Lady Gaga Made “A Whole Album” Inspired By Her “Joker: Folie À Deux” Character After Filming Ended, And Here's Why

Lady Gaga ’s new album dropped today, and, in true Gaga style, it’s something a little different.

Harlequin features 11 covers and two original songs. Notably, Gaga does not entirely classify this as her next studio album but rather the “ companion album ” to her new movie Joker: Folie à Deux , in which she plays Lee, aka Harley Quinn .

So, Harlequin can best be understood as a fusion between Gaga and Lee. And in a new interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music , the “Shallow” singer explained the decision to “make a whole album inspired” by her character.

Unlike the first Joker movie, Joker: Folie à Deux has musical elements. Speaking to Zane, Gaga explained that this aspect of the film helped her build an even deeper connection with Lee, which compelled her to continue their relationship through more music after shooting wrapped.

Notably, it’s tricky to assign Harlequin to one musical genre compared to Gaga's previous albums, and she implied that this reflects her character’s “complex” nature.

She echoed these comments in another new interview with Rolling Stone , in which she said that the “meta-modernism” of Joker: Folie à Deux shaped the accompanying album.

Of course, this isn’t the first time Gaga has gone deep with one of her movie characters. While filming House of Gucci , she “lived” as Patrizia Reggiani for a year and a half and eventually became so intertwined with the character that she had to have a “ psychiatric nurse ” accompany her on set.

Never change, Gaga. You can find her conversation with Zane Lowe here, and this is where you can read her interview with Rolling Stone .

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