Lady Gaga Premieres New Single and Music Video, ‘Abracadabra,’ During Grammys Commercial Break

variety.com:

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Lady Gaga debuted a new song during Sunday night’s Grammys ceremony — not in an official performance slot, but during a commercial break, using the spot to officially premiere a new single, the fast-tempo dance track “Abracadabra,” from her upcoming album, “Mayhem.” The mid-Grammys unveiling of the song and its music video had been previously teased — although the actual song title had not — at the same time Gaga revealed last week that the “Mayhem” album would be coming out March 7.

Although the video premiere was not officially part of the Grammys show, Gaga referenced its positioning on the telecast by introducing it with a verbal preface: “The category is… dance or die.” The song did not appear immediately online following its broadcast premiere, but Gaga soon posted on her socials that both the track and the music video would be making it to the web in a matter of minutes, and “Abracadabra” indeed appeared on YouTube and other platforms after about 20 minutes..

There were at least a few Gaga superfans to whom the new song title did not come as a surprise — In the announcement video for ‘Mayhem,’ the word “Abracadabra” appeared in the background.

A press release described the video as portraying “a dance battle between the light and dark sides of Gaga.” Through most of the video, Gaga and her dancers are a frenetic vision in white, though the visual aesthetic — reflecting the lyrical mention of a “lady in red” — occasionally turns crimson, with the singer’s costuming looking thorny enough to draw blood.