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The position of horny, freaky Harley Quinn is tailored for Woman Gaga. Interviewed about her half in Todd Philips’s musical sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, the 38-year-old star born Stefani Germanotta described how Harley Quinn has created a supervillain persona to unleash a “soul constructed on obsession and worry”.
It was not dissimilar to the way in which during which she conjured up her “Gaga” persona after “one thing dangerous” occurred to her as a toddler. The followers she calls her “little monsters” love her for celebrating weirdness, darkness and queerness in huge, shiny pop songs. She’s additionally proved her vocal chops by recording jazz requirements with late crooner Tony Bennett – a covers venture she now replicates alone on new album Harlequin.
Splashing the Nice American Songbook with blood is an previous – however efficient – trick. Martin Scorsese has made it his calling card, contrasting the picture of his nation’s superficially sharp-suited, wisecracking monetary success with the systemic violence that underpins it. Folie à Deux offers an identical hand into the comedian guide universe. Its narrative revolves across the criminally insane couple, Joker (Joaquin Phoenix) and Harley Quinn, who forged themselves as the celebs of their very own twisted model of a golden age musical.
On Harlequin, the one cowl that basically appears to dial into the movie’s twisted coronary heart is a canopy of Charlie Chaplin’s 1936 tune “Smile”, the title of which brings to thoughts Joker’s painted, psychopath’s grin. Gaga sings over a cocktail piano in a breathy, melancholy register. In direction of the tip, the brass part turns murky and a guitarist scuttles their fingers down the fretboard, like a thief slipping right into a darkish alleyway. These are deft sonic nods to the insanity of Harley Quinn – it’s a pity there aren’t extra of them.
Elsewhere, Gaga belts and smoulders her method by means of upbeat songbook classics comparable to “Good Morning”, “Get Completely satisfied” and The Carpenters’ “Shut To You”. All are recorded with aptitude, backed by a slickly organized huge band. The singer stays on the straight and slender, sounding like she’s nonetheless on stage at her Las Vegas residency – there’s no suggestion of a foul romance with Joker. The perkiness packs a strong punch when contrasted with the extra stunning occasions on display screen; listening to the recordings in isolation makes them really feel strong however superfluous. Even the addition of a rocky electrical guitar to “When the Saints” doesn’t actually shift the temper.
There are simply two unique songs on the album, all of which have extra success in projecting an off-kilter tone. “Folie à Deux” is a wonky waltz on which Gaga confesses that she’s “loopy in love”, because the orchestra swirls round her like a full silk skirt. “Completely satisfied Mistake” may nod to Radiohead’s “Creep”, however its gentle strums of acoustic guitar appear higher suited to her Oscar-winning 2018 movie with Bradley Cooper, A Star is Born.
She solely really lets rip on her cowl of Shirley Bassey’s “The Joker”, an all-out bawler on which she growls and roars over a ragged guitar riff and battered drum beat. “This queen must sing to ruffle the scene of the crime,” she declares in an apart, earlier than hurling herself right into a mighty refrain, howling: “The Joker is MEEEEE!” It’s humorous, full-throttle, and the one important monitor on an in any other case completely serviceable file.
