MAYHEM (Pitchfork review)

To promote her seventh canonical album, MAYHEM, Lady Gaga launched a charm offensive. From holding court in a fans-only press conference to turns on SNL, Hot Ones, and Vanity Fair’s lie detector series, she has projected an endearingly down-to-earth persona. She even received a question about “reheating nachos”—gay stan chatter suggesting she rehashed old musical ideas in her single “Abracadabra”—with grace. “My nachos are mine and I invented them, and I’m proud of them,” she told EW.

Talk about truth in advertising: MAYHEM is its own charm offensive, a massive attack of good vibes. It is a project designed to remind listeners why they fell in love with her in the first place, before the jazz belting or the traditional singer-songwriter gravitas or movie stardom. Inspiration from fiancé Michael Polansky, entrepreneur and one of the album’s executive producers, to return to her pop roots prompted an internal survey—Gaga told EW that instead of seeking to reinvent her sound, “I started to think about what makes me me? What are my references? What are my inspirations?” MAYHEM, then, isn’t the sound of someone reheating her nachos on the sly and trying to pass them off as fresh—it’s a full-on cooking show devoted to the art of nacho-reheating.



If it sounds strange to say that it’s good to have Gaga back, it’s probably because she’s never really stayed away for too long. Between her proper sixth album, 2020’s Chromatica, and MAYHEM, Gaga played her Vegas residency and toured the world; was the best thing in two bad movies, 2021’s House of Gucci and 2024’s Joker: Folie à Deux; and released a companion album for the latter, the covers-heavy Harlequin. She has the rare distinction of appealing to both rockist and poptimist ideals, practically in equal measure. On one hand she plays the piano, executes high concepts with ease, and writes her own (often autobiographical) material. On the other, she is fascinated by artifice, puts major emphasis on the visual component of her image, loves synthesizers and programming, and is an unabashed scholar of fame. She is a champion of underdogs (calling for trans compassion in her acceptance speech at this year’s Grammys, for example) but also a good case for celebrity exceptionalism and the draw of meritocracy. She is just like us, except obviously better.

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