Lady Gaga's "Disease" Music Video Is A Dark, Monstrous Return

Lady Gaga had one big treat for her fans this Halloween. Days after the pop star dropped her upcoming album’s lead single “Disease” on Oct. 25, she released the song’s music video with only a few hours of warning. Gaga announced the video on Oct. 29, confirming it would be unleashed on the world that night alongside a live performance of her collaboration with Bruno Mars, “Die with a Smile.”

“Disease” had already been heralded as Gaga’s return to the gritty electropop that shot her to stardom during her Born This Way era, and the music video leans even deeper into that pitch-black aesthetic. Prior to its release, Gaga teased the vibe with a clip of herself with long, dark hair, running away from a car chasing her down. The single’s cover hinted at the conclusion of the clip, showing Gaga’s body bent over the hood of a vehicle.

Sure enough, the music video lives up to these gory details.

“Disease” serves as the lead single of Lady Gaga’s not-yet-titled seventh studio album. That said, it shouldn’t be confused with the deluge of other music the pop star has released recently. “Die with a Smile” is a standalone collaboration that’s not part of an album, and Gaga said her recently released big-band-inspired album Harlequin is more of an in-between project connected to Joker: Folie á Deux, dubbing it her “6.5” album.

The artistic direction of “Disease” has drawn comparisons to Gaga’s previous work that leaned into horror, particularly “Bloody Mary.” Because of this, fans believe Gaga is resurrecting her Mother Monster persona for this era, a beloved alter ego she has mostly ignored in the past decade.

So get those paws up, little monsters, the album you’ve been waiting for is finally here.