Lady Gaga Brings Fans Closer to 'Joanne' With Country-Inspired Track "A-YO"

Lady Gaga brings us one step closer to the release of her fifth album, Joanne, with the project's third track, "A-YO." The country-twanged track was co-produced by Gaga, Mark Ronson, and BloodPop, who wrote the song with experienced country songwriter, Hillary Lindsey

She first performed the song in full during the debut set of her ongoing Dive Bar Tour in Nashville earlier this month, where she also performed previously released Joanne tracks, "Perfect Illusion," and "Million Reasons," the latter of which was also produced by Mark Ronson, BloodPop, and Hillary Lindsey.

It's clear Gaga's new songs are a stark contrast from some of her previous releases, including her 2013 studio album, Artpop. "It isn't to say that none of what I did before was not me, because it’s all me," Gaga told T Magazine in an interview. "These were all my fantasy collages of the different parts of myself; how and where I felt safe at that time; an expression of the things I'm able to say now in a more clear and concise, simple way." ​

The song played Tuesday as Zane Lowe's World Record on Beats 1 and Gaga's sit-down with the Apple Music radio host will air this Thursday where they will cover topics ranging from quitting smoking and getting sober to how social media is a perfect illusion.

Listen to the studio version of "A-YO" and watch Gaga's live performance of the track below before her new album, Joanne, arrives this Friday, Oct. 21. You an also check out a sneak of Gaga's interview on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 airing Thursday below.