Picture this: It’s 2011. Prince William and Kate Middleston’s marriage is official. HBO’s Game of Thrones has seized pop culture. And Lady Gaga has just released what’s viewed as her magnum opus: Born This Way. Sharp, shameless, and so incredibly Gaga, her second studio album cemented her as an icon, with an unrivaled artistic creativity and redefinition of a celebrity’s role in pop culture. Nevertheless, with Artpop only two years later, she began to fade from her world of dance-pop and soul-electrifying beats, instead leaning into soft folk, jazz, and even soundtracks as she dipped into an acting career.
However, Mayhem, her latest album, returns to her boundary-pushing individuality quite literally, bringing in elements of past and present into one. The fourteen tracks embrace a collage of genres while staying thematically intact. Sure, “Killah” will have you launching onto the dance floor while “Blade of Grass” puts tears into your eyes, but they still mesh together in a way only Gaga could achieve.
Though singles “Disease” and “Abracadabra” teased a return to the era of the iconic meat dress and monster-pop, the rest of the album trends more towards Gaga’s renowned dance-pop, with hints of 80s funk, Taylor Swift-like beats, and grunge sprinkled throughout. But sometimes, change is for the better, and that certainly proves true in Mayhem, delivering a spectacular fusion between her old and new sound.
The energy is special—it’s infused with a confidence of self and musicality. Mayhem is electrified by punchy dynamics, playing with instruments and harmony such that every song is individually compelling.
Take, for example, “ZombieBoy,” which opens with a clap resembling Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” and leads into a cheeky, fun-infused chorus that celebrates the spirit of a party animal. Or “Blade of Grass,” a piano-backed, romantic ballad honoring her backyard engagement with her fiancé, mirroring 2018 hit “Shallow” both in pure talent and emotional vulnerability. “Perfect Celebrity” displays her anger towards the music industry through her incredible vocal range and slightly dissonant backing vocals. Her voice shines on this track–an angry growl arises in a style bordering on rock, tone on-point. Her songwriting shines on this track, with the cascading melody and vivid lyrics: “Tap on my vein, suck on my diamond blood/Choke on the fame and hope it gets you high.”
In an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Gaga revealed that Mayhem was originally supposed to be called Perfect Celebrity, a fitting name considering the progression of the album. Mayhem tells the story of Gaga’s career as an artist, from the dark, electric music from her early days to the softer music she’s most recently released. While listening to the album, it’s hard to ignore the parallels: titles like “LoveDrug,” which parallels Born This Way’s LoveGame, shadows of “Bad Romance’s” hooks in “Vanish Into You,” and the vocal style that echoes that of more than a decade before.
Although the sound is not inherently new, borrowing from outside influences—tones of Prince and Nine Inch Nails, for example—Gaga still develops a masterful work. She remains faithful to her own style while flirting with her musical influences; at the end of the day, Mayhem is a marriage between her old and new. It simultaneously expresses what she has done and ushers in a new era for her music, conjuring her crossover from pop icon to music legend.
