Ever since Lady Gaga released Joanne in 2016, Little Monsters have been patiently waiting for her next solo project. Sure, there was the A Star is Born soundtrack, but her fans wanted a Lady. Gaga. ALBUM. And they got it. After many leaks, “pregnancy rumours” (“Yeah, I’m pregnant with LG6,” said Gaga on Twitter in March 2019) and even a 6-week pushback on the release date, we were all able to finally enter the world of Chromatica: a pure dance-pop album with four on the floor kick patterns, classic house drums and catchy hooks.
The album starts off with a 60-second cinematic instrumental titled “Chromatica I,” which fades into the house banger “Alice.” Gaga sings in the intro “My name isn’t Alice, but I’ll keep looking [...] for Wonderland” then BAM: house drums with a catchy vocal line in the background that I guarantee you’ll be humming for the rest of the day. A few tracks later is the Ariana Grande-assisted “Rain On Me,” which debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 1. This song combines Ariana Grande’s vocal range and producer Bloodpop’s house production (again). Gaga says “Rain. On. Me” into the microphone before the beat drops. It is so infectious that it commands your body to get up and start dancing while Grande sneaks in a “yeah” and a “baby” before her verse.
At first, Chromatica seems like a fun dance-pop album, with songs like “Sour Candy,” a playful track featuring the K-Pop girl group BLACKPINK. Although, you'll realize that some of the songs are dark and very personal once you start taking a look at the lyrics. For example, “911” is about Gaga’s struggle with using an antipsychotic drug as an “emergency reset” for her. Gaga sings “My biggest enemy is me ever since day one, pop a 911, then pop another one” over a dark mid-tempo beat produced by - you guessed it - Bloodpop.
As the closing track, “Babylon” came to an end, I asked myself one question: what makes Chromatica so amazing? Is it the infectious production on songs like “Replay” and “Enigma,” or is it the deep lyrics on songs like “Plastic Doll” and “Sine From Above?” Then it hit me: it’s just a really good pop album. I’ve listened to it twice in a row today just writing this review, and I still jump out of my chair every time “Rain On Me” comes on and lip-synch like I'm a contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race.
I don’t know about you, but I’m buying a one-way ticket to Chromatica and never coming back.
Stream Chromatica by Lady Gaga on Spotify and Apple Music.
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