If you’re gonna have someone like Lady Gaga star in your movie, it only makes sense to have her contribute, in some way, to the soundtrack. Indeed, when she did A Star is Born, Gaga received a Best Actress Oscar nomination, but she also won the award for her contribution to the soundtrack, “Shallow.” While Joker: Folie a Deux is being called a jukebox musical, in that most of the songs are covers of already existing tracks, Gaga has nonetheless recorded a ton of music inspired by the film and the character she plays (Harleen “Lee” Quinzel aka Harley Quinn), and now has announced a companion album called Harlequin, which is a pretty apropos title.
The singer made the announcement via Instagram.
In the posted artwork, Gaga is shown dressed in a very Harley Quinn-esque outfit, with her wearing a life preserver under a running shower head that seems to be washing away her character’s makeup. This marks Gaga’s first release since 2021 when she bowed the album “Love for Sale,” which was an album of duets with the late Tony Bennett. Her last mainstream pop album was 2020’s “Chromatica:, although she had a major hit with her contribution to the Top Gun: Maverick soundtrack, “Hold My Hand”, which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song.
Only time will tell whether or not Gaga’s role in Joker: Folie a Deux will live up to her other hit star turns in A Star is Born and House of Gucci (a rare pandemic-era hit). The film was initially tracking for a pretty big box office debut, but industry estimates have cooled ever since word of mouth started to sour around the time it debuted at the Venice Film Festival. Whatever the case, the album “Harlequin” comes out on September 27th, with Joker: Folie a Deux set to premiere on October 4th.