Lady Gaga’s new album, Chromatica, has arrived. It is the follow-up to 2016’s Joanne and the A Star Is Born soundtrack. The record was led by singles “Stupid Love,” “Rain on Me” (a collaboration with Ariana Grande), and “Sour Candy,” which features the K-pop group BLACKPINK. The record also features contributions from Elton John, Skrillex, and others. It was executive produced by Gaga alongside BloodPop®.
Chromatica was originally slated to arrive April 10 but was delayed due to COVID-19. “This is such a hectic and scary time for all of us, and while I believe art is one the strongest things we have to provide joy and healing to each other during times like this, it just doesn’t feel right to me to release this album with all that is going on during this global pandemic,” she said at the time. Gaga went on to perform in the World Health Organization’s One World: Together at Home concert.
In an interview with Zane Lowe, Gaga explained that Chromatica’s imagery is rooted in sound, healing, and color:
The symbol for Chromatica has a sine wave in it, which is the mathematical symbol for sound, and it’s from what all sound is made from, and, for me, sound is what healed me in my life period, and it healed me again making this record, and that is really what Chromatica is all about. It’s about healing and it’s about bravery as well and it’s really like, when we talk about love I think it’s so important to include the fact that it requires a ton of bravery to love someone.
Listen to Chromatica below and find physical copies of the album at Rough Trade. (Pitchfork earns a commission from purchases made through affiliate links on our site.)
Revisit “Lady Gaga May Never Find a More Perfectly Meta Role Than A Star Is Born” and “Why ‘Shallow’ Is Destined to Be a Karaoke Classic” on the Pitch.
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