Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia
After teasing her album for four days on Instagram, on September twenty-fourth Lady Gaga announced her new album, titled “Harlequin.” Just two days later–it was released, her seventh studio album. This drop came just days before the release of the sequel to the 2019 movie “Joker.” Although the original “Joker” was classified as a thriller/crime movie, to many peoples’ surprise, the sequel is a musical featuring Lady Gaga as the love interest to the Joker, Harley Quinn, who also serves as the love interest to the Joker in the comics.
At the premiere for the sequel, “Joker: Folie à Deux,” Gaga stated “I wouldn’t necessarily say that this is actually a musical; in a lot of ways, it’s very different…The way the [director] used it is to give the characters a way to express what they need to say because the scene and dialogue is just not enough.” This shows how much music can add to a story.
Soon after the release of “Harlequin,” critics and fans’ opinions started to come to light. Her new album differs from her last being that it is her first and only solo jazz album to date. Gaga tells Rolling Stone that for this album she wanted to “create a modern take on vintage pop” (Rolling stone). In my personal opinion, her new sound fits her voice perfectly. Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone seems to agree, when he states “It’s a luxuriant album of jazzy swing, mostly standards, right in her sweet spot” (Rolling stone). Additionally, eleven out of the thirteen songs on the album are covers of what Billboard considers to be “beloved pop classics,”which include songs from famous jazz singers like Frank Sinatra.
Billboard managed to give Lady Gaga mostly great reviews, specifically, ranking her original song “Happy Mistake” number one on their list. I agree with this opinion because of Lady Gaga’s vocal execution on this record. I would go as far as to say that this is her best ballad to date. The disheartening four minute song includes lyrics such as “A lonely disposition / Portraits of a strung-out girl.” Gaga later described the meaning of these lyrics in an interview with Apple Music. She mentioned how this song is a reflection on how she felt performing when she was younger; she related it to “taking heroin” and went on to explain how it made her feel “outside of herself.” Clearly, her massive fandom proved to be too much in her early career. When going out on stage, she felt like she had to put on a front, and therefore started to lose herself. She ended her explanation with “but now I don’t feel that way anymore,” showing how she has grown to be secure in her true self while still appealing to her fandom (Apple Music).
My second favorite song of the album is “The Joker,” although it is a cover originating from the musical The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd, I feel that Gaga is able to put her own spin on it by making it by furthering the rock elements. On the other hand, my least favorite track on the album has to be “Close To You.” While I don’t think it’s a bad song, it’s one that I would skip when I listen to the album, because of its boring production and uninteresting lyrics. Additionally, Billboard ranked it number eleven on their list because it “doesn’t feel entirely cohesive on an album as bold as Harlequin” (Billboard). I believe that billboard perfectly articulated my thoughts on the record. “Harlequin” is very out there and the bland sound on this track does not mix in well with the others.
Due to the fact that this album takes inspiration from her new movie “Joker: Folie à Deux” coming out, Gaga clearly demonstrates how versatile she is in the music industry by playing a world renowned character. Although her album is a substantial genre shift from her previous records, she is able to produce a quality record that was thoroughly enjoyed by fans and critics alike.
