For all its ferocity, ‘Mayhem’ isn’t one-note. Gaga finds room in the madness for a few well-timed breather moments – or at least her version of them. Midway through the record, ‘
Killah’ brings a deliciously menacing edge, with French producer Gesaffelstein lending an industrial-grade funk undercurrent that throbs ominously beneath Gaga’s vocals. And just when you think the album will charge ahead indefinitely, along comes ‘
Blade of Grass’, a stripped-back love song that proves even amid the mayhem, Gaga can still hush the room with a genuine emotional gut-punch. Of course, the grandest slow burn is ‘Die with a Smile’, her much-hyped duet with Bruno Mars. Starting as a tender ballad and swelling into a show-stopping finale, complete with Gaga’s powerhouse belt and Mars’ silky tones, it's a dramatic, cinematic moment of euphoria that fits perfectly as the album’s curtain-closer.
