How Lady Gaga Connected with Harley Quinn on Her New Album

Lady Gaga at the London premiere of “Joker: Folie à Deux”, September 25 – Source: Samir Hussein/WireImage

When Lady Gaga finished her third film – the upcoming sequel to Joker, Folie à Deux — realized she wasn’t ready to let go of her character, Harleen “Lee” Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn. “I had a very deep relationship with Lee,” she says Rolling Stone. “And when I finished filming, I wasn’t done with her.”

The superstar recorded with the help of fiancé Michael Polansky Harlequina companion disc to the film, mostly containing brilliant interpretations of the standards – the first time she has done so since the death of her collaborator Tony Bennett. In 13 songs, he interprets classics such as “Get Happy” (made famous by Judy Garland) and “That’s Life” (Frank Sinatra), while giving them a modern twist. Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler’s 1932 song “I’ve Got the World on a String” was transformed into a seductive rocker – perfect for introducing it to younger generations. During a Zoom call from London, Gaga told us about it Harlequindefying genres and what fans can expect from her upcoming pop album.

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What were your goals while working on this album?
We decided that we wanted to create an album that would celebrate her complexity through the lens of much of the music in the film, as well as originals that would touch on the breadth of her as a woman – her darkness, her chaos, her vibes, her manic nature – and create a modern take on pop in vintage style.

You describe the album as “LG 6.5”. Do you see it more as a Harley album or just a Gaga album?
I actually see it as both. That’s kind of how I see it all. This is my record. It’s a Lady Gaga album, but it’s also inspired by my character and my vision of what a woman can be. That’s why the album doesn’t stick to one genre. I called it “6.5” because it’s not my next studio album that’s a pop record, but it’s somewhere in between and blurs the boundaries of pop music. As you know, my collaborator Tony Bennett, now deceased, sang this music in his youth. It was just pop music. And I thought it was very interesting, these songs that were chosen to create this film. I wanted to explore what this music might mean today through its prism.

You described Joker as metamodern and how it cannot be assigned to one genre. That’s how I see this album too. Jazz is at the forefront, but there are so many different sounds.
Thank you. I would say that this metamodernism actually played a real role in how we approached it in the studio. I co-produced this album with Ben Rice. Michael also had a big influence on music. We talked a lot about her being someone who can’t be explained because she’s too unpredictable and rare. (We) used genre to express that something was rare – not sticking to one and firmly moving into the avant-garde. Basically what I’m saying is, “As a woman, I choose to be whoever I want to be at any given moment, no matter how I feel. And no matter what you want from me, I will be myself. Thank you. Love, Harlequin” (laughs).

While shooting the film, we basically had to unlearn singing and soften our technique. What about here? Did you just act like Gaga and not hold back?
I did both on this record. There are moments where I definitely reference Lee’s voice and her childlike immaturity in the song. She has this naivety. You imagine that she has heard the song twice and is humming it because she feels uncomfortable and wants to calm down. That’s what got it there. For example, the beginning of “That’s Entertainment” almost sounds like a 13-year-old at a school play. In the context of a 38-year-old woman, this is a bit disturbing. But then “That’s Entertainment” opens with much softer vocals that are incredibly nostalgic. And I worked on that too.

Vocally, I played around with using my voice in a way that I never did with Tony. So it was a bit of Lee’s voice and a new voice for me on some of the more jazz-influenced records. And then I discover – how would I sing along to surf punk? How to sing a waltz? How could we create a version of “Smile” that is intrinsic to the film? And there’s this raw fragility in “Happy Mistake” that’s totally Gaga-esque, but maybe it’s also that I’m singing on the record in a way I’ve never done before. So I would say that even though the album defies genre, the vocals do too. The vocals are a bit schizophrenic, but for Harley Quinn it makes sense. And that was part of the joy of creating this piece – the freedom of it all.

This is your first recording of standards without Tony. Was he on your mind at all? I’m sure it was emotional.
Yes. It was my first time without Tony and he probably wasn’t emotional in the way you think. It wasn’t sad. In fact, it was as if he was with us the whole time. And also, funnily enough, if I had added rock & roll chords to the record I made with Tony many years ago, I don’t know how I would feel about it. Tony didn’t love rock & roll. But he would say, “Wow, that’s amazing.” He was someone who loved how different and risky I was, and I always thought that was cool. He was 60 years older than me and flinched less than the young people I met. People who would think, “Why is she dressed like that? Why does she sing like that? Why are her stage performances so theatrical?” Tony, he just didn’t even move. He was just a truly compassionate and inclusive man. So he was definitely with us (in the studio), but he was mostly inside me.

As a producer and singer, I feel that I have earned the ability to present my path in this music. It was exciting for me because I love sharing it with young people who listen to these songs. Some of these songs date back to the 1930s. It’s nice to be able to show how you can reimagine these things beyond just the notes and the way they’re written. Rather… what if you just ripped up the book, set it on fire, and did it in a completely new way? I wanted it to be funny.

It will be really nice to listen to the album at home. I want to prepare a beautiful meal for this.
I always say: Michael and I are at all your crazy parties.

Your pop album will be released in February. Can you tell me how this is different from Chromaticaand what can fans expect?
A pop album is not similar Chromatica. This is a completely different record. I don’t know if I’m ready to talk about it yet, but I know it will happen soon and I will. I would say that’s it for me. This is to be accepted as a moment in my life. I’m also really excited about the idea of not having to stick to a certain era if I don’t want to. I can have several at once. This seems unsustainable (laughters) and more like me or Harley. Or anyone.

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