Dawn of Chromatica

Lady Gaga – Dawn of Chromatica

Label:
Electrola – AL-01234-5
Country:
US
Released:
Genre:
Pop

Notes

Lady Gaga is feeding her Little Monsters with Chromatica content once again — and this time it's not Oreos.

For the first time since dropping the "911" music video in September 2020, the Oscar winner is set to revive the beloved album with new material via the star-studded Dawn of Chromatica remix LP, out Sept. 3. The album features high profile revamps of the album's songs, with Charli XCX ("911"), Rina Sawayama ("Free Woman"), Arca ("Rain On Me"), Bree Runway ("Babylon"), Shygirl ("Sour Candy"), Ashnikko ("Plastic Doll"), and world-renowned drag superstar Pabllo Vittar ("Fun Tonight") contributing to the project.

As executive producer BloodPop first confirmed to EW in a June 2020 interview, the cult favorite Haus Labs remix of Chromatica cut "Babylon" is also on the album, marking the first time the track has debuted in full since a snippet of the song's instrumental premiered as part of a summer 2019 commercial for Gaga's beauty line.

BloodPop, who worked with Gaga on both 2016's Joanne and the initial release of Chromatica, called the album "purely a celebration of music and great artists" earlier this month in a series of tweets teasing all of the long-rumored collaborations recorded for the project. He also previously teased that Gaga's collaborations with late Scottish producer SOPHIE were also under consideration for potential release, though none of the songs appear on the Chromatica Remix album.

"We worked with SOPHIE very early on. [She was] the first collaborator of those sessions. Those days were fun. We set up six microphones and recorded [Gaga's] Lamborghini exhaust, and SOPHIE cut it up into samples," he said. "[Though they didn't make the album], we still plan to finish those songs and present something special within the Chromatica universe."

Elsewhere, Gaga is slated to release her second jazz album with Tony Bennett, Love for Sale, on Oct. 1. Frequent Gaga producer DJ White Shadow also recently told EW he intends to meet with the pop star to discuss digging into the ARTPOP vault to potentially unveil long-awaited, unreleased material from the 2013 album.

"I think we made enough to do two records. It was probably on an idea list," he said of the oft-rumored ARTPOP: Act II. "I pulled my ARTPOP computer back out and listened to it, and there are 40 songs on there that are done or in the phases of being done. I listened to some of the tracks and honestly, it's good stuff. It still holds up."

See all of the Dawn of Chromatica remix album features below.

"Alice" by LSDXOXO

BloodPop stirred Gaga fans' interest in the Berlin-based artist after the two interacted on Twitter using the lyrics to the house-inspired album opener.

"Stupid Love" by COUCOU CHLOE

The album's lead single gets a splashy reimagining from COUCOU CHLOE.

"Rain on Me" by Arca

Recording artist and producer Arca — known for her unorthodox sounds and collaborations with Björk, Rosalia, and more — promised fans that the remix of Chromatica's signature, Ariana Grande-featuring track would sample several of her past works.

"Free Woman" by Rina Sawayama and Clarence Clarity (feat. Ariana Grande)

The rising pop star has collaborated with BloodPop before on the 2020 banger "Lucid," and re-teamed with him for a metal-edged bop on Gaga's Chromatica relaunch. "It's a song that was hard to sing with my new braces," she teased of her verses at the 2021 BRIT Awards. "My s's are actually fine; it's my f's that are a bit weird... There are a lot of f's in the song!"

"Fun Tonight" by Pabllo Vittar

Arguably the most famous drag queen in the world after Mama RuPaul, Brazilian recording artist Pabllo Vittar brings a uniquely queer essence to "Fun Tonight," which sees her flexing well-seasoned pop music flair — with a fabulous regional music twist — she's flaunted on past singles with Charli XCX, Brooke Candy, and Marina.

"911" by Charli XCX and A.G. Cook

Ahead of her proper pop comeback, Charli XCX reimagined one of the most dynamic tunes on Chromatica (about Gaga's experience of medicating herself through trauma) into something that suits her own brand while bringing out new layers in Gaga's raw lyrics.

"Plastic Doll" by Ashnikko

RuPaul's Drag Race winner Aquaria teased the budding artist's walloping take on one of Chromatica's unsung deep cuts during a recent DJ set, showing off the TikTok-viral artist's bold re-molding of the mid-tempo gem into a hard-hitting slapper.

"Sour Candy" by Shygirl and Mura Masa (feat. BLACKPINK)

Shygirl is one of the most exciting additions to the Chromatica fantasy. The British DJ and performer consistently pumps out major booty-popping serves, and she's done it again with a decadent interpretation of "Sour Candy" featuring BLACKPINK and Mura Masa that'll make it easy to pucker up to the dance floor for a new groove on a familiar cut.

"Enigma" by Doss

"Enigma" has traveled a winding path toward the Chromatica remix; once almost universally derided by fans as a standout skip on the otherwise pristine album, the song is an underrated, subtle bop that gets a second lease on life from Doss.

"Replay" by Dorian Electra

Little Monsters regularly peg "Replay" as an unsung bop that deserved the single treatment from Gaga. Here, the track gets what sounds like an appropriately bonkers remix (judging by pre-release leaks) from underground artist Dorian Electra, who dresses the song — featuring backing vocals lifted from Diana Ross' "It's My House" — in rock-slathered drag.

"Sine from Above" by Mood Killer, Chester Lockhart, and Lil Texas (feat. Elton John)

Gaga and Elton John's ethereal dance-pop hurricane (honestly, how else do you properly categorize those fluttering synths after the chorus?) unravels into a heap of drum-and-bass chaos, and things could get even weirder when Mood Killer, Chester Lockhart, and Lil Texas take the pops and pings to what, judging by early previews, sounds like dubstep-meets-punk (!?) levels on their vision for the tune.

"Babylon" by Bree Runway and Jimmy Edgar

Three artists — Lady Gaga, Bree Runway, and Jimmy Edgar — doing "Babylon" on one album? That's the father, son, AND House of Gucci, mama! British hip-pop queen Bree Runway will lend her rapid-fire skills to a souped-up, throbbing techno revamp of the fan-favorite song. But before her take saw the light of a thousand disco sticks, she accidentally spilled the beans about her contributions to the project during an appearance on Jonathan Ross' beloved U.K. talk show.

"Babylon" (Haus Labs version) by BloodPop

Gaga hid the first tease of her then-upcoming album all the way back in the summer of 2019 when an advertisement for her Haus Labs beauty line included a sledgehammering song fans instantly speculated was a demo track from her recording sessions. The album came and went, with no inclusion of the supposed track — until BloodPop confirmed to EW that the song was indeed an early version of album closer "Babylon" that would soon see the light of day. Well, that's (not) gossip; the track is finally here (and it's good enough to be a single on its own).

Tracklist

01 Alice
(LSDXOXO Remix)
2:53
02 Stupid Love
(COUCOU CHLOE Remix)
2:52
03 Rain on Me
(Arca Remix)
3:33
04 Free Woman
(Rina Sawayama and Clarence Clarity Remix)
3:32
05 Fun Tonight
(Pabllo Vittar Remix)
2:23
06 911
(Charli XCX and A. G. Cook Remix)
3:02
07 Plastic Doll (Ashnikko Remix) 3:14
08 Sour Candy
(Shygirl and Mura Masa Remix)
2:42
09 Enigma
(Doss Remix)
3:14
10 Replay
(Dorian Electra Remix)
3:38
11 Sine from Above
(Chester Lockhart, Mood Killer and Lil Texas Remix)
3:58
12 1000 Doves
(Planningtorock Remix)
3:21
13 Babylon
(Bree Runway and Jimmy Edgar Remix)
3:00
14 Babylon
(Haus Labs Version)
3:05