Chromatica by Lady Gaga | Album Review
The sixth album from the artpop icon sees a return to form by celebrating classic 90s dance music.
Considering the tremendous shift in our collective way of life spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us are now much more aware of our mental health than we ever have before, myself included. Everyone found themselves impacted in some way, from the everyday Joe to the biggest star, even one Lady Gaga.
Gaga had been grappling with her mental health well before the pandemic. Since the chaotic creation and rollout of her fourth album Artpop, she’s gone on a journey of therapizing herself, processing her feelings on her status, work-life balance, and traumas she endured throughout. On her country-influenced fifth album Joanne, she processed her grief for lost family members and conflicted inner feelings, but failed to get to the heart of her struggles:
“I used to wake up in the morning, and I would realize I was ‘Lady Gaga.’ And then I became very depressed and sad, and I didn’t want to be myself,” Gaga told People Magazine. “I felt threatened by the things my career brought into my life and the pace of my life.”
She found that going back to the things she loves most in music, particularly the synthetic but soulful strains of 90s house music, helped temper her feelings and bring her into a more positive…
