Lady Gaga Unveils ‘Harlequin,’ the Companion Album for ‘Joker 2’

Lady Gaga has announced the release of ‘Harlequin’, a companion album for the film ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’. The album will drop on 27^th September, just ahead of the movie’s global release on 4^th October, marking the five-year anniversary of the 2019 ‘Joker’ film. Gaga stars as Harley Quinn alongside Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, with a supporting cast that includes Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener, Brendan Gleeson, and Zazie Beetz.

The singer, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, shared the news on social media on 24^th September. Joker: Folie à Deux is described as a jukebox musical, featuring covers of jazz classics like ‘Oh, When The Saints,’ ‘Get Happy,’ and ‘That’s Life,’ along with several original songs, all of which will be included on Harlequin.

Image Courtesy: New York Post

In a recent Vogue interview, Lady Gaga discussed how she drew from her own experiences when bringing Harley Quinn to life. She noted that while Harley Quinn is a well-known figure in pop culture, her portrayal was shaped by her personal experiences with mania and chaos, which often brought her a sense of quiet rather than chaos. Gaga reflected on how women are often labelled as overly emotional, and when pushed to their limits, they are seen as erratic or unstable. She explored the idea that, instead of breaking down in loud outbursts, what if being pushed too far results in silence and withdrawal?

Gaga also shared that she approached the role through sense memory, focusing on the feeling of moving through life with a sense of intense readiness. She explored how people can cover up the complex emotions beneath the surface while projecting a composed exterior.

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Last month, director Todd Phillips hinted that Folie à Deux would likely be the final installment in the Joker series. He remarked that it was fun to explore this world for two films, but he believes they’ve said all they wanted to say.

As for the music, Harlequin will be Lady Gaga’s first release since her 2021 collaboration with the late Tony Bennett on Love For Sale. Her last solo album was 2020’s Chromatica. Gaga has also teased a new album of original material planned for 2025, referring to it as LG7—her seventh studio album—while Harlequin is being dubbed LG6.5.

Image Courtesy: Hypbeast

The complete ‘Harlequin’ tracklist is:

1. ‘Good Morning’
2. ‘Get Happy (2024)’
3. ‘Oh, When the Saints’
4. ‘World On a String’
5. ‘If My Friends Could See Me Now’
6. ‘That’s Entertainment’
7. ‘Smile’
8. ‘The Joker’
9. ‘Folie à Deux’
10. ‘Gonna Build a Mountain’
11. ‘Closer to You’
12. ‘Happy Mistake’
13. ‘That’s Life’

In August, Lady Gaga released the single ‘Die With a Smile’, a duet with Bruno Mars. However, the track is expected to remain a standalone release and won’t feature on any upcoming albums. In a previous Instagram post, she hinted that the lead single from her seventh album will drop this month, following the release of Joker: Folie à Deux.

–Silviya.Y