Clocking in at a compact 43 minutes, Chromatica, Lady Gaga’s sixth album in 12 years, a hard discographical fact emblazoned in metal on the inside cover of the album’s accompanying booklet, visually celebrates the iconography of Swiss artist H.R. Giger’s work on the Alien films with the movies’s emblematic alien greens replaced this time around with Gaga’s alien pink. The artwork seems to suggest there’s a concept at work here but the music suggests otherwise.
Of Chromatica’s 16 tracks one is a brief orchestral opening prelude co-written and produced by Morgan Kibby and two others are short orchestral interludes also written by Kibby. The remaining 13 tracks mostly clock in around the three minute mark making the songs of Chromatica short and to the point, a refreshing change from the bloated pop music industry standard.
Overall Chromatica is exactly what one would expect from a Lady Gaga album, with lots of high gloss EDM disco beats all around. Even Gaga’s ballads are heavily revved with high powered beats per minute. Stand out tracks include the old school disco vibe of Rain On Me (with Ariana Grande) and Free Woman. The heavily processed vocal duet with Elton John sounds great of paper but falls flat in the execution. Ultimately Chromatica plays it safe, sure to please her existing fan base while securing the Gaga brand for another day.
7.5/10
Bi-Weekly Record Review 13/26