You Didn't Expect Lady Gaga To Make A Quiet Comeback, Did You?

Lady Gaga takes a stroll through LA with paint all over her face - in the name of art, and self-promotion, of course

Lady Gaga's comeback campaign is in full swing, and yesterday the singer arrived for an interview in LA with a face full of paint.

Gaga had decided to recreate the artwork from her new album ARTPOP for her interview on The Ryan Seacrest Show. Wearing a full-length black dress by Saint Laurent, a nose ring and half a shaved head, Lady Gaga was in full self-promotion mode.

A few days earlier the singer had posted a naked photo of herself on Instagram to celebrate the first radio play of her new single, Applause.

Gaga was forced to release the song early because hackers had begun to leak the single, much to the star's annoyance.

She wrote (in shouty capitals): 'DUE TO HACKERS AN ABUNDANCE OF LOW/HIGH QUALITY LEAKS...WE ISSUE THIS POP MUSIC EMERGENCY...MONSTERS SPREAD THE WORD. MY NEW SINGLE 'APPLAUSE' IS OUT TODAY AND CAN BE HEARD ON UNITED STATES RADIO IN 15 MINUTES. INTERNATIONAL RADIO TO FOLLOW. POP MUSIC EMERGENCY. MY NEW SINGLE COMES OUT TODAY. 911 SPREAD THIS MESSAGE.'

Applause, the singer's first new material since 2011, was originally scheduled for release on 19 August.

The single has received pretty good reviews so far, with Rolling Stone saying: 'Applause is all bouncy disco and simple messages,' while Billboard said it was 'built around pulsating synthesizers and morphs into a thrilling dance cut when it circles back to its chorus'.

Lady Gaga will give the first performance of the single at the MTV Awards on 25 August. Her third album, ARTPOP, will be released in November.

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