Lady Gaga Whets Our Appetites for Her New Album With Her Latest Spectacle

Lady Gaga has never been one to think small, so it's not too surprising that she has some big plans for the release of her forthcoming album, ARTPOP.

Although the image Gaga released to accompany the album announcement shows the pop star sporting a natural look with hardly any makeup and wavy brown hair, the strangely shaped white mask she's wearing and the ARTPOP tattoo displayed on her wrist clue us in that there's something more unusual and artistic going on.

ARTPOP, which is due November 11, is of course more than just an album. According to the statement released Friday, it "musically mirrors Gaga's creative process as she passes through the medium of each artist she collaborates with, scoring a blueprint on her journey."

The result is "a 'rage' of electronic passion and fury defining each artistic process from beginning to end. ARTPOP could mean anything. But for her, this is a celebration of obsession."

Gaga also revealed that she's working with collaborators on the project, including cutting-edge artist Jeff Koons, fashion photographers Inez & Vinoodh, Robert Wilson, and Serbian performance artist Marina Abramovic (who recently collaborated with Jay-Z).

Little Monsters will be excited to learn that a new a single from Gaga's fourth studio album will drop on August 19, well in advance of the album release date, and that they can pre-order ARTPOP beginning September 1. What's more, the 27-year-old singer (born Stefani Germanotta) will host an evening of "artRave," during which she'll exhibit the art she created with her collaborators.

There will also be a social media component to the album, designed by her technology team at Haus of Gaga, which explores "Gaga's existence as a cultural interface" and allows users to "share in the adrenaline of fame" by building their own projects and interacting with one another.

Yes, the details have been left intentionally vague, but it's just enough to whet our appetites for Lady Gaga's latest spectacle.