Pop’s been sad for a while. Ever since the bells tolled for optimism in Lana’s “Video Games” back in 2012, the world has grown increasingly dark in tone, and the charts have responded by sitting in their sweatpants with a bucket of ice cream whispering about how pretty it looks when it cries. Billie Eilish, Lorde, and even Taylor Swift have all brought minimalist, sultry pop to the mainstream, and the trend shows no sign of slowing down. But see Lady Gaga? She’s not having it. Her comeback single, “Stupid Love,” released four years after her last solo studio album and two years after A Star is Born, is a relentlessly colourful throwback to the days when pop music was meant to make you happy.
At first you might think that the track, with its propulsive chainsaw bass and electro-drums, is just another one of the 80’s nostalgia-fests that have been everywhere in pop culture recently. It’s true that the layered synth production and dance-with-me-girls video could be thrown into the background of Stranger Things scene, but Gaga modernises her influences with a chipmunk-vocal chop-up that introduces the song and then slams back into life every time the chorus hits. It’s a triumphant little melody that was born to be blared out over heavy keyboards, cries of “I want your stupid love!”, and an unapologetic wall of sound. Woe betide those who don’t like it, too, because it already sounds destined to be played without interruption on radios all around the world. Around this hook, the song sticks to an unindulgent verse/chorus structure that keeps the energy tight, and what it lacks in an interesting outro, it makes up for in its simplicity, preferring to just disappear than waste a single second of your time. Gaga’s vocals squeeze as much passion as they can from the 3:14 runtime, and all in all, for someone who could have been forgiven for a more “epic” Comeback Single ™, Gaga has kept it fresh and likeable with the no-nonsense fun of “Stupid Love.”
Only time will tell if the mega-star’s new album Chromatica, released on the 10th of April, will live up to the legacy of her previous blockbuster efforts. There is a sci-fi look and talk of a climate change concept which doesn’t seem to fit the joyous romp of the lead single, but what is known is that “Stupid Love” is a triumphant return, one that sits her right back on her throne as the Queen of Undeniably Fun Pop Tunes. What she says in the first verse is a lyric that sums up the appeal of the track, and could even fly as an arrow aimed at the reigning dynasty of sad-pop: “Gotta quit this crying, nobody’s gonna heal me if I don’t open the door”.
STUPID LOVE by LADY GAGA: 8/10
By Steven Bailey
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Wasn’t Gaga’s last studio album Joanne from 2016?