"Vanish into You" is a 2025 song by American singer Lady Gaga from her eighth studio album Mayhem (2025). It was the first song that Gaga wrote for the album, alongside Andrew Watt, Henry Walter and Michael Polansky. Gaga, Watt and Walter not only produced the track, but also played its instrumentation. A glam rock, disco and power pop song influenced by the works of David Bowie and ABBA, "Vanish into You" has been described by Gaga as an "apocalyptic love song", with lyrics that explore longing, emotional dependence, and the desire to merge with the memory of a past romance.
"Vanish into You" received positive reviews from music critics, who praised its vocal performance, production, and stylistic ambition, with several outlets naming it among the album's standout tracks. Commercially, it charted in some countries, along with the released of its parent album, such as Brazil, Canada, the United States, and France.
Between 2025 and 2026, Gaga performed "Vanish into You" live during The Art of Personal Chaos, a series of promotional concerts in support of Mayhem, as well as on the Mayhem Ball tour (2025–26), where she walked down from the stage mid-performance to interact with audience members at the barricades. She also performed stripped-down renditions on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and the radio station KCRW.
Background and release
In March 2024, Gaga stated that she was writing "some of the best songs she could remember" and revealed that work on her upcoming album had begun in 2022 while she was on her Chromatica Ball tour (2022).[1][2] In an interview prior to the album's release, she expressed excitement for fans to hear one of the tracks, describing it as featuring "hard-hitting beats" and a blend of "big, sweeping Queen vocals and some Bowie guitars".[3]
On February 18, 2025, the song was officially revealed as "Vanish into You" and listed as the fifth track on the album.[4] In March 2025, during a fan conference organized by Spotify, Gaga revealed that it was the first song she wrote for the album and described it as an "apocalyptic love song".[5] She added, "I imagine that I just want to disappear into the person I love most", a likely reference to her fiancé, Michael Polansky, according to Elle.[5]
Recording and composition
Cirkut contributed to the composition of "Vanish into You"
"Vanish into You" was written by Lady Gaga, Andrew Watt, Henry Walter "Cirkut", and Polansky, and produced by Gaga, Watt, and Cirkut. Gaga performed lead vocals and played keyboards. Watt contributed keyboards, bass, drums, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and percussion, while Cirkut handled keyboards, synthesizers, and drum programming. The song was recorded at Shangri-La in Malibu, California, and The Village Studios in West Los Angeles, California, by Paul Lamalfa, with additional engineering by Marco Sonzini and Tyler Harris. It was mixed by Serban Ghenea, with Bryce Bordone as assistant mixing engineer, and mastered by Randy Merrill.[6]
"Vanish into You" is a glam rock,[7]disco,[8] and power pop song,[9] featuring a four-on-the-floor beat that draws on funk influences.[10]The Independent's Adam White and Pitchfork's Jaeden Pinder stated the track showcases screeching vocals and "pining yelps" from Gaga.[11][12] "Vanish into You" slightly slows down the tempo of Mayhem, when compared to the preceding songs.[13] Lyrically, Gaga reminisces about a past romance, expressing a longing to merge with the memory of that experience.[9] Talia M. Wilson from Riff magazine said the track examines the merging of one's identity with a partner's as a way to shield from emotions.[10]Paper Mag's Justin Moran called it "a discovery of love".[14] Spencer Kornhaber from The Atlantic described the track as portraying innocent, lighthearted romance while also hinting at darker, more dependent emotional undertones.[15]
Both Stephen Daw from Billboard and Jem Aswad from Variety identified influences from David Bowie.[7][16]Variety's Steven J. Horowitz further observed that the song's ascent into its chorus exhibits a tension similar to that found in "Bad Romance" (2009).[17] Likewise, India Block from The London Standard felt it "takes 'Bad Romance' into a major key".[18] Robin Murray from Clash magazine highlighted the "disco-fringed synths recalling ABBA's imperial phase" and the "slight retro touch".[13]Vulture's Kristen S. Hé called it "an ABBA song through and through" with "happy-sad Swedish chords and melodies".[19] Neil Z. Yeung from AllMusic believed the track evokes the style of The Fame, Gaga's 2008 debut album.[20] Some fans pointed out parallels with Gaga's late collaborator Tony Bennett, based on lyrics that evoked some of his best-known songs, including "Blue Moon" (1958) and "For Once in My Life" (1967).[21]
Reception
"Vanish Into You" received mostly positive reviews from music critics, who highlighted it as one of the standout tracks on the album. Stephen Daw of Billboard described the song as a vocal standout on Mayhem, highlighting its mix of chunky guitars, four-on-the-floor rhythms, and the harmonies Gaga layers throughout the chorus, which he said "utilize every inch of her vocal range."[7]Rolling Stone's Richard Burn said, "a career high can be found in the multi-facetted dance funk avant-garde drama" of the song.[22]Slant Magazine's Alex Camp characterized it as "one of the album's most daring songs."[23] Ben Beaumont-Thomas of The Guardian listed it among the album's best tracks, with its "stentorian operatics".[24]The A.V. Club's Drew Gillis highlighted it as one of the album's strongest moments, describing it as a soaring ballad in which Gaga adopts a deliberately melodramatic approach to the melody.[25] Rich Juzwiak of Pitchfork felt Gaga sang the song's verses "with a self-consciously corny swagger", showcasing her flair for theatrical, knowingly exaggerated delivery.[26]
Chris Hedden of Screen Rant wrote that the song is "joyful but carries a wistful feeling, as if the uplift is fading and the transition from summer to fall is approaching," adding that it captures "the difficulty of maintaining happiness amid growing pressure" and calling "Vanish into You" "a good one indeed."[27] On NPR Music, Hazel Cills praised the song, stating that it reflects Gaga's confidence in her own artistic formula and her ability to "pull it off quite confidently."[28] Adam White of The Independent felt the track is "produced a little haphazardly – 'raw' doesn’t need to mean vaguely unpleasant."[11] Ludovic Hunter-Tilney of Financial Times saw "Vanish into You" as a weak point, calling its emotions generic and comparing Gaga's delivery to a Coldplay-style anthem, implying it feels derivative.[29]
Variety included "Vanish into You" on its list of the best songs of 2025, describing it as a track that combines the emotional pull of a ballad with the singalong appeal of a dancefloor anthem, and noting that Gaga "gave listeners a glimpse of the former before fully embracing the latter."[30]Paste ranked it at number 39 on its list of the best songs of 2025, with Matt Mitchell praising it as a confident and energetic pop track, highlighting its high-pitched chorus, polished production, and upbeat tone, which he described as among Gaga's most joyful performances in over a decade.[31] Reception of the song among general listeners was also largely positive; fans voted "Vanish into You" as their favorite song from Mayhem in a poll conducted by Billboard.[32]
Commercial performance
During the release week of Mayhem, "Vanish into You" entered the Billboard Global 200 at number 38. It was one of twelve tracks from the album to appear on the chart, ranking as the fourth highest-charting track among them.[33] In the United States, the song debuted at number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number four on the Hot Dance/Pop Songs chart.[34][35] On the latter chart, Gaga simultaneously placed nine songs from the album, with "Vanish into You" ranking as the third highest-positioned track.[36] In Canada, it entered the Canadian Hot 100 at number 53,[37] while in Brazil it reached number 28 on the Brasil Hot 100.[38]
Gaga performing "Vanish into You" at The Mayhem Ball tour in 2025
Gaga first performed "Vanish into You" live during her 2025 promotional concerts for Mayhem, which included a headlining appearance at Coachella. During the song, she leapt down from the stage and moved toward the barricade, where she greeted fans, accepted bouquets, and signed autographs.[46][47][48] She dedicated the performance to her "superfans".[49] The song featured in the setlist of Gaga's subsequent Mayhem Ball tour (2025–2026) as the closer for the penultimate act, where she again left the stage to interact with the audience, after starting the performance on piano.[50][51] She was wearing a black hooded cloak for the segment, inspired by The Phantom of the Opera, according to Deadline Hollywood.[52]
On May 13, 2025, Gaga performed "Vanish into You" during a five-song set at the YouTube Brandcast event, held at the Geffen Hall in New York City.[53] On September 8, 2025, she sang it on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, delivering a stripped-down rendition. She was accompanied by two guitarists — one electric and one acoustic — while sitting in a black dress behind the piano, which she started playing with the second verse.[54][55] The projections behind Gaga alternated between black-and-white close-ups of her performing and dramatic images of stormy, cloud-filled skies.[55] Both Consequence and Billboard described the performance as "mesmerizing", with Billboard's Gil Kaufman noting that the song was rearranged into a stripped-down ballad and highlighting Gaga's emotionally expressive delivery of the lyrics.[55][56]
On October 3, 2025, Gaga performed "Vanish into You" on piano at Santa Monica, California's radio station KCRW.[57] On January 14, 2026, she sang it at Mayhem: Requiem, a one-off concert, held at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles.[58]
12"Top Singles (Week 11, 2025)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the original on March 18, 2025. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
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