Mother Monster Will Save Us All.
Lady Gaga's newest single, "The Cure," was released with her Coachella performance this April to streaming services and iTunes. Fans and critics alike have praised the new, and at the same time familiar, sound of this track from Mother Monster. Some have said it has abruptly put an end to her Joanne-era rebuking of traditional synth-pop stylings. We here at Pop Relevancy beg to differ. Joanne was Gaga's attempt to make her music bare. To open up and show us where her soul is. She invoked her deceased aunt, which is where the album gets its name, to pull her emotions out and serve them up to the world. This could be akin to the way Christina Aguilera served up Back to Basics back in 2006. With Back to Basics, Aguilera referenced legendary artists Billie Holiday, Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald as her inspiration in order to show the modern world of music its old school roots of soul, jazz and rhythm & blues. Xtina has built her career on being "the voice" of her generation, a title similar to the female artists she referenced for Back to Basics. She also has consistently utilized the various forms of music made famous by those artists in her own craft, and as a result has become synonymous with icons like Holiday that can belt out any velvet-y note and make you weep.
With Joanne, Gaga employed the same tactics of calling on all of the various forms of music that cultivated and inspired her throughout her life. Various sources have cited elements of country, blues, rock, pop-ballads, and even the legendary Prince as references for the musicality of Joanne. This, at times, mid tempo slow-burn of a record still packs a punch with songs like "A-Yo" and "John Wayne" - but it never quite makes its way to the dance floor.
"The Cure" is being noted by some as a swift departure from the melodies of Joanne and a redirection to get more radio airplay and boost the Lady's album sales. Rumors are flying about a deluxe edition of Joanne, à la Fame Monster, as if new material will take on more of the 80's synth-pop sounds and catchy beats that Gaga's earlier music is known for. While you can't deny that the new arrival of "The Cure" hearkens back to Gaga's beginning, one could argue that it in fact enhances and displays her growth as an artist. She's showing us how she's coming back to her basics after exploring all of the nooks and crannies of genres that have inspired her, not just over the course of Joanne, but also over the course of ARTPOP, Born This Way, Fame Monster and The Fame.
All of these components put together make Gaga as a whole - these are her basics. Now that she has taken us all with her on the journey to discover who she is as an artist, she will now take us into the future with those same pop hooks and piano chords that we fell in love with her for. She is now giving us, and herself, the permission to infuse any of these elements at any time. She's teaching us how to be well-rounded connoisseurs of music, just like her. As the title implies, she will heal us of the things that are getting us down and she will always be there for us. Mother Monster will save us all.
"No matter what you know, I'll I'll fix you with my love And if you say you're okay I'm gonna heal you anyway Promise I'll always be there Promise I'll be the cure."
- lyrics from "The Cure" by Lady Gaga, Written by Stefani Germanotta, Lukas Nelson, Mark Nilan, Nick Monson, Paul Edward Blair • Copyright © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC