Lady GagaArtpop
Interscope
Love or loathe her, anything Lady Gaga does is going make
headlines. “Look, she’s singing on stage wearing an outlandish clothing item!”
“Wowzers, she’s stepped out of a taxi wearing an outlandish clothing item!”
“Golly gosh, she’s walking around New York NOT
wearing an outlandish clothing item!” STOP PRESS!
But now she is back in the news for her music; ArtPop. Aura is the first track up and don’t let the opening restrained
guitar chords fool you, this song is perfect for kicking of the Queen of Pop’s
third album. It has everything; from thumping techno beats to smashing cymbals and
manic synths. Gaga even has time to reference all the themes covered in Artpop; electronically repeating “Dance, Sex, Art, Pop, Tech”. Originally
titled Burqa, Aura is set to reveal
the girl behind the Gaga, letting the listener into the life of the megastar: “Do you want to see the girl who lives
behind the aura?” she questions. It’s an outlandish claim for an outlandish
song; even the lyric video is brilliantly over the top, being directed by Robert
Rodriguez and created to tie in with the film Machete Kills, to which Gaga stars.
And there’s no time for a breather as the album rolls
straight into Venus. This goddess-of-love
inspired track is the first Lady G has ever produced herself, and it’s got Gaga
all over it. It’s a dramatic dance track that features the typical ‘chorus catchiness’
seen in past hits such as Poker Face
and Bad Romance. The mystical and enchanting lyrics even
include a run-down of planets in the solar system (No, Seriously). G.U.Y., standing for Girl Under You, spins all preconceived
gender roles on its head and harks back to the dark dirty world of Born This Way. Full of explosive and
in-your-face sexual references, including the spoken phrase “Mount Your Goddess”, GUY borders into
the sexual-but-not-sexy category.
This theme continues into the triple-x rated Sexxx Dreams, where restrained opening vocals burst into a
gloriously filthy chorus which vocally harks back to Kylie Minogue’s Aphrodite (Unintentional goddess
reference). The climax of Sexxx Dreams
comes with the brilliant spoken word intersection “I can’t believe I’m telling you this but I’ve had a couple of drinks
and Oh my God...!”.
One thing made clear in Born
This Way was that Gaga is not afraid to try new directions and music
tastes, and this ‘development’ continues with the rap-grime scene of Jewels and Drugs featuring T.I., Too
Short and Twista. It’s an eclectic mix of manic rap, expletive lyrics and
perplexing backing beats. Whether this is a route Gaga should follow more often
is debatable, so the choice is yours. Stay and you can enjoy a well hidden, but
fine chorus. Or skip, and be rewarded with ManiCure,
a superb mix of rock and pop that features a truly powerful guitar riff. Do What You Want featuring R Kelly is
probably the most batted around song from the album, and rightfully so; it’s a
gem. The inclusion of R Kelly does cheapen the songs meaning slightly, with
Gaga singing about the struggles of becoming famous quickly and constantly
being scrutinised in the public eye, Kelly about a night in a club! But that’s
not important as this groovy R&B-pop cross is beautiful. Artpop the
track contains an intoxicating chorus, while Swine is the standout club track of whole album. It’s less of an
‘adrenaline rush’ and more of a stampede. Stabbing synths smash together with
dubstep beats to provide an excellent electro-house record; it’s basically a
club night in one song.
Donatella is an
ode to the Versace headmistress, painting her in both a positive but
interestingly negative way (Would she like being called a “Rich Bitch”?). The love of all things clothes rolls into the David
Guetta produced track Fashion! (Note
the ‘!’; this is not to be confused with Fashion.
See?). This is a pure disco record that reeks of David Bowie, which is
never a bad thing. But from the ecstasy of the fashion world comes the dark
drug fuelled underworld of Mary Jane
Holland; Gaga’s ode to Marijuana. The disturbing, gritty lyrics add a very
sinister edge to what is still an enjoyable sounding song. Dope lacks the poetry of earlier tracks, but makes up for that
through shear emotion. Described as a song for the fans, this piano led piece exposes
Gaga to the core (Finally revealing the girl behind the Aura?). Written whilst Lady G was recovering from a broken hip, she
slurs “I need you more than Dope” with
pain in her heart and literal tears in her eyes.
Gypsy is the You and I or Edge Of Glory of Artpop, injecting
fun and hope instead of pain and dope. It’s the surprise of the album, a
gloriously enjoyable track that deserves to be placed higher up in the
listings; more an opener than a closer. Gaga’s vocals soar majestically in this 80s
inspired anthem. And after a performance as epic as this, the only thing left
is the Applause.
But Is it Art? Title track Artpop provides the insight that “My Artpop could mean anything” which
kind of sums up the album; focus on the Art like many critics and get caught up
for hours ultimately detracting yourself from the music. Focus on the Pop of ArtPop, and you’ll witness a superbly
produced, if not eclectic euro-pop album.
