When she’s not busy helping save the world, Lady Gaga drops new music, even albums, if we wait long enough. Amidst the coronavirus global health pandemic (hope you read that in Cardi B’s voice, for your sake), Lady Gaga has finally released Chromatica, her follow-up to her 2016 fifth studio album Joanne. Since then, the world is a very different place; one where we socially isolate and wait for new music to be dropped as the only ray of hope, where we don’t go to mass gatherings anymore (unless it’s for matters like protesting police brutality), and where Lady Gaga postpones the release of her sixth studio album for almost two months. This is the same world where she organizes benefit concerts to raise funds for COVID-19 or talks with World Health Organization leaders while still (unsuccessfully) trying to keep her album under wraps and away from the preying hands of Little Monsters on the internet. It seemed like every day there was some sort of new leak on Twitter, starting from the early release of the first single “Stupid Love” (two full weeks before the expected released), the long-rumored Ariana Grande collaboration “Rain on Me,” or the mysterious track “Babylon”. Gaga and her team had to do everything possible to stay on top of this era, especially with Little Monsters spending more time on the internet because of being stuck at home #socialdistancing.
Chromatica album cover
Upon a first glance/listen, Chromatica seems scattered and incohesive. Thematically, the album deals with significant themes of healing trauma, hope, and humanity, all set to a dance track so you can shake your ass all while you ponder your existence. While examining the albums’ concept, colors and sounds are the first things to come to mind as its primary inspiration, but its essence lies in the use of emotions. Based on media interviews and marketing for the project, Chromatica was described as a planet, further conceptualized by the album’s post-apocalyptic art. But Chromatica is not just a planet; it is instead a mental space where you can experience your feelings and emotions as they are. Stating in interviews that it was music that healed her and gave her hope (as it has done before for many of us), Chromatica is a celebration of Gaga’s relationship with music and how it has helped her come to peace with trauma and her mental health struggles. Under the belief that “In Chromatica, no one thing is greater than another,” Gaga allows herself to feel her emotions for what they are. Emotions are meant to be experienced, not define us. We are not tied to them, and each one is valid.
We have seen interludes and intros in other pieces of work Tour intros or music video transitions (like in “Paparazzi”, “Marry the Night”, “Born This Way”, “Telephone”, “G.U.Y.”, to mention a few) have used intros and interludes, but this is the first opus in which Gaga uses this element. On Chromatica, each interlude provides a cinematic approach to the succeeding songs and deepens the record’s themes, moving us through 3 distinct phases.
“Chromatica I” opens with a mellow yet grand string orchestra that mesmerizes us from the opening note. Segueing into “Alice”, the beginning of the song is sudden. Like Alice in the classic children’s tale, she fell down the hole to Wonderland and experienced real adventures that seemed to have only happened in her head, a theme that will carry on throughout the entire album. The song’s lyrics hint at something not being right, but hopeful of making it that way. “My name isn’t Alice, but I’ll keep looking for Wonderland.” “Alice” beckons the listener to accompany Gaga down her journey to recovery that will be Chromatica and the vital role music plays in all of it. (“Maestro, play me your symphony. I will listen to anything. Take me on a trip, DJ free my mind”.) Hold on to your pink wigs, ladies, and gentlemen because we’re about to dance!
“Stupid Love”, the next track and the album’s first single, for me was an underwhelming song choice to launch this era, especially after the 4-year hiatus since Joanne was released. While she wrote and released songs for the A Star is Born soundtrack, it just wasn’t very Gaga, you know? With Power Rangers references aplenty to go around in the music video (#ShotOniPhone), it was the unknowingly the last drop of joy we would get to experience before nationwide lockdowns occurred and social distancing became the norm. It was a simple high-energy pop song with a message about longing acceptance and love for a significant other, despite being hurt in the past and having to mend the wounds from past relationships. The video is fun, and the choreography very energetic, with all the tribes on Chromatica fighting for superiority, with Gaga leading the Kindness Punks and their mission of spreading love and kindness.
Rain on Me Ft. Ariana Grande Single Cover
“Rain on Me” featuring Ariana Grande, was released on May 22, one full week before the rescheduled release date. Serving some late 90’s post-apocalyptic realness on the single’s cover, (Gaga, there’s a knife on your leg!), the single has been long-discussed and anticipated even before the tracklist was accidentally leaked on the Target website a while back (a big oops right there). This first collaboration is a track about crying and being okay with experiencing sadness, and you wouldn’t even guess it upon the first listen on such an upbeat and danceable track. The music video gave us one of the cutest interactions between Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande as well as so much video game magic to make my teenage-self cry.
The themes of female empowerment and of carving a space for making ourselves heard in the world (like of “Scheiße” from Born This Way) run amok on “Free Woman.” The dance track references the capacity of Gaga to be a creator and to be a vessel that brings forth new ideas into the world. In interviews about the song, she says she celebrates all individuals with wombs, whether they are artificial or real and how strong they are for giving birth to the future.
“Fun Tonight” deals with fame and its effects on Gaga’s relationships, how she has had to fake smiles and hide her emotions for the sake of pleasing others, or not ruin a good time. Similar to Ariana’s 2019 ‘fake smile” off of thank u, next, Gaga uses the track to validate how she is feeling at the moment instead of her tendency faking it to make other people happy by being the life of the party. The track’s fun (pun intended) beat starkly contrasts with its more vulnerable lyrics, similar to the way the album cover is not at all indicative of its content.
“Chromatica II” is yet another orchestral interlude that transitions into the profoundly personal “911”, where Gaga talks about the use of antipsychotics to stay healthy and how it affects her state of mind. While it provides her sanity, she still has a rocky relationship with them, fueling paranoia and a detachment from her sense of self. Undeniably, this is one of the standout tracks. The track’s opening lyrics “turning off emotional faders” combines the metaphor of sound and music with that of emotions, signaling that Lady Gaga’s mind relinquishes control over her reality as soon as she pops her medication.
“Plastic Doll” is about seeing artists as incomplete beings and the harmful effects of dehumanizing pop stars. She also sings about the pressures of being under the media’s watchful eye and criticism, frequently having her put on facades to deal with her harsh reality. The track accentuates the way that Lady Gaga was born as a shell for Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta to protect herself from the media’s scrutiny and personal attacks. An artist that has been known for her outlandish looks and her love for fashion to explore identity, she has always been aware of fashion’s ability to make others uncomfortable as well as to be political. For her, fashion can be an armor. (No coincidence considering Chromatica’s cover.) Fashion also empowers her, and she uses it to reclaim the dehumanizing male gaze associated with pop stardom and the world of celebrity. With meat dresses, uncomfortable outfits, “ugly” makeup, insane haute couture looks for daily use, she is not afraid to experiment and not look beautiful because she is doing it for herself, not for any man. The song is also incredibly self-aware, poking fun at her fans, the Little Monsters, and their obsession with her artistry and what she will be doing next, often at the expense of her humanity and her wellbeing (“Who’s that girl, Malibu Gaga? Looks so sad, what is this saga?”).
The second collaboration, “Sour Candy” with BLACKPINK (IN YOUR AREA), is next, a K-pop-inspired house track with the Korean girl group sprinkling their sassy flair. We’ve heard this song’s beat (“What They Say” by Maya Jane Coles) before on tracks such as “Truffle Butter” by Nicki Minaj and “Swish Swish” by Katy Perry. “Come, come, unwrap me” is a tongue-in-cheek metaphor for the complexity that Gaga is known for and ties to the album’s overall themes of healing, acceptance, and authenticity. The track deals with accepting our imperfections, acknowledging that you can’t have the sweet without the sour, just like a sour candy (not very novel, but hey, you get it).
Enigma Las Vegas Residency Show Poster
“Enigma” is up next, sharing similarities to Aura or Artpop off the 2013 album of the same name, where Gaga sings about the mystery that swirls around her and her various personalities. Her “ARTPOP” could mean anything (reference!), and in one way or another, what it really means is everything. Enigmas are expected to not be understood, they are difficult to decipher their meaning, but this is part of their beauty and validity. This was the name of her Las Vegas residency show, so it is without a doubt a clue that she had been working on the album since before then bridging the sounds of Joanne and Chromatica.
“Replay” is hypnotic, diving straight into Gaga’s mental state, addressing trauma, and how it still haunts her to this day as manifestations of post-traumatic stress disorder. On this track, Lady Gaga sings back to her 2009 track “Monster” (the Fear of Sex Monster). While the track off The Fame Monster talked about the events leading up to her sexual assault, Replay elaborates on the aftermath of this unfortunate event, bringing herself to make peace with it and shifting her thinking from blaming herself. “Monster” wasn’t a sexy and fun track of a night out that ended with a one-night stand, but rather a retelling of her traumatic experience (He ate my heart, and he ate my brain). This isn’t the first time Gaga is vocal about her sexual assault experience (2015’s track “Until It Happens to You” addressed her sexual assault and provided a voice to bring awareness about this important social issue for the documentary The Hunting Ground). The Monster that Lady Gaga has been fighting against hasn’t been a physical one, but it has been alive in her head, wreaking havoc on her mental health all along.
“Chromatica III” frames the final 4 tracks and the more optimistic themes that follow. While the previous songs are about internal conflict and trauma, the following tracks are a lot lighter (but just as emotionally heavy and dance-party-ready).
“Sine from Above” featuring Elton John is the final collaboration, and it is a hopeful song about the power that songwriting and making music have on her health and wellbeing. Through music, she finds salvation. (As a creative, I feel this deeply.) Lightning draws the imagery of ideas popping into our heads and becoming conduits for creation. Love is an element that is very important on Chromatica, just like the 4 elements (air, earth, fire, and water) are everywhere on Earth, and in the beginning, before there was love, there was silence. The drum & bass closing to the song feels like when you are in the zone and have found purpose in your creative process. Sine (∿) is the mathematical symbol for music, in this case illustrating sound waves (like the one found on the album’s cover). The song’s title is a play on the phrase “sign from above” and it is also a metaphor for how inspiration arrives at Gaga and helps with her songwriting process.
“1000” Doves deals with the support that she needs from her friends, family, and fans. It is a track about the power of seeking help from others to lift us up and become better versions of ourselves when we don’t have the strength to do so on our own. Simply put, it is also an ode to the support she has received throughout the years from her fans, friends, and family.
“Babylon”, the house-piano-heavy closing track (yes, we hear the influences from Madonna’s “Vogue”) is a play on the myth of the Tower of Babel from the Bible, where its citizens all spoke different languages and made it impossible to build the tower not out of a lack of communication, but rather a lack of understanding. The track plays with the words “Babylon” and “babble on,” a testament of how gossip is the very opposite of communication. She sings about the harmful effects that scandal has had on her career, but how she has simply chosen to it pay no mind, walk a mile and serve it ancient-city style, a perfect closing to such a personal piece of work, don’t you think?
In interviews, the words “love” and “kindness” are ever-present, and it is because they are essential to understanding this body of work. The Kindness Punks fight for peace and calmness on Chromatica, and this message is meant to be taken to heart as a tool for our very own healing and growth. Through self-love and compassion, we will help ourselves grow. It is in our humanity that we thrive and grow from our mistakes. It is in our pain that we are allowed to expand ourselves. Discomfort is the only path to growth, and this is Chromatica’s philosophy.
In this deeply personal record, Lady Gaga shows us that she doesn’t hide behind masks; she uses them to confront her problems and traumas head-on. Each one of her alter-egos (Mother Monster, Jo Calderone, Venus, Joanne, Enigma, etc…) helps her transmit her message. She is not an unsolvable enigma. A complex artist that has stayed in the public eye since 2008, Stefani Joanne Germanotta has shown us who she is all along. She is all the mysteries that she holds and more, and she celebrates this on Chromatica.
Listen to Chromatica on Spotify