After teasing a mysterious project over the last few days with cryptic social media messages, Lady Gaga has announced the release of Harlequin, a 13-song strong LP that’ll serve as the musical accompaniment to the film Joker: Folie à Deux, the anticipated sequel to the Oscar-winning Joker, in which she stars as Lee, a reimagining of the classic character Harley Quinn.
First teasing fans with Instagram posts that read “I’m ready for my interview”, “Don’t tell me what to wear”, and “No duct tape. No mission”, before billboards earlier in the week sprawled the number “6.5”, which many have taken to indicate she doesn’t see this as an official album in the Lady Gaga discography – her next intended record has been written in shorthand as “LG7” – Harlequin looks to be a collection of newly recorded versions of such classic songs as “That’s Entertainment”, “Get Happy”, and “Oh, When the Saints”, as well as potential new material.
Given that Gaga has described the album as a “companion piece” to the film, which also stars Joaquin Phoenix, reprising his award-winning role as Joker, it is believed that the songs featured here won’t necessarily be those featured in the musical thriller itself; though there are believed to be at least 15 well known songs reinterpreted in the film, the album is solely a Gaga record that looks to function on its own accord.
Fans won’t have to wait too long to hear Harlequin, with the album dropping this Friday, September 27th, before Joker: Folie à Deux arrives in Australian theatres on October 3rd.
Harlequin track listing:
1. Good Morning
2. Get Happy (2024)
3. Oh, When the Saints
4. World on a String
5. If My Friends Could See Me Now
6. That’s Entertainment
7. Smile
8. The Joker
9. Folie à Deux
10. Gonna Build a Mountain
11. Close to You
12. Happy Mistake
13. That’s Life
