When Lady Gaga arrived on the pop scene16 years ago, it seemed as if she were going to “Just Dance.”
But, while she can still keep up in her platform heels, the 38-year-old superstar has done so much more than that — as both a singer and an actress.
Gaga’s new surprise album “Harlequin” — which she just announced on Tuesday before releasing it on Friday — is a companion LP to her movie “Joker: Folie à Deux,” which hits theaters on Oct. 4. And the 13-song set finds the Grammy- and Oscar-winning diva shape-shifting into both her character of Lee, aka Harley Quinn — which she plays opposite Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker — and the classic vocalists of yore.
Think of it as “Mother Monster Does the Great American Songbook.”
Taking its cues from standards featured in the singing sequel to 2019’s “Joker” blockbuster, it’s a jazzy affair that harks back to the two collaborative albums Gaga did with Tony Bennett — 2014’s “Cheek to Cheek” and 2021’s “Love for Sale” — as well as her Jazz & Piano residency in Las Vegas.
And right away, when she gets the album off to a swinging start with “Good Morning” — originally performed by Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in 1939’s “Babes in Arms” — there’s no doubt that Gaga has the chops to pull it off.
Gaga keeps the feel-good vibes going with a brassy “Get Happy,” another golden oldie associated with Garland.
And by the time you get to “That’s Entertainment” — yet another vintage tune forever linked to Garland — it’s clear that Gaga is channeling her “A Star Is Born” predecessor.
When she brings “That’s Entertainment” to a big finish — belting out “The world is a stage, and the stage is a world of entertainment” — you just know that somewhere Judy is smiling.
Elsewhere, Gaga gives a torchy sultriness to “World on a String” — shortened from “I’ve Got the World on a String” — and a sassy swagger to “If My Friends Could See Me Now.” (Given the TikTok post that recently went viral, the latter can’t help but feel like a clapback to her former NYU classmates who started a Facebook group titled “Stefani Germanotta, you will never be famous.”)
Then, for a change-up, there’s a cover of the 1970 Carpenters chart-topper “(They Long To Be) Close to You.” But let’s face it — nobody can match the pure, angelic beauty of Karen Carpenter.
And there are two originals: The ballad “Happy Mistake” reveals a softer, more vulnerable side of Gaga, who sings that “I could try to hide behind the makeup, but the show must go on.” Meanwhile, “Folie à Deux” is a lilting waltz with a sense of Parisian winsomeness.
“They might say that we’re crazy/But I’m just in love with you,” she sings, probably in character as Lee/Harley Quinn.
Like “Folie à Deux,” “The Joker” — the Anthony Newley song, not the Steve Miller one — feels more movie-driven. Reimagined as a jagged, snarling piece of punk rock, the song doesn’t work.
But Gaga’s dreamy rendition of the Charlie Chaplin classic “Smile” gets to the ache at the heart of the song — and the irony of the clown who literally has to paint on a happy face.
“Harlequin” goes out with a bang with the Frank Sinatra standard “That’s Life,” but in the end, it feels a bit like a placeholder. It won’t be long before Gaga will be getting back into pop-diva character, with a new single due in October and an album coming in February.
But this — and the movie out next week — will tide Little Monsters over until Mother’s next era begins.