Mayhem Review: How Lady Gaga’s new album restyles her signature sound

By Julia Vetsch

 

Calling all Monsters — Lady Gaga has shaken the pop scene once again with her new album, Mayhem. The album, released on March 7th, 2025, explores a return to Gaga’s original sound many fans know and love, reinventing her electronic and industrial roots. Fans of pop, rock, and techno are all sure to find something to love in this grungy masterpiece. 

Mayhem opens with “Disease”, a classic Lady Gaga electro-pop anthem. After a few opening bars of background vocals, the listener is hit with a powerful synth beat that sets the tone for the entire album and signals that Mother Monster is back and better than ever. 

“Abracadabra”, the second single of the album, exploded in popularity online with fans appreciating its lyrical reminiscence of Gaga’s 2009 track “Bad Romance”. A comment on a promotional TikTok video for the single exclaims “Lady Gaga is singing gibberish again, we’re so back”. With “Abracadabra”, Gaga recycles her own familiar yet unique musical ideas from the past by melding them into something new and refreshing. One listen to “Abracadabra” and you’ll feel like you’re in the club, the building beats and catchy chorus inviting anyone who hears it to get up and dance. 

Gaga reflects upon the turmoil, expectations, and resentment of her fame with rageful “Perfect Celebrity”. Fury is undeniable in her voice as she sings cutting lyrics like “I’m made of plastic like a human doll / You push and pull me, I don’t hurt at all” and “You love to hate me / I’m the perfect celebrity”, spitefully encapsulating the dehumanization endured by those in the music industry. The song flawlessly explores the difficulty of balancing her personal life with her public persona, exemplified by the metaphor of her “clone”, (“I’ve become a notorious being / Find my clone, she’s asleep on the ceilin’”).

One of my personal favorites, “Vanish Into You”, shows a more romantic side of Gaga. The song opens with her singing a capella, and eventually incorporates some soft yet striking piano chords as she jumps right into the chorus, giving listeners a taste of what’s to come. Suddenly, a beat is added, as well as drums, a synthesizer, and bass, and the song grows into a pop-rock masterpiece. Gaga’s raw powerhouse vocals, combined with touching chord progressions and longing lyrics (“Saw your face and mine / In a picture by our bedside… We were happy just to be alive / Can I-I-I-I / Vanish Into You?”) evokes a sense of wistfulness and nostalgia. 

Gaga takes a sharp U-turn with “Killah (featuring Gesaffelstein)”, singing the part of a femme fatale with an intentional and distinctive quiver in her voice. “Killah” incorporates elements of R&B along with techno, proving Gaga’s musical versatility and ability to transcend boundaries. 

Track 9 on Mayhem, “How Bad Do U Want Me”, makes it impossible to sit still. Compared to a Taylor Swift song by fans on the internet, “How Bad Do U Want Me” has it all: a synth beat, a catchy chorus, and an impeccable bridge. With this track, Gaga definitely uses the Swift formula of creating a perfect pop ballad that hooks you in and doesn’t let go. Be warned — if you listen to this song, prepare to be humming it in your head for the rest of the day. 

Mayhem is living proof that familiar doesn’t mean tired; the album transforms a sound that Lady Gaga herself invented years ago into something new and inspired. Almost 20 years after her debut album, Gaga confidently shows the world that she isn’t going anywhere — and after hearing Mayhem, I couldn’t be happier that she’s here to stay.