LG6.5 – The Calm Before The Storm (Harlequin Review) -

By Tim McGuire

Lady Gaga is at a very interesting point in her career. She’s been active in the music industry for over 15 years and is now building up an acting career, not to mention, she just performed for the world at the Olympics in Paris. We all used to know Gaga for her wild antics in her songs, her music videos, and her public persona, but it seems she’s been trading that lifestyle for a more glamorous movie-star one.

It started with 2018’s sing-song film A Star is Born, then 2021’s crime drama House of Gucci, and now, here in 2024, the sing-song crime drama film Joker: Folie à Deux. Gaga’s film and music careers were bound to collide to make a movie album at some point, and now we have it. Technically, A Star is Born is her first movie album, but that’s more of a soundtrack. Harlequin is a standalone jazz cover project based on the movie.

The last time Gaga did covers of older songs (with Tony Bennett on their collaborative album, Love For Sale, in 2021), she received positive feedback, so it’s hard to deny that she has a knack for this. A critical distinction between Harlequin and previous Gaga albums is that Harlequin isn’t the highly anticipated 7th album, as Gaga refers to it as “LG6.5.” Think of it more as a side project she made while working on Joker: Folie à Deux. I should note before actually diving into the music that I haven’t seen the film at the time of writing this, but I do plan to. The movie could possibly change my perspective on this album, so take this review with a grain of salt.

The album starts out with two good introduction tracks, “Good Morning” and “Get Happy (2024).” These two songs do a good job of setting the stage for the rest of the jazzy album…and then the next song, “Oh, When The Saints,” is gospel-infused instead, along with electric guitars. Not a bad thing at all, the song is actually pretty good, but it’s a jarring turn. So imagine my surprise when the next song isn’t jazz or gospel, but rather something…almost too different, but still relatively on theme? Gaga’s cover of “World On A String” takes a more dark and broody approach, most likely intune with her role as Harley Quinn. It’s very interesting but unfortunately falls flat as one of the worst songs on the album. That does make it sound bad, but it still has some merit to it; it’s just that most of the other songs are better. After two swerves off the jazz path, we finally return to it at full force.

“If My Friends Could See Me Now” is my favorite song on the album, almost undisputedly. The jazz band is going all out, and Gaga feeds into the energy with her own theatrical pizzazz. My only complaint is that it ends too soon, but almost every song here is in the 3-4 minute range, too. After that exuberant high, we move onto “That’s Entertainment,” a classic showbiz song, and “Smile,” a slower, heartfelt song. Both songs achieve what they set out to do and get the good job done, with good showings from the band on “That’s Entertainment” and from Gaga on “Smile.” Nothing too crazy, just plain-old vintage pop: the exact opposite of the next track, “The Joker.” The electric guitars from earlier return, and Gaga gets crazy with her vocals. The song is really great, especially the ending…but feels out of place on the album. It doesn’t sound like anything else, before or after it, so it sticks out on the track list. Thankfully, it’s one of the best songs, so its inclusion is redeemable.

We then go into “Folie à Deux,” one of two original songs Gaga made for the album. For an original song, it slides in very well with the whole aesthetic of the album. I wouldn’t have guessed it was an original had it not been named after the movie. As the album comes closer to an end, we get a return of the gospel in “Gonna Build A Mountain.” If I had to pick between the two gospel tracks, I think I’d stick with “Oh, When The Saints,” but this one still has some merit to it (especially in the second half). “Close To You” follows up and is another one of my favorites from this album. The feel-good vibes are immaculate here, and Gaga is exuding that infectious happiness, making something Stevie Wonder would be proud of.

The penultimate original track “Happy Mistake” is the most popular song from the album as of now, which is a shame. I find it to be just another song on the album, and I think there’s a lot more interesting songs that could be gaining traction (maybe even the song right before it on the track list!). Pulling the curtains on the show is a grand cover of Sinatra’s famed ballad of tough luck, “That’s Life.” Now, whenever someone does a cover of a song with this much reputation, I grit my teeth…luckily, Gaga is talented and knows what she’s doing. She puts her own spin on it rather than trying to outdo the original and it pays off very well. You’ve got the spirit of the original plus the spirit of Gaga, and you’ve got a great closer on your hands.

Overall, Harlequin is exactly what Gaga wanted it to be: a little side project. It didn’t need to be anything huge, and I think it would lose its charm if it tried to. While I do think the sudden turns it takes serve as a detriment to the album as a whole, it’s still very enjoyable. It’ll be a fun album to reflect on in 5 or so years once we’ve had time to digest it alongside the movie. With a fair share of exciting highs and befuddling twists and turns, she makes me more interested in her future careers. What will Joker: Folie à Deux be like? What should we expect from LG7? Only time will tell. For now, I’d recommend this album to anyone who’s a fan of older music, theater kids (who probably also love Gaga), and movie nerds.