Recommended tracks: “Perfect Celebrity,” “Killah,” “How Bad Do U Want Me”
Mother Monster is back! Five years after the release of her album Chromatica, Lady Gaga has returned with her highly anticipated new album, Mayhem. Six albums in, Gaga is here to stay and is showing everyone why she will forever be reigned as the princess of pop.
The record feels like a blend of her albums The Fame and Born This Way. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, she describes how those two albums actually drew her back to making music with “dark, ominous energy,” something she stirred away from these past few albums. “Maybe the last four or so albums I’ve made, I moved away from that and tried some different things, but this was a return to those Gothic dreams.” she told Rolling Stone. She made the record with her fiance, Michael Polansky, along with producers Andrew Watt, Gesaffelstein, and Cirkut.
Honestly, I haven’t had such a visceral reaction to a Gaga record since she released Joanne back in 2016. Listening to Mayhem is like running a file mile sprint with a nice cool down at the end. Kicking it off with “Disease,” the first single she released for Mayhem last October, Gaga returns to her dark-pop sound, the reason why so many fell in love with her all those years ago. It starts the album off perfectly and tells you right away the direction it’s going. With track two being her second single from the album, “Abracadabra,” the album immediately takes you on the best pop music high of your life.
Another stand out track on the album is “Perfect Celebrity,” a feminine rage anthem about the years of the dark-sided superstardom Gaga has explored since starting out in 2008. The 90s inspired punk rock track highlights her songwriting and powerhouse vocals. Being in the public eye is not by all means easy, and Gaga is very straightforward with the struggles she’s faced throughout her career in this song: “I look so hungry, but I look so good / Tap on my vein, suck on my diamond blood/ Choke on the fame and hope it gets you high / Sit in the front row, watch the princess die”. The track undoubtedly has the best chorus on Mayhem: “So rip up the face on this photograph (Perfect celebrity) / You make me money, I’ll make you laugh (Perfect celebrity) / Show me your pretty, I’ll show you mine / You love to hate me / I’m the perfect celebrity.
Other highlights in the first half of the record were “Killah” and “How Bad Do U Want Me”. “How Bad Do U Want Me,” an 80s inspired track that has quickly become a fan favorite, and while not 100% confirmed, seemingly samples the song “Only You” by Yazoo. The production and its catchy chorus will immediately pull you in, something that Gaga is great at doing in her music.
“Killah” is a great track from my first listen, but seeing the performance from Saturday Night Live on March 8th, gives an extra layer of love with the production. Produced by French producer, Gesaffelstein, this track marks this their first time working together. The retro-funk, Prince-inspired track is something Gaga hasn’t done since Joanne, but here she takes Mayhem to new heights, switching it up by bringing in the heavy bass sound and hypnotic groove. It’s a great track to vibe to, to just sit back with a nice glass of wine, and bop your head back and forth to.
Following the six track run of banger after banger, you arrive at the cool down part of Mayhem, aka the last two songs. After running that sprint, you need a breather and a couple sips of water. The second to last song of Mayhem, “Blade of Grass,” is a love song Gaga wrote for fiancé who, when asked her how he should propose to her, she stated: “We were in the backyard and he said, ‘If I proposed 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,’ and he did actually propose to me with these green bands. He also gave me a ring.” It’s a beautiful track that really showcases the love Gaga & Polansky have for each other, and one of her most personal songs yet.
Mayhem concludes with “Die With A Smile,” the record breaking smash hit she made with Bruno Mars. When the track list first got released for the album, many people online thought that this song wouldn’t fit the vibe of Mayhem, but it closes the record perfectly.
Gaga returning to her dark sound is the best move she’s made in her career. Mayhem is a phenomenal record that showcases every ability she has in her music. To quote a lot of tweets I have read over the past few days, “We have never been more back.”
