Following her outbursts on Instagram earlier in the week, Madonna has decided to hit back against the leakers by releasing six tracks from her new album Rebel Heart.

The complete tracklisting from Madge’s thirteenth full-length record, which was not due to be released until March 2015, appeared online on Wednesday (17 December) in what she insisted were unfinished demo formats. The star’s publicist Liz Rosenberg made it clear that the decision had been taken in direct response to the leak, and, while the completed album’s release date remains the same, Madonna will be released more music online on February 9th.

Madonna
Madonna responded to last week's leak by releasing six tracks from her forthcoming album Rebel Heart

Madonna herself later said in a statement "I was hoping to release my new single 'Living For Love' on Valentine's Day with the rest of the album coming in the spring. I would prefer my fans to hear completed versions of some of the songs instead of the incomplete tracks that are circulating. Please consider these six songs as an early Christmas gift."

The 56 year old was understandably irritated by the breach in security that allowed the leakers to distribute the new songs. On Wednesday, she took to her social media accounts to plead with her fans not to listen to the leaked tracks, comparing the hack as “artistic rape” and a “form of terrorism”. But, with this move, she appears to be making the best of a bad situation.

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The six tracks are available for immediate purchase on iTunes and other online retailers. They include the Nicki Minaj collaboration ‘B***h I’m Madonna’, and ‘Ghosttown’, ‘Illuminati’, ‘Devil Pray’, ‘Unapologetic B***h’ and, what was clearly intended to be the lead single, ‘Living For Love’.

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