HARLEQUIN Discussion

[Raivo 137]

11 minutes ago, Hyperobject said:

No, I haven’t! and maybe that’s where my confusion about this project comes from. But judging by the snippets we’ve had so far, her own words, bold visuals, trailers and videos with Gaga’s insane glares at Arthur, critics saying that we don’t get to learn Lee’s backstory in the film, Gaga’s “I wasn’t done with her after we done filming” I was expecting a much different take on these songs! which is not even bad, I liked the album, it just feels like this whole concept was an excuse to release a collection of standards she holds close to her heart. that’s it! but again, we will see, maybe the soundtrack will clear this up for me.  

I think she stated that almost all of the songs are a part of soundtrack, except the original one she wrote.

[Hyperobject 66,768]

6 minutes ago, Raivo said:

I think she stated that almost all of the songs are a part of soundtrack, except the original one she wrote.

I know! and that’s why I said that I’m excited to listen to the soundtrack now and hear their takes on these songs “in character”! 

[Ophelia 4,419]

I haven't listened to the album yet beacuse I've been depressed since last weekend. Not being able to go to London (due to unvalid passport) made it even worse, my friend got into the party and met Gaga.

sorry for venting but I feel so dissapointed in myself and worthless

[die444die 111]

5 minutes ago, Hyperobject said:

I know! and that’s why I said that I’m excited to listen to the soundtrack now and hear their takes on these songs “in character”! 

My understanding is that Harlequin is “in character”.   This is the text on Apple Music about it:  

In the summer of 2023, Lady Gaga began dropping hints about a mysterious project she’d been working on in secret—new music, so she claimed, that sounded nothing like her past work. Fans wondered whether it could be “LG7,” the long-awaited follow-up to 2020’s Chromatica, until September 2024, when billboards popped up with the message “LG6.5.” The surprise between the pop auteur’s sixth and seventh studio albums turns out to be Harlequin, a concept album delivered from the warped perspective of Lee Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn, her character in Todd Phillips’ Joker-fied jukebox musical Joker: Folie à Deux. 

As is often the case for actors who temporarily inhabit Gotham City, Gaga realized shortly after filming wrapped that she hadn’t yet moved on from the character she’d been embodying. She began to conceptualize an album of updated jazz standards sung as the Joker’s main squeeze. Harlequin, recorded at Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La studio in Malibu alongside LG7, works as a companion piece to the film, but it’s also distinctly aligned with Gaga’s singular vision. 

First, though, Gaga developed Lee’s singing ability for the role. “I did a lot of different kinds of work to create her,” she tells Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “One of the things that I did was change my voice in the film. It’s Lee’s voice, and it’s really raw, and it’s really naked. It’s very untrained. Not proper breathing.” How did the superstar with the powerhouse vocals achieve this? “I think that Joaquin [Phoenix] scared the living **** out of me every day until my voice left my body.”

Who else could pull off a reimagining of the 1932 classic “I’ve Got the World on a String” as a gritty surf-rock slow-burner (“What if The Cramps made a French song?”) or deliver a song from an obscure 1964 musical as an ’80s rock ripper? That song, “The Joker,” originates from The Roar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of the Crowd, though it could have been written exactly for Gaga to sing right now—as could the 1952 standard “That’s Entertainment,” popularized by Judy Garland: “Everything that happens in life can happen in a show/You can make ’em laugh, you can make ’em cry/Anything can go!” But listen closely and you’ll hear Gaga’s subtly twisted tweaks: the cheery lyrics of “Good Morning” by way of Singin’ in the Rain (“Good morning/Rainbows are shining through!”) are replaced with the gleefully sinister “Bang bang, you’re black and blue!”

Considering her professional and personal relationship with the late Tony Bennett and her own jazz residency in Vegas, Gaga is very intimate with the genre. Yet she realizes that Bennett probably would not have approved of her take on the songs this time around: “We did so much that Tony would never have been cool with.” The Oscar winner also delves into the psychology of the album’s original cut “Happy Mistake.” “When women play these broken characters in music or in films or theater, the audience loves it, and they just cheer us on,” she says. “They cheer on the image of pain. It’s super confusing. That song is in a lot of ways about that.”

[Ladle Ghoulash 16,228]

2 minutes ago, die444die said:

My understanding is that Harlequin is “in character”.   This is the text on Apple Music about it:  

In the summer of 2023, Lady Gaga began dropping hints about a mysterious project she’d been working on in secret—new music, so she claimed, that sounded nothing like her past work. Fans wondered whether it could be “LG7,” the long-awaited follow-up to 2020’s Chromatica, until September 2024, when billboards popped up with the message “LG6.5.” The surprise between the pop auteur’s sixth and seventh studio albums turns out to be Harlequin, a concept album delivered from the warped perspective of Lee Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn, her character in Todd Phillips’ Joker-fied jukebox musical Joker: Folie à Deux. 

As is often the case for actors who temporarily inhabit Gotham City, Gaga realized shortly after filming wrapped that she hadn’t yet moved on from the character she’d been embodying. She began to conceptualize an album of updated jazz standards sung as the Joker’s main squeeze. Harlequin, recorded at Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La studio in Malibu alongside LG7, works as a companion piece to the film, but it’s also distinctly aligned with Gaga’s singular vision. 

First, though, Gaga developed Lee’s singing ability for the role. “I did a lot of different kinds of work to create her,” she tells Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “One of the things that I did was change my voice in the film. It’s Lee’s voice, and it’s really raw, and it’s really naked. It’s very untrained. Not proper breathing.” How did the superstar with the powerhouse vocals achieve this? “I think that Joaquin [Phoenix] scared the living **** out of me every day until my voice left my body.”

Who else could pull off a reimagining of the 1932 classic “I’ve Got the World on a String” as a gritty surf-rock slow-burner (“What if The Cramps made a French song?”) or deliver a song from an obscure 1964 musical as an ’80s rock ripper? That song, “The Joker,” originates from The Roar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of the Crowd, though it could have been written exactly for Gaga to sing right now—as could the 1952 standard “That’s Entertainment,” popularized by Judy Garland: “Everything that happens in life can happen in a show/You can make ’em laugh, you can make ’em cry/Anything can go!” But listen closely and you’ll hear Gaga’s subtly twisted tweaks: the cheery lyrics of “Good Morning” by way of Singin’ in the Rain (“Good morning/Rainbows are shining through!”) are replaced with the gleefully sinister “Bang bang, you’re black and blue!”

Considering her professional and personal relationship with the late Tony Bennett and her own jazz residency in Vegas, Gaga is very intimate with the genre. Yet she realizes that Bennett probably would not have approved of her take on the songs this time around: “We did so much that Tony would never have been cool with.” The Oscar winner also delves into the psychology of the album’s original cut “Happy Mistake.” “When women play these broken characters in music or in films or theater, the audience loves it, and they just cheer us on,” she says. “They cheer on the image of pain. It’s super confusing. That song is in a lot of ways about that.”

Nah, she pretty explicitly said she sang differently as Lee in the film than she did on Harlequin in the Zane Lowe interview (although she stated that the character had influence over how she chose to sing certain sections)

[Smother Em Eh 6,949]

Wow, I just finished it & I honestly really like it. She sounds incredible on here and this album has so much replay value it’s crazy. She also does such unique things with her voice that we haven’t heard before and I’m living for it. I’m so grateful to Stan a such a multi talented and Versatile Artist who continues to amaze me after being a fan for 15 years. 

Edited September 28 by Smother Em Eh

[lilboyblue 3,797]

43 minutes ago, Hyperobject said:

let’s be real, many would be more open to the idea of her dropping “jazz” records if it were original songs. And lots of fans have been begging her to release a rock album for almost a decade now, it’s not about pop music, I think. It’s about her own music imo. (but a bunch of fans do refuse to listen to anything, but pop bawps, it’s true lol) 

I doubt that. Fans hear "jazz" and are suddenly somehow blinded by anything else. Sadly, I think it's in the make up of the fanbase, for some reason they will just really find something to complain about and express it snarkily.

Harlequin isn't even pure jazz and they are melting down like Lady Gaga just ruined her career forever. 

[Hyperobject 66,768]

25 minutes ago, lilboyblue said:

I doubt that. Fans hear "jazz" and are suddenly somehow blinded by anything else. Sadly, I think it's in the make up of the fanbase, for some reason they will just really find something to complain about and express it snarkily.

Harlequin isn't even pure jazz and they are melting down like Lady Gaga just ruined her career forever. 

that’s fair! I personally would live to hear a jazz/jazz-y record with original songs from her, maybe one day! 

[Starmie25 13,166]

Anybody else feel "Enigma" would fit nicely on this project? 

[Elohim 1,459]

1 hour ago, Hyperobject said:

that’s fair! I personally would live to hear a jazz/jazz-y record with original songs from her, maybe one day! 

Im sure she’ll do eventually, Im so here for it!! Her abilities are getting improved every damn album, it’s just crazy! 
“Harlequin” is the kind of stuff I sign in for, it’s versatile, unapologetic and just so Gaga! 

[River 104,910]

omg world on string is so beautiful

[GagaGame 2,997]

Anyone knows the debut numbers?

[Nite 4,834]

Happy Mistake keeps randomly playing in my head, it's so pretty 

[tlittlemonster 464]

Does anyone else feel like they should have pushed The Joker instead of Happy Mistake?

So far, it seems like The Joker has more streams, views and generally a bigger GP appeal, especially with the movie coming out next week.

Or, at least they could have pushed both and see wich one performs better? 😏

Also, it seems like they're not even doing any paid social media ads for the album or anything like that whatsoever? If I'm not mistaken, they always do ads for new Gaga albums...

It looks like other than Gaga doing interviews, her team isn't interested in pushing the album 🙃 Let's see how many sales it does this way...

[robboadam 1,943]

Been quite obsessed with this since it came out.

BUUTTT…..it hits on a whole different level when I imagine this as being the soundtrack to a Broadway musical about Harley Quinn, or as a visual album of Harley in that bedroom going into madness (with some dream sequences on top).

I really hope there’s some visuals coming, it would just elevate it all so much. Doubt it will happen but I can live in hope.