Lady Gaga is entering a new era with her new single, “Disease,†and we’re tentatively hoping that it will be both (1) pop, and (2) weird. In other words: We’re hoping she’s back. Gaga hasn’t released a pop album since 2020’s Chromatica, which saw its release strategy get bungled by the pandemic. And before that, she hadn’t released a straight-ahead pop album since 2013’s Artpop, meaning it’s been over a decade since we got a fully fledged Gaga pop rollout, and dear God have we missed it. Post Joker 2’s flop, it’s time for Gaga the pop diva to reemerge.
In a new 11-second teaser for “Disease,†we see someone dressed like the little girl from The Ring running away from someone driving the car while piano chords get plucked. The song is important, to be sure. But the truth is that we won’t know if she’s fully in weird pop mode until we can tell if Gaga is the one running away from the car. Other pop stars would cast an actress to be the weird girl running. Not weird Gaga. Weird Gaga would be both the woman in the car and the girl running. Weird Gaga would be doing the running with one foot in a gorgeous high heel and one foot barefoot. So … is it her?
Okay, like yes? Maybe? We zoomed in on her face when she turned around and it does look like her. The feral face does give “unearthly commitment to the bit.†The song and music video are out October 25, so gird your loins. She’s coming.