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Harlequin
Jazz · 2024

Harlequin

Lady Gaga

A theatrical descent into the Great American Songbook, blending big-band swing with gritty rock and vulnerable originals to explore a complex anti-heroine's psyche.

September 27, 2024 · Interscope Records

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Harlequin is a vivid, technicolor hallucination of the Great American Songbook, reimagined through the fractured psyche of Lady Gaga's Harleen Quinzel. While it technically functions as a companion to Joker: Folie à Deux, it stands alone as a high-concept jazz-pop hybrid that feels both vintage and dangerously modern. The album replaces the polished, respectful reverence of Gaga's previous jazz work with a manic, theatrical energy that isn't afraid to get messy. It is the sound of a performer who has fully inhabited a character and is now using the language of swing and standards to tell that character's story.

Moments Worth Listening For
the transition from the doo-wop sweetness of Good Morning into the darker, institutional lyrical tweaks about wardens and inmates
the moment in The Joker where the traditional swing arrangement is suddenly pierced by a jagged, distorted electric guitar solo
the raw, vulnerable crack in Gaga's voice during the climax of the original ballad Happy Mistake
Reviews
AllMusic
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laut.de
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plattentests.de
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Where This Album DepartsEach spoke is a trait. The orange shape shows where this album pulls away from — or holds to — the rest of the artist’s catalogue. Tap for more.

How does Harlequin sound next to the rest of Lady Gaga's catalogue?

Orchestral Arrangement+4.0σ

The production is built around orchestral arrangement than this artist usually allows.

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