She hath returned: A new Lady Gaga, like the old Lady Gaga, but a different Lady Gaga. Mayhem, released Friday (Mar 7), is a satisfying full-length project of big pop material – both a return to her roots and a hard press on the gas pedal.
Her 2008 debut The Fame introduced a new generation to the addictive properties of expertly crafted electropop. The Fame Monster a year later cemented her position as a modern great, a saviour of theatrical pop that once recalled Madonna and now serves as a reminder that big belts are cinema. Then came the genre explorations of Born This Way, Artpop, Joanne (arriving years before pop would go country), and 2020’s Chromatica.
Half a decade later, is the world ready again for her club anthems? Or is Mayhem an attempt to revitalise a big pop sound left behind in the streaming era? Can an artiste return home without playing some parody of themselves?
