The ever-evolving Lady Gaga may be making her foray into hard rock.
Gaga's new club-ready, catchy but generic sounding hit "Applause" may not be indicative of her other new songs, which she will perform at the Itunes Festival in London on September 1.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Gaga was filmed rehearsing her two new songs off her album ARTPOP, which will be released in November. The two songs, called "Swine" and "Manicure" are tunes with cool names that have cool beats to back them up. If the rehearsal performances are any indication of the songs' styles, they are infinitely more rock 'n' roll than her recent hit single.
In the rehearsal video for "Swine," Gaga is seen in a shockingly normal outfit, crazily head-banging while switching off playing the keyboard and jamming on drums. The beat seems a lot heavier than the pop star's usual fare, and is refreshingly more rock than the other songs on the album.
Although it does seem to have a synthesized, clubby back beat, its heavier rhythm coupled with Gaga screaming out lyrics gives it a definitive rock feel.
Watch below to hear a bit of "Swine":
Next, take a listen to "Manicure," a Joan Jett-esque song that sounds like it was inspired by 1970s female rock anthems.
After "Applause" has completely saturated the airwaves (which is quickly happening), Gaga may release one, if not both, of these new, harder-edged songs.
Gaga's "Applause" has been doing well on the charts, especially after her mildly surprising Video Music Awards Performance. Gaga's signature weirdness was definitely represented in her performance, as she opened the show in a white nun's outfit with a geometric habit, only to rip it off to reveal a skimpy black outfit that was later befitted with numerous costumes. Although the end of her performance initially shocked viewers when she changed into nearly nothing (a seashell bra and thong), Gaga's expected bizarreness was overshadowed by Miley Cyrus' unexpectedly lewd performance with Robin Thicke.
Gaga has also seemed somewhat desperate as of late to bring "Applause" up the charts, despite its good showing. Gaga implored fans personally via Twitter to buy multiple copies of the single and artificially increase its video views, which some, like an editor at Billboard, found to be in bad taste. Regardless, "Applause" is definitely doing well, as is Gaga's overall comeback.
Considering how the Mother Monster's new singles sound, a welcome new style of Gaga may be dominating the airwaves for quite some time.