Lady Gaga has revealed her latest album will serve as a “companion” record to the musical fantasia film Joker: Folie A Deux.
The US singer-songwriter, 38, is playing Harley Quinn, the love interest of the Joker, played by Joaquin Phoenix, in the second film in the series from Todd Phillips, and will be putting out the 13-track Harlequin on Friday.
Her last albums came out in 2021 and included a remix version of 2020’s Chromatica called Dawn Of Chromatica, featuring collaborations with artists such as Charli XCX and Rina Sawayama, and Love For Sale, which she collaborated with the late Tony Bennett on.
She announced her latest release, with an image of her in the shower covered in water and wearing a red life-support vest and with Joker-style make-up running down her face.
On Instagram, Gaga wrote: “Harlequin. September 27. A companion album to Joker: Folie A Deux.”
She also shared another image of a carton of milk, where song titles such as World On A String and Get Happy (2024), could be seen on the side.
The record opens with Good Morning, and also has Oh, When The Saints, If My Friends Could See Me Now, That’s Entertainment, Smile, The Joker, Folie A Deux, Gonna Build A Mountain, Close To You, Happy Mistake and That’s Life as songs.
Gaga had been teasing fans with cryptic messages on her Instagram for the last few days, starting with pictures captioned “I’m ready for my interview” and “don’t tell me what to wear” as well as “still not October” and “moon dust gets everywhere”.
Some of the posts were accompanied by audio of rock-style music.
The trailer for Joker: Folie A Deux features Phoenix singing For Once In My Life by Stevie Wonder, and Gaga singing Judy Garland song Get Happy to him.
The film, which refers to the French term for “madness of two” – when two people in an intimate relationship share elements of the same mental illness, such as delusions – will see the Joker and Harley fall in love at Gotham City’s Arkham Asylum.
The pair are known for their toxic romantic relationship in the comics.
Gaga, also known for roles in American Horror Story and House Of Gucci, was given an Oscar nod for best actress for A Star Is Born, and won an original song Academy Award for the film’s track Shallow.
She also released a soundtrack for A Star Is Born, and is set to feature on the Joker: Folie A Deux music release as well.
The film Joker: Folie A Deux is released next month.
