Lady Gaga stays in character on Harlequin. It’s her companion to Joker: Folie a Deux, inspired by her role as Harley Quinn. But it’s a luxuriant album of jazzy swing, mostly standards, right in her sweet spot.

For those unfamiliar with the project the film picks up following the events of Joker and sees Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) now institutionalized at Arkham awaiting trial for his various crimes. It's during this time that he meets the love of his life, Harley Quinn (Gaga), and with her, the music that's inside of him.

When Joaquin Phoenix reprised his role as the Joker in the new movie sequel about the DC Comics villain he learned that the filmmakers wanted to focus on music in a new way. "They were kind of talking about this musical element,