The world of little monsters was devastated when a broken hip yanked Lady Gaga from the last leg of her Born This Way Ball this February. With a highly anticipated new album in the works, fans were seriously starting to question Gaga’s return after months of dead Internet buzz. Then suddenly, in the kind of questionable Hollywood scandal we adore, Mother Monster decided to release the album’s first single “Applause” early in a charge against rumored leaks. While perhaps not the explosive comeback fans were hoping for, the response has been thunderous.
Applause is a return to the gaudy pop beat that brought Gaga to the Limelight back in 2008. The beat is versatile, the progression dynamic and the lyrics repetitive. By no means is it anything new, but Gaga has always been openly postmodern, borrowing extensively from other artists and giving their work another kind of elevation. Like it or not, it’s the basis of her upcoming album ARTPOP, a collaborative and synergetic app for smartphones and tabloids.
It seems Gaga certainly picked the right song for pre-release then, as the lyrics pay homage to her massive fanbase and the thrill their adulation gives her while she performs. It’s so jammed packed with confidence I just want to rip my shirt off and put on a show that would make even the most promiscuous pop stars blush.
Still, it’s always annoying when two artists successful in their own respects come out with similarly themed singles (Katy Perry anyone?), and while many might lack that peculiar taste for Gaga’s amplification through simplification, there’s no doubt “Applause” will be playing everywhere you go by mid-September.