Chromatica / Lady Gaga / May 29, 2020
- Joshua Yoo
- Jun 16, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 13, 2020
Lady Gaga hasn’t exactly been straightforward in her musical direction over the past couple of years. From her experimental folksier sound on “Joanne,” to her award-winning performance in A Star Is Born, it almost seems a distant memory of the Gaga that radically shifted the pop landscape a decade ago. But with “Chromatica,” Gaga makes a resembled return to the electro dance-pop style, capturing elements of the 90’s and using them to formulate a pop sound that is nostalgic but original, and most of all, obnoxiously fun.
One thing is for certain, and that is that Lady Gaga did not hold back on this album. Track after track, she consistently delivers these stunningly powerful and robust vocals, sweeping listeners off their feet with choruses that feel so epic and grand (“Plastic Doll”). The thumping synths, glimmering keys, and driving percussion frequently used throughout the album do their part in supporting these grand vocal performances, calling on elements of house music to create numerous instrumentals that are as rambunctiously fun as the style and era that it originates (“Stupid Love”).
Admittedly, aspects of the production and songwriting aren’t exactly innovative or the most conceived, but Gaga’s expertise in the electronic dance style makes up for some of it. The spoken-word passages and emphatic bass drops dispersed throughout the project are exciting, tasteful, and significantly add to the aesthetic that she consistently maintains through the 16-track run.
The biggest takeaway from “Chromatica” is that Lady Gaga wants her sixth studio album to be thoroughly enjoyable, to provide people with undeniably captivating music to dance to. It’s not anything that people haven’t heard before, and yet it still manages to re-invigorate listeners to simply have fun.
Best Track(s): Stupid Love, Enigma, Rain On Me, Alice, Plastic Doll
Lowlight(s): 911, Sine From Above
SCORE: 7/10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5RRHt-sSX8
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