likes to pull away the layers even more than me, and at times I'd be like, 'we'll put some back in', and she'd not want to. It was hard for Pat but he writes beautiful melodies and we were never going to destroy them."

Orbit was surprised to be allowed input into choosing the track order, which he says took longer than recording some of the tracks. "The order is as best as it could be, set as contradictions. We took a lot of CDRs away to listen to and choose ­ in the house, when driving around, listening to it hard, when not really listening. It became a constant dialogue."

A 14th track, Has To Be, which was co-written with Leonard, has been set aside because of Madonna's preoccupation with the number 13, although it does appear on the Japanese version which was shipped early. It's a stand-out track which is likely to appear on a B-side somewhere. The choice of singles was conducted in London in early December at a playback organised by Madonna for heads of Warner from as far away as Australia and South America. Guests were asked what they thought of each track professionally and personally. It was here Madonna was convinced to go with Frozen and not the title track Ray Of Light (the likely second single). The Italian-American icon returns to London this week to perform on the National Lottery and Top Of The Pops.

She pays close attention to how the campaign is handled in each territory, explains McGuinness. "She's not a passive artist. She's involved in all parts. She's always asking why we're doing this and not doing that. It's not been so long since Evita last year but for us it's important to capitalise on her return to form in the past three or four years; remind people what she was like before she became embroiled in her Sex thing," he says. The marketing campaign has three main strands. First, there's her new-found "fresh" image, which McGuinness says involves WEA trying to get across "her personality not her body". Posters displayed around the country will be 96 sheet (the biggest possible) and many will be back-lit (the most expensive). "She looks so amazing in those shots. It says: 'She's back, she's big and she's lovely'," says McGuinness. Second, there is the sound, and Orbit's involvement alongside Leonard, which McGuinness describes as "so newsworthy". And third, there's the issue of communicating where she's at. "This element is absolutely key. It's about where Madonna's at now. That's a classic new strand. For her, it's a fresh statement and important to remember ­ it's not the sound, it's the sound of the record."

Huge dance press coverage has been planned ­ an eight-page feature in Q and covers of the Sunday Times Culture section and NME are promised. But WEA is most pleased with the radio reaction to Frozen. "Radio in the past 12 months made noises about what was not Radio One and what was Radio Two, and Madonna was one of the artists talked about then. Now we've found out it is a Radio One album we're delighted. There was a time when we were worried, but now she's on the Radio One and Radio Two playlist," adds McGuinness.

Orbit, meanwhile, is left working on ideas for Madonna's band for an as-yet-unconfirmed tour of the US and finishing the Strange Cargo album. Having moved into a new studio facing the sea in LA, he is typically self-effacing, "I got a pretty good deal: six months working with a woman who is very creative. Could you ask for more than that?" Doubtful.

Stephen Jones