It looks like there will be two Lady Gaga albums in the coming months.
The singer, who announced that she will be dropping the first single from her forthcoming seventh studio album next month, just announced “Harlequin,” a soundtrack album titled to the forthcoming film “Joker :Folie et Deux,” in which she stars with Joaquin Phoenix.
“Harlequin” will be released on Sept. 27 and feature 13 songs. In the lead up to the announcement, Gaga teased fans with posts to Instagram “I’m ready for my interview,” read one post, while another said: “Don’t tell me what to wear.” A third post, which was accompanied by the lone plucking of an acoustic guitar, read: “No duct tape. No mission.” She also teased the album earlier this week with billboards including the number “6.5,” which presumably means that she does not consider this a full Lady Gaga studio album, unlike the forthcoming one that has been written in shorthand “LG7.”
Gaga stars in the upcoming comic book musical “Joker: Folie À Deux,” which features singing but is “unlike anything I’ve ever done before,” she said recently in an interview with Empire. The film opens on Oct. 4. The Grammy and Oscar winner stars opposite Joaquin Phoenix in the movie as Lee, a reimagining of Harley Quinn.
The soundtrack album’s tracklist appears below — as rumored, it appears to be newly recorded versions of classic songs like “That’s Entertainment” that appear in the film.
Both albums follow her recent surprise single with Bruno Mars, “Die With a Smile.” While little information about her new album has emerged, Gaga has been hard at work for the album for several months, having teased numerous posts of her in the studio.
A rep tells Variety that “Die With a Smile” will not be included on “LG7.” Gaga said in the press materials that accompanied the song: “I was finishing up my own album in Malibu and one night after a long day he asked me to come to his studio to hear something he was working on. It was around midnight when I got there and I was blown away when I heard what he had started making. We stayed up all night and finished writing and recording the song.”
It seems likely that Grammy-winning songwriter-producer Andrew Watt — who came up as a pop producer but has leaned heavily into rock, producing the Rolling Stones’ “Hackney Diamonds” last year as well as projects with Elton John, Ozzy Osbourne and others — is involved as well: He also posted on social media about the Gaga/Bruno song on Thursday. Also, a photo circulated last fall of her in the studio with longtime collaborator Bloodpop and vocal producer/engineer Benjamin Rice.
At the premiere for the “Chromatica Ball Film,” Gaga said, “I have written so many songs and I have produced so many songs.” She added, “It’s nothing like anything that I’ve ever made before.” Gaga hinted she liked to break genre and enjoyed exploring music. “There’s something really beautiful about knowing that you will be loved no matter what you do.”
1. Good Morning
2. Get Happy (2024)
3. Oh, When the Saints
4. World on a String
5. If My Friends Could See Me Now
6. That’s Entertainment
7. Smile
8. The Joker
9. Folie à Deux
10. Gonna Build a Mountain
11. Close to You
12. Happy Mistake
13. That’s Life