Lady Gaga’s ‘Harlequin’ Is “For All Your Uncomfortable Dinner Parties”

In the spirit of Harley Quinn, Lady Gaga continues to shock leading up to the release of Joker: Folie à Deux. After announcing her surprise companion album Harlequin, she played the record in its entirety for a handful of lucky fans at a listening party on Sept. 25. Joined by co-star Joaquin Phoenix and director Todd Phillips, the singer presented the project — teased on socials as “LG 6.5” — in a cozy room at NoMad London with a singular goal: have a “f*cking good time.”

Harlequin, which drops Sept. 27, includes tunes from the forthcoming film “reimagined” by Gaga and her fiancé Michael Polansky with “unique and original production,” she told the crowd. Sporting a shaggy red haircut and wearing a prison-but-make-it-chic dress, she explained the record’s purpose while dancing through its big-swinging track list. “This is for all your uncomfortable dinner parties,” she said. “This is for all your crazy times. We hope you will get drunk together and have a good time.”

Fittingly, fan videos previewed grandiose and big-band-sounding takes on classics like “Oh, When the Saints” and “Good Morning” from Singing in the Rain updated with a decadent sax solo and lyrics rewritten to describe “when the inmates begin to sing.”

Still, the most intriguing tunes are the original tracks “Folie à Deux” and “Happy Mistake,” a somber but soaring ballad penned with frequent collaborator BloodPop. As Gaga explained, the latter is “a reflection on every album [she’s] ever made and all the songs [she’s] ever written.” While exploring the “dual identities” within her Joker character Lee, the singer said she began to consider the likenesses — both light and dark — she’s portrayed in real life.

One lyric in particular — “A lonely disposition / Portraits of a strung-out girl” — nods to variations of “a broken girl” she’s evoked throughout her discography, a role Gaga admitted “has not always served me well.” “This idea that darkness feels like it heals me is something that was really important to my character,” she added. “I wrote ‘Happy Mistake’ as a reflection and celebration of all the darkness that has healed me and all the dual identities I’ve created.”

Nevertheless, Harlequin is an album rooted in joy. As videos showed, there was palpable excitement when Gaga prepared to cap off the evening before asking the crowd, “Do you guys want to hear it one more time? OK, roll it!”