LOS ANGELES (AP) – Lady Gaga knew the recipe to keep her Las Vegas shows electric: start in the studio. Before each residency performance this summer, she and a group of talented musicians clocked hours-long recording sessions, capturing that spark. The energy from their studio time flowed into Gaga’s performance and fuelled the creation of her new album Harlequin, out on Friday.
The superstar was initially uncertain about the project’s direction before embracing the challenge of pushing musical boundaries – much like her fearlessly edgy character in Joker: Folie à Deux, which opens in theatres on October 4. Harlequin is a companion album for the film, in which Gaga stars as Lee, also better known as the unhinged villain Harley Quinn. Her character served as the driving force behind the album, which seamlessly blends jazz, funk, blues and early American music while drawing from vintage and modern pop.
“I had a really deep relationship with the character, and I just had a lot more that I wanted to say,” said the Grammy and Oscar winner, who recorded Harlequin between Malibu, California, and Las Vegas while was finishing her Jazz and Piano residency this summer. She came up with the album idea with her fiancé Michael Polansky, who joined her as the album’s other executive producer. Polansky said they felt confident booking studio time after talking over music, and noticing parallels between Gaga’s split-identity movie character and her real life alter ego.
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