How Lady Gaga Channeled Harley Quinn on New Album ‘Harlequin’

When Lady Gaga finished her third film, the upcoming Joker sequel, Folie for two – realized she wasn’t ready to leave her character, Harleen “Lee” Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn. “I had a very deep relationship with Lee,” he says. rolling stone. “And when I finished filming the movie, I wasn’t done with it.”

With the help of her fiance, Michael Polansky, the superstar recorded Harlequina companion disc to the film containing mostly brilliant performances of standards; the first time he has done so since the death of his collaborator Tony Bennett. Across 13 tracks, he performs classics including “Get Happy” (made famous by Judy Garland) and “That’s Life” (Frank Sinatra) while giving them a modern twist. Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler’s 1932 song, “I’ve Got the World on a String,” transforms into a seductive rocker, ideal for introducing to younger generations. On a Zoom call from London, Gaga spoke to us about Harlequingenre-defying and what fans can expect from her upcoming pop album.

What were your goals when approaching this album?
We decided we wanted to create an album that celebrated her complexity through the lens of much of the film’s music, as well as the originals, that addressed her breadth as a woman: her darkness, her chaos, her vitality. , their manic nature, and creating a modern take on vintage pop.

You describe the album as “LG 6.5.” Do you see this more as a Harley album or solely a Gaga album?
Actually, I see this as both. That’s how I see all of this. It’s my record. It’s a Lady Gaga album, but it’s also inspired by my character and my vision of what a woman can be. That’s why the album doesn’t stick to one genre. I called it “6.5” because my next studio album isn’t a pop record, but it’s somewhere in between and it’s blurring the lines of pop music. As you know, my collaborator Tony Bennett, who is no longer alive, was young singing this music. It was just pop music. And I thought the songs that were chosen to create this movie were very interesting. I wanted to explore what this music could mean today through his lens.

you described Joker as metamodern, and how you can’t really limit it to just one genre. That’s how I see this album too. Jazz is at the forefront, but there are so many different sounds.
Thank you. I would say that that metamodernism actually played a real role in how we approached this in the studio. I co-produced this album with Ben Rice. Michael also had a great influence on music. We talk a lot about her being someone who can’t be made clear because she’s too unpredictable and weird. (We) use genre as a way of expressing that something is weird, by not sticking to one and going very far into the avant-garde. I’m basically saying, “As a woman, I choose to be whatever and whoever I want to be at any given moment, no matter how I feel. And no matter what you want from me, I will be myself. Thank you. With love, Harlequin” (laughter).

You basically had to unlearn how to sing and tone down your technique while filming the movie. What’s going on here? Were you just being Gaga and not holding back?
I did both on this record. There are moments where I definitely take advantage of Lee’s voice and his childish immaturity with the song. He has this naivety. You imagine that she heard the song twice and is humming to herself, because she feels uncomfortable and wants to calm down. That’s what got me there. For example, the opening of “That’s Entertainment” almost sounds like a 13-year-old in a school play. In the context of a 38-year-old woman, it’s a bit disturbing. But then, “That’s Entertainment” releases a much softer vocal that is extremely nostalgic. And I worked on that too.

Vocally, I played with using my voice in a way that I never used with Tony. So this was a little bit of Lee’s voice, and a new voice for me with some of the more jazz-inspired records. And then explore: how would I sing about surf punk? How would I sing about a waltz? How could we create a version of “Smile” that feels inherent to the film? And then with “Happy Mistake,” there’s that raw fragility that’s totally Gaga, but it’s also me singing on a record in a way I’ve never done before. So I would say that as challenging as the album is, the vocals are too. The voice is a little schizophrenic, but that makes sense for Harley Quinn. And that was part of the joy of doing it: the freedom of it all.

This is the first time you’ve recorded standards without Tony. Was he on your mind? I’m sure it was emotional.
Yes. This was my first time without Tony, and it probably wasn’t emotional in the way you’re thinking. It wasn’t sad. In fact, it was like he was with us all the time. And also, in a funny way, if I had put rock & roll chords over the production on a record I made with Tony years ago, I don’t know how he would have felt about it. Tony didn’t love rock & roll. But he would have said, “Wow, that’s amazing.” He was someone who loved how risky and different I was, and I always thought that was cool. He was 60 years older than me and shuddered less than the young men I knew. People who would say, “Why is she dressed like that? Why do you sing that way? Why is his performance so theatrical? Tony, he didn’t even flinch. He was just a really compassionate and inclusive person. So he was definitely with us (in the studio), but he was mostly inside me.

As a producer and singer, I feel like I have earned the ability to show my way in this music. And that was exciting for me, because it’s also something that I love to share with young people who listen to these songs. Some of these songs are from the 1930s. It’s nice to be able to show how these things can be reinvented beyond the notes and style in the way they were written. More like…what would happen if you just tore up the book, set it on fire, and did it a whole new way? I wanted it to be fun.

It will be very nice to listen to the album at home. I want to prepare a delicious meal for you.
I always say, Michael and I are (here) for all your crazy dinners.

Your pop album arrives in February. Can you tell me how it is different from chromaticAnd what can fans expect?
The pop album is nothing like chromatic. It’s a completely different album. I don’t know if I’m ready to talk about it yet, but I recognize that it’s coming out soon and I will. What I would say is that it is everything to me. It is meant to be ingested as a moment of my life. And I’m also really excited about the idea that I don’t have to adhere to an era if I don’t want to. I can have a few at a time. That feels crazy (laughs) and more like me or Harley. Or whoever.