Lady Gaga has already shared Artpop singles “Applause” and “Do What U Want,” and now you can stream the whole album now, one week early, through iTunes Radio.
As “Applause” suggested, Artpop finds Gaga leaving behind the Springsteen- and Americana-inflected pop-rock anthems she brought to Born This Way, to return to the electronic dance music that made Gaga Fame-ous. But “Do What U Want,” Gaga’s collaboration with R. Kelly, also suggested an important development on Artpop: She no longer wants you to just dance. She wants you to take her music home to the bedroom.
This is true of the album’s first half in particular. On opener “Aura,” she asks, “Do you wanna see me naked, lover?” On “G.U.Y.” she suggests that you “lay back … as this audio guides you through new and exciting positions.” The fourth track, “Sexxx Dreams,” requires no explanation.
The rest is a mix of familiar Gaga territory and a few surprises. There are a couple Born This Way-style ballads toward the end, and songs like “G.U.Y.” find her doing the gender-bending that is her signature. (“G.U.Y.” stands for “girl under you.”) As for the surprises, “Jewels N’ Drugs” finds Gaga venturing into hip-hop with T.I., Too $hort, and Twista, though (as the title suggests) she seems to demonstrate a shallow understanding of the genre. At times the album also veers closer to dubstep than ever. “Aura” sounds like it could have been produced by Skrillex—call it Lady Wubwub. But fans can rest assured that Artpop has the one thing they can always expect: infectious, towering choruses.
Tracklist:
1. “Aura”
2. “Venus”
3. “G.U.Y.”
4. “Sexxx Dreams”
5. “Jewels N’ Drugs (Ft. T.I., Too $hort, Twista)”
6. “MANiCURE”
7. “Do What U Want Ft. R. Kelly”
8. “ARTPOP”
9. “Swine”
10. “Donatella”
11. “Fashion!”
12. “Mary Jane Holland”
13. “Dope”
14. “Gypsy”
15. “Applause”
Artpop is out Nov. 11.
