As Lady Gaga wrapped up her third film – the upcoming sequel to Joker – Slide for two – She realized she wasn’t ready to move on from her character Harleen “Lee” Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn. “I had such a deep relationship with Lee,” she says Rolling Stone. “And when I finished shooting the movie, I wasn’t done with her yet.”

The superstar recorded with the help of her fiancé Michael Polansky harlequina companion disc to the film, containing mostly brilliant renditions of standards – the first since the death of her collaborator Tony Bennett. On 13 tracks she interprets classics such as “Get Happy” (made famous by Judy Garland) and “That’s Life” (Frank Sinatra) and at the same time gives them a modern touch. Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler’s 1932 song “I’ve Got the World on a String” is transformed into a seductive rocker – ideal for introducing to younger generations. Gaga spoke to us about it on a Zoom call from London harlequindefies genres and what fans can expect on her upcoming pop album.

What were your goals with this album?
We decided to create an album that celebrated her complexity through the lens of much of the music in the film as well as originals and touched on the full spectrum of her as a woman – her darkness, her chaos, her vibrancy, her manic nature – and created one modern interpretation of vintage pop.

They describe the album as “LG 6.5”. Do you consider this more of a Harley album or just a Gaga album?
I actually look at it as both. That’s how I see it all. It’s my record. It’s a Lady Gaga record, but it’s also inspired by my character and my vision of what a woman can be. That’s why the album doesn’t stick to one genre. I called it “6.5” because it’s not my next studio album that’s a pop record, but it’s somewhere in between and blurs the boundaries of pop music. As you know, my collaborator Tony Bennett, who is no longer living, sang this music as a young man. It was just pop music. And I found it so interesting, the songs that were chosen to make this film. I wanted to explore from their perspective what this music could mean today.

You described it joker as metamodern, and that you can’t really assign it to a genre. That’s how I see this album too. Jazz is the focus, but there are so many different sounds.
Thank you very much. I would say that this metamodernism actually played a real role in how we approached it in the studio. I co-produced this album with Ben Rice. Michael also had a very big hand in music. We’ve talked a lot about how she’s someone you can’t sort out because she’s too unpredictable and rare. (We) used the genre to express that something is rare – by not sticking to one and pushing heavily into the avant-garde. Basically I’m saying, “As a woman, I choose to be whatever and whoever I want to be at any given time, no matter how I feel.” And no matter what you want from me, I will be myself. Thank you very much. All the best, Harlequin” (laughs).

During filming you basically had to unlearn how to sing and tone down your technique. What’s here? Were you just going gaga and not holding back?
I did both on this record. There are moments where I definitely pick up on Lee’s voice and her childlike immaturity when she sings. She has this naivety. Imagine that she has heard the song twice and is humming alone because she feels uncomfortable and wants to calm down. That made it there. For example, the beginning of “That’s Entertainment” almost sounds like a 13-year-old at a school play. In the context of a 38-year-old woman, that’s kind of disturbing. But then “That’s Entertainment” begins with a much softer vocal that is extremely nostalgic. And I worked on that too.

Vocally, I played with using my voice in a way that I had never used with Tony either. So that was part of Lee’s voice and a new voice for me with some of the more jazz-inspired records. And then explore – how would I sing about surf punk? How would I sing along to a waltz? How could we create a version of “Smile” that is inherent in the film? And then on “Happy Mistake” there’s this raw fragility that’s very Gaga, but also maybe me singing on a record in a way that I’ve never done before. So I would say that the album is so cross-genre that so is the vocals. The singing is kind of schizophrenic, but that makes sense for Harley Quinn. And that was part of the joy of making it – the freedom of it all.

This is the first time you’ve recorded standards without Tony. Was he even on your mind? I’m sure it was emotional.
Yes. This was my first time without Tony, and it probably wasn’t as emotional as you think. It wasn’t sad. It was actually like he was with us the whole time. And funnily enough, I don’t know how he would have felt if I had put rock ‘n’ roll chords over production on a record I made with Tony years ago. Tony didn’t love rock ‘n’ roll. But he would have said, “Wow, that’s amazing.” He was someone who loved how risk-taking and different I was, and I always thought that was so cool. He was 60 years older than me and flinched less than the young people I would meet. People who would ask, “Why is she dressed like that?” Why does she sing like that? Why is her stage performance so theatrical?” Tony, he just didn’t even bat an eyelid. He was just a really compassionate, inclusive person. So he was definitely with us (in the studio), but for the most part he was inside me.

As a producer and singer, I feel like I’ve earned the ability to navigate this music. And that was exciting for me because I also like to share that with young people who hear these songs. Some of these songs date back to the 1930s. It’s nice to be able to show how these things can be reinterpreted beyond just the notes and writing style. Rather…what if you just ripped up the book, set it on fire, and did it in a completely new way? I wanted it to be fun.

It will be really nice to listen to the record at home. I would like to prepare a nice meal with it.
I always say: Michael and I are here for all your crazy dinner parties.

Her pop album will be released in February. Can you tell me how it’s different? Chromaticaand what can fans expect?
The pop album is nothing like that Chromatica. It’s a completely different record. I don’t know if I’m even ready to talk about it yet, but I know it’s coming out soon and I will. What I would say is, it’s all for me. It should be taken as a time in my life. And I’m also really excited about the idea that I don’t have to stick to an era if I don’t want to. I can have a few at a time. This feels unhinged (laughs) and more like me or Harley. Or whoever.