Here’s the followup to “Bad Romance” everyone ordered 10 years ago.
Like a goth-y mad scientist on a bender in the studio, Lady Gaga has unleashed “Disease,” the lead single of her seventh studio album. The song, which arrived today (October 25), lurches through the unnerving gloom that dominated the pop star’s early work, which debuted around “Paparazzi” but dropped off sometime after the release of Born This Way.
Defined by macabre electro-pop and Gaga’s hitching yelps, “Disease” is the first we’ve officially heard of LG7, which will drop in February, according to Vogue. The tune signals the return of Gaga’s lustful menace — can pop choruses get much gnarlier than “I can smell your sickness”? — and moves with the authority of some dominatrix anthem, promising healing while gripping its willing subject in a stranglehold.
Gaga’s been a triple threat in terms of genre this year, leaping from pop-R&B with Bruno Mars in August, to jazzy American classic last month for Harlequin, and now sticking the landing with this hooky dose of darkness.
Succumb to the sickness below.