Oh, we are back back. Tonight, Lady Gaga released the highly-anticipated music video for “Disease,” the newest single off LG7—her forthcoming seventh studio album. And boy did Mother Monster deliver: Gaga served up a twisted fashion fantasy that was equal parts glamorous and grotesque, harking back to the dark-pop era aesthetic she channeled during The Fame Monster era more than a decade ago. But let’s get into the video, shall we?
Sharing her inspiration for the track on her Instagram Stories earlier today, Gaga shared that “Disease” is a song about grappling with your own demons and illnesses. “I think a lot about the relationship I have with my own inner demons. It’s never been easy for me to face how I get seduced by chaos and turmoil,” Gaga wrote. “Disease is about facing that fear, facing myself and my inner darkness, and realizing that sometimes I can’t win or escape the parts of myself that scare me.” The video, then, served as a continuation of this idea—with Gaga facing off against various ghoulish versions of herself, a battle of the evil-versus-the eviler.
Of course, this being a Gaga video, her macabre costumes (styled by Peri Rosenzweig and Nick Royal) had to be avant-garde—and completely fabulous. If her eerie wardrobe is a disease, we simply do not want the cure. Playing a masked villain of sorts, Gaga emerges wearing a zippered gimp mask with a long, black silk-taffeta gown from Charles de Vilmorin, reports La Maison Gaga, and a ruffled Comme des Garçons coat; She runs over herself wearing a sweet floral-print nightgown (it’s vintage), as though she is preying on a sweeter, more innocent version of herself.
Later in the video, she walks all over her own body double—literally, with both bodies clothed in minimalist white crop tops and briefs. Next she grapples with herself yet again, this time as the walls close in on her while wearing a dip-dyed ombré mesh dress that, again, toys between the light and the dark. That’s the genius of Gaga, isn’t it? Everything she wears is intentional and s nod back to the lyrics. Now, Little Monsters, join me and put your paws up—because this is one of the best videos of the year.
