As the only staunch defender of Born This Way, as messy and unpredictable an album as any released by a pop star in recent years, I came into “Aura,” the first single from Lady Gaga‘s ARTPOP, expecting to have to explain myself all over again. Then I actually listened to it, and now I’m speechless. Have a listen.
Yes, it’s a demo. Yes, it could sound completely different in its final version. Yes, it deserves to be appreciated for wandering off the slick and shallow and monotonous path that current-day FM radio has depressingly laid out. But I can’t. “I’m not a wandering slave/I am a woman of choice.” The Autotune. The EDM. The fake British voice. The hook that sounds an awful lot like the one heard in “Ray of Light.” The paranormal nonsense of auras and cosmic lovers. The robotic “dance, sex, art, pop” section. It’s a stuffed, off-putting mess; Lady Gaga is trying be EVERYTHING, to cram 17 styles into one song, that “Aura” sounds like nothing.
(Via)
