The queen of pop is back! Friday, March 7, Lady Gaga released her seventh studio album, “Mayhem.”
The album was a combination of dark pop with traces of her 2013 album, “ARTPOP,” and 2009’s “The Fame Monster.”
Gaga released her single “Disease” on Oct. 25 and her second, “Abracadabra,” on Feb. 2. The singles teased a return to her campy-pop roots, leaving most fans counting down the hours to “Mayhem’s” release.
Many of Gaga’s tracks allude to her past music, but also show another side of her—one where she steps into a new era.
“‘Mayhem’, to me, is an integration of who I am in real life, and who I am on stage,” she said in a Spotify press conference held the morning of the release.
“Mayhem” was a result of the “gothic dreams” Gaga had been experiencing, calling them a through line to some of her earlier records in the press conference.
The fourth track on “Mayhem,” “Perfect Celebrity,” is the epitome of “old Gaga,” almost like an older, stronger version of her hit “Paparazzi.” With a beat that drags even the most shy people to the floor, “Perfect Celebrity” successfully portrays what fame and the cutthroat music industry have made her feel.
“Killah,” featuring French DJ Gesaffelstein, brought a fresh, industrial funk beat to the table that balanced the album out—another catchy club song to add to Gaga’s list! Gaga said, in the conference, that it was her favorite song to make on “Mayhem” and features only two live instruments: her guitar and her voice.
On the flip side, “Blade of Grass,” a sweet song about her fiancé, Michael Polansky, proposing to her, is her favorite track that she wrote on the album, according to the press conference.
“We were in the backyard and he said ‘if I propose to you one day, what am I supposed to do?’ And I said you can just get a blade of grass from the backyard and wrap it around my finger,” Gaga said, adding that he proposed with green wedding bands.
The emotional ballad is a signature throughout Gaga’s albums, one that truly showcases her vocal range.
However, “Die With a Smile,” featuring Bruno Mars, does not work as a closer to this album. It does not match the club-like chaos that runs through “Mayhem,” and should have remained a separate single.
That being said, Gaga did try something new with “How Bad Do U Want Me,” a track that had fans speculating influence from Taylor Swift. With a bubblegum-pop vibe, this track is used as a palette-cleanser, which most albums arguably have.
Despite the new path Gaga took on “Mayhem,” the album still made a large mark in queer pop, marking the phenomenal comeback of the Mother Monster: Lady Gaga.