Like Prince before her, Lady Gaga is set to release her own companion album tied to a comic book property from Warner Bros. It has recently been announced that the singer/actress is set to debut an album with thirteen tracks that will work alongside her portrayal of Harley Quinn in Joker: Folie à Deux.
Per a post on Lady Gaga’s official X page, the pop megastar announced that she will be releasing a companion soundtrack album to Joker: Folie à Deux called “Harlequin,” which will feature thirteen tracks by the artist that are tied to the film. The album will be released on Sep. 27 and Lady Gaga teased the album’s various cover art in her post as well as an apparent tracklist for the album. According to reports, the singer will also be releasing a separate album, tentatively titled, “LG7,” next year.
Joker 2 Album Tracklist Confirms New Recordings of Classic Songs
The tracklist for the album confirms previous reports that the film will feature covers of classic songs such as “That’s Entertainment” and “That’s Life,” to name a few. When Joker: Folie à Deux was first announced as a musical sequel to the billion-dollar-grossing 2019 film Joker, many speculated what kind of musical the follow-up would be. It was soon revealed that the movie would be a jukebox musical, featuring updated versions of popular songs similar to those employed by Moulin Rouge and Mamma Mia! Despite the clear use of music in the film, Lady Gaga, director Todd Phillips and other creatives behind the movie don’t want to call it a musical in the classical sense, indicating that songs are used when the characters find it difficult to convey what they truly feel through the spoken dialogue.
Making a companion album to a film is not uncommon, but it’s a practice that isn’t used much anymore. Lady Gaga is walking a similar line that Prince walked in 1989 when he released his eleventh studio album as a companion piece to Tim Burton’s Batman. Due in large part to the popularity of the film during the summer of 1989, Prince’s soundtrack album was number one for six consecutive weeks and went on to be certified double platinum, as well as spawning the number-one single, “Batdance.”
Joker: Folie à Deux has divided many critics since making its premiere at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, currently registering 63 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. However, even the most lukewarm reviews praise Lady Gaga’s portrayal of Harley Quinn, even suggesting that she has a real shot at getting a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her performance. Should she be nominated, it would be her second acting nom from the Academy after her Best Actress nomination for 2018’s A Star Is Born. The actress did win an Oscar for her Best Original Song in the film, “Shallow.”
Joker: Folie à Deux is set two years after the events of the 2019 film and finds Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) as a patient at Arkam State Hospital, where he meets and falls in love with a fellow patient named Lee Quinzel aka Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga). Their union soon links them through a shared insanity that is sparked through music, which leads to Arthur’s followers trying to freee him from the confines of Arkham.
Joker: Folie à Deux
hits screens on Oct. 4.
