ARTPOP was a misfire and Cheek to Cheek, Lady Gaga’s 2014 collaboration with famed jazz vocalist Tony Bennett, was a niche songbook project that felt below her formerly world-conquering status. Thursday night, Gaga started her return flight to the pop stratosphere with “Perfect Illusion,” her first solo song since 2015’s Grammy- and Oscar-nominated “Till it Happens to You.”
The three-minute single features production from Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, Mark Ronson, and producer BloodPop (who co-produced Justin Bieber’s “Sorry”). The ambitious arena-pop sound is there, as always. But Lady Gaga’s vocals? Swing and a miss. Listen below.
