Lady Gaga’s newest studio album MAYHEM promised us chaos and she delivered. She has been experimenting with various genres since her breakthrough in the early 2000s, including jazz, rock, and house music. However, many fans have been anticipating her return to her classic electro-pop sound, similar to that of The Fame (2008) and Born This Way (2011), for years now. Whilst this new album marks a regressive shift back to this era in some ways, Gaga also showcases her diverse vocal and lyrical capabilities by edging towards genres she hasn’t previously explored.
MAYHEM’s opening tracks, ‘Disease’ and ‘Abracadabra’, were the promotional singles for the record. The dark, twisted lyrics of these songs, as well as their outlandish and somewhat sinister production, prompted excitement from casual fans and ‘Little Monsters’ alike. Many listeners drew similarities between these and her older work, taking this as a sign that the ‘old Gaga’ had returned. However, when the remainder of the album dropped, some fans were disappointed that it differed so dramatically from what the singles seemingly promised. Although Gaga undoubtedly subverted my expectations for the album’s overall sound, I couldn’t be more thrilled with the direction she decided to undertake.
In an interview with Rolling Stone last December, Gaga stated: “The album is imbued with my love for music: a diversity of genres, styles, and dreams. It leaps from one genre to another in a manner that feels almost corrupt, and it culminates in love.” This sentiment certainly holds water when listening to the record in full. The record’s title gave the false impression that this work would emulate the erratic and unpredictable nature of her previous offerings such as ARTPOP (2013) and The Fame, but the true ‘mayhem’ of the album lies in the incongruous clash of genres and themes she grapples with throughout. She leaps (in a way that feels as “corrupt” as she promised) between punchy rock-inspired tunes like ‘Perfect Celebrity’, ‘Killah’ and ‘Garden of Eden’, songs that follow a classic pop formula like ‘How Bad Do You Want Me’ and ‘LoveDrug’, and funky, disco-esque tracks like ‘Zombieboy’ and ‘Shadow of a Man’, within mere minutes. The album concludes with three slower, ballad-like songs, contrasting the upbeat and brash energy of the prior tracks: ‘The Beast’, ‘Blade of Grass’, and ‘Die With A Smile.’ When Gaga first released the track list a few weeks ago, I was confused as to how a song like ‘Die With A Smile’ would fit into the same album as the eccentric ‘Abracadabra’, but the change of pace in the later tracks made for a surprising, yet refreshing, shift. Despite being confused by the abrupt genre switches on my first listen, I have now fully embraced the madness and discordance she offers us as listeners.
Most of her previous works have had a specific thread or idea that runs throughout, but MAYHEM seems to be an exception to the traditional Gaga formula. The record explores various themes and concepts, including fictionalised, chaotic love affairs (A.K.A. ‘bad romances’), the toxicity of celebrity culture, and the singer’s own relationship with Michael Polansky. This strange clash of ideas works well to reflect her maturity as a songwriter and her unabashed desire to try something different with every new release she puts out. I would argue that the central motif of MAYHEM is the homage she pays to her musical predecessors, including the likes of Michael Jackson, David Bowie and Prince. Songs like ‘Shadow Of A Man’ and ‘Killah’ draw heavily from the singing and production styles of these legends and Gaga makes her reverence for them clear in her imitations. She also seems entirely unafraid to interpolate iconic snippets of songs into her own; some examples include ‘How Bad Do You Want Me’ sampling ‘Only You’ by the 80s synthpop duo Yazoo, and ‘Zombieboy’ having a similar refrain to ‘Hollaback Girl’ by Gwen Stefani. Despite this blatant emulation of other musicians, she still manages to incorporate a signature ‘Gaga twist’ into every single song.
Whilst MAYHEM has proven to be polarising across social media, I can safely say that this is one of Lady Gaga’s strongest works. Not only does she demonstrate her adoration for the music industry and her astute ear for different genres through this album, she also solidifies her status as one of the most iconic and talented vocalists of our generation. MAYHEM feels like a love letter to her previous works and to ‘Little Monsters’ everywhere – I don’t see how she will be able to top this record in the future but, knowing Gaga, I’m sure she will!
Standout tracks: 'LoveDrug', 'Vanish Into You', 'Blade of Grass', 'Zombieboy', 'Killah'
