Lady Gaga Drops ‘Harlequin’ Album, Inspired by Her ‘Joker’ Character

Lady Gaga has dropped a new album titled “Harlequin” consisting of songs inspired by her character in the forthcoming film “Joker: Folie À Deux,” in which she stars opposite Joaquin Phoenix as Lee, a reimagining of Harley Quinn.

The songs are nearly all classic American Songbook favorites like “Get Happy,” “That’s Life” and “That’s Entertainment,” except for a pair of angsty Gaga originals, one of them bearing the second half of the film’s title.

The vibe of “Harlequin” is similar to the two albums she recorded with the late Tony Bennett, the Grammy- “Cheek to Cheek” and “Love for Sale,” although here the songs are performed with both rock and jazz-inflected instrumentation. Gaga teased the album earlier this week with billboards reading “LG 6.5,” which seemed to signal that “Harlequin” is not her next full studio album, which will be her seventh.

Showtunes are said to be a part of the film, which arrives on October 4, but it’s reasonable to expect that the screen versions of the songs featured in the film will be different from the ones featured on this album.

“Harlequin” was announced just days ago, and came as a surprise as Gaga had announced the October release of the first single from her still-untitled next full studio album, which she’s said will arrive in February.