MANILA, Philippines — A week ahead of the release of her upcoming sixth studio album “Chromatica,” Lady Gaga sat down from a social distance with Apple Music's Zane Lowe to discuss everything from songwriting therapy to post-lockdown plans.
We’re about a week away from @ladygaga’s #Chromatica. Watch her interview with @zanelowe now, only on @AppleMusic. https://t.co/9xDAgygXnp pic.twitter.com/STK23aTgEU
— Beats 1 (@Beats1) May 21, 2020
Gaga related how her follow-up to the Grammy-nominated 2016 album "Joanne" runs even closer to her roots, and not just her dance-pop beginnings.
The 16-track "Chromatica," which includes chart-topper "Stupid Love," features the 34-year-old’s artistic interpretation of mental health and her personal road to finding self-love.
#Chromatica ?????? #LG6 pic.twitter.com/nRG8AKuvK5
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) April 22, 2020
“I think that the beginning of the album really symbolizes, for me, what I would call the beginning of my journey to healing, and what I would hope would be an inspiration for people that are in need of healing through happiness, through dance... And that’s in what I would call radical acceptance,” she said.
“For example, I know that I have mental issues. I know that they can be sometimes rendering me nonfunctional as a human. But I radically accept that this is real.”
The singer-songwriter said she used this acceptance to move on from turbulent moments of her life, including physical self-harm, hoping to instill the same healthy philosophy among her fans.
“What I can share is that if there is even a tiny spark inside of you that is still alive and beating and saying, 'Hey, I'm okay,' everything else isn't but right over here this part, it's okay, grab it. Grab it and hold onto it and it is possible that if you do, it will light you up in a way that you do not think you can be lit up,” Mother Monster reassured her Little Monsters.
“It will bring you back to life if you believe in yourself. And it's really hard to always believe in yourself but I hope that I can make people feel in some type of way that because I did, maybe they can too.”
Gaga advised those going through similar dysphoria and mental distress to look at their pain as a reason to all the more forgive themselves.
“If you’re listening to this album and you’re suffering in any type of way, just know that that suffering within itself is a sign of your humanity and you are not broken. You are connected to the whole world and we are one giant body. We are one full entity... And the whole you is having a whole human experience and there might be parts of your life that feel completely shallow or robotic or ancillary and unimportant, and that’s okay, but that suffering is a sign that you’re real and it’s a way to ground yourself.”
"Rain on Me," a track released exactly a week before the full-length "Chromatica" album, marks Gaga's first musical collaboration with Ariana Grande, who told Lowe in a separate interview that Gaga did an "incredible job" of "healing herself."
"And she’s just a beautiful person," enthused Ariana.
As for their music video launching tomorrow, Grande said: “I was like, ‘I’ve never dressed like this in my life.' I’m just having the best time.”