When Lady Gaga proclaims that she has a new album on the way, it immediately sparks a guessing game among her fervent fan base — what flavor of Gaga will we receive this time? Imperial Pop Gaga? Rock Star Gaga? Lovable Artsy Weirdo Gaga?
So when Mother Monster announced earlier this week that she would be dropping a surprise album on Friday (Sept. 27) titled Harlequin, theories began flying around the fandom of what they might get to hear. Some believed that the project would act as a soundtrack to her upcoming film Joker: Folie à Deux; some believed the LP would serve as a transitional project akin to her Cheek to Cheek era; more still thought “LG 6.5” might see Gaga return to the dark pop glory of early projects like The Fame Monster and Born This Way.
But now that Harlequin is here (via Lil Monsters LLC & Interscope), we can confidently say that … well, everyone was a little bit right. The new Gaga album is equal parts Joker companion piece and covers of classic showtunes and pop standards, with a pair of original songs Gaga wrote specifically for the album to round the whole thing out. Employing her ever-impressive voice, Gaga manages to take each of these beloved songs and morph them into her own vision for a Harley Quinn-inspired romp.
For those thinking that Harlequin will simply retread the heights of Gaga’s jazz duets with Tony Bennett, fear not; throughout each of the album’s 13 tracks, the singer carefully shapes each song to fit the chaotic musical world of Joker: Folie à Deux. Spanning genres and styles, Gaga manages to turn even some of the most beloved pop classics in American culture into fresh reincarnations.
While we continue to revel in the anarchic delights of this album between albums, here is Billboard‘s preliminary ranking of all 13 songs on Lady Gaga’s Harlequin: