Lady Gaga comes to life on new release, ‘Joanne’
NEW YORK — It’s 1:30 a.m. and Lady Gaga is on the brink of tears.
The pop star’s new album has been out for 90 minutes and she just celebrated by wrapping up two performances: first inside the New York City bar where she used to sing as an unsigned teenager, and then on top of the venue for all of her feverish fans screaming loudly outside.
A lot has happened to get to this moment: She dealt with the constant reminder of 2013’s “ARTPOP” not matching the success of her previous albums; she parted ways with her manager; and she announced she and her fiancé, actor Taylor Kinney, were taking a break.
But since “ARTPOP,” she picked up her sixth Grammy for her jazz album with Tony Bennett; performed at the Oscars — twice — and earned a nomination for an original song; won a Golden Globe this year for her role in “American Horror Story;” and drew raves for her national anthem performance at this year’s Super Bowl.
Sitting inside her trailer parked outside The Bitter End, Gaga is teary-eyed as she discusses the new sound she delivers on “Joanne,” a rock-pop-country adventure that’s a departure from the dance-flavored electronic sound that made her a multiplatinum juggernaut.
“Yeah. I mean, I’ve changed a lot. I’ve healed a lot. I’ve healed a lot,” she said, pausing. “Period.”
“But I” — she paused again — “I feel like it would be so strange to hear my music, or hear anyone’s music really, and not hear the change. I change a lot and that’s just who I am. And I’m just going to keep (expletive) being that way, you know.
“The happiest that I am is when I’m just really truly being myself and I’ve always said that to my fans and guess what, they help me make that real,” she said.
“Joanne,” released Friday, embarks on new territory as Gaga’s voice takes the center stage. “There’s no Auto-Tune on any of my vocals. Not one,” she said.
She started writing new material two years ago, and then at this year’s Super Bowl she gave Mark Ronson a demo of some songs (he performed “Uptown Funk” there with Bruno Mars).
“He said to me, ‘I know you can write great songs,’ (but) he said, ‘What do you HAVE to write about? That’s what I want you to write,’” she recalled.
The result is more emotional tracks compared to past hits, ranging in topics from her love life to her friend’s battle with cancer (the bonus track “Grigio Girls”) to her aunt Joanne, who died from lupus before Gaga was born (Joanne is also Gaga’s middle name). The closing track, “Angel Down,” is about Trayvon Martin.
“It was really hard,” she said of writing personal songs. “But it was the best thing I ever did going there, because once you go there, you can’t get darker than there ‘cause you just got to look inside and whatever it is it is, and then you pick yourself up and keep going.”