Lady Gaga is again in full command of her music

Lady Gaga may have lately made some missteps in her acting career. Just think of the triumph of “A Star of Born,” which gave her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and an Oscar for Shallow as Best Song.

But then, it was followed by “Joker: Folie a Deux” with Joaquin Phoenix and “House of Gucci” with Al Pacino and Adam Driver. Both were big-budgeted, star-driven vehicles that lamentably tanked at the box office.

That, however, cannot be said about her music outings. Not totally though. There was the jazzy Harlequin, a sort of soundtrack for “Joker: Folie a Deux,” which only entered the hit charts in the lower rungs. Well, given its companion piece, I guess that can be forgiven and allowed to rest hopefully in anonymity.

Mayhem though is something else. Released only a few days ago, Lady Gaga’s latest album sees the pop diva harking back to her roots. That means this is an album of gothic, electronic dance, very dark pop sounds with her most personal lyrics in a long time, most notably about her struggle with the demands of celebrity.

Reception was hot with reviews saying that the old Gaga is back, closer to her early hits but still as creative as ever.

Disease, the first single release has Lady Gaga melding genres and growling her way through the song’s infectious chorus. Echoes of Bad Romance in this one.

This was followed by Abracadabra, a synth-pop dance track that became a global hit. Think New Wave, disco and total abandon on the dance floor in one gorgeous hypnotic package. Needless to say, Abracadabra sent expectations about Mayhem up to fever pitch.

And then there came Die with a Smile, a surprise duet with Bruno Mars that went to No. 1. Sigh! Sigh! It is a love song about an unexpected subject, death, but a happy one because it will be dying with the person one loves. Makes me wonder how The Gaga and Bruno came up with that subject for a song but everybody loved it.

The recording was named Best Performance by a Pop Duo or Group at the 67th Grammy Awards. It is still sitting at No. 2 in the Hot 100 hit list after 30 weeks.

By this time, nobody cared anymore how the other songs in Mayhem would sound. Disease, Abracadabra and Die with a Smile were already enough reasons to buy the album. Mayhem did not disappoint. It is surely one of Lady Gaga’s best albums ever.

Whether she is channeling Depeche Mode in How Bad Do U Want Me?, taking on synth-pop with Vanish into You, rocking hard with the ballad LoveDrug or going sweetly romantic with a Blade of Grass as her wedding ring, Lady Gaga is again in full command of her music and confident of what she wants to say.

Hard to pick a next single. I sort of like Blade of Grass very much and it might make a good follow-up to Die with a Smile. Anyway, each of the rest is extraordinarily great. But who wants one. Single or no single, Lady Gaga’s fans are still listening hard and loving every bit of Mayhem, which is now the No. 1 selling album in the Billboard 200.

Also selling great are the albums GNX by Kendrick Lamar; $ome$exy$ongs 4 U by Party Next Door and Drake; SOS by SZA; So Close to What by Tate McRae; Short n’ Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter; Ruby by JENNIE; Debi Tirar Mas Fotos by Bad Bunny; One Thing at a Time by Morgan Wallen; and The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess by Chappell Roan.