The era of Lady Gaga's "Perfect Illusion" is coming into focus, thanks to an interview with Elvis Duran of New York's Z100 this morning (September 12).

Gaga, who's worked with Mark Ronson on arranging and writing her forthcoming fifth studio album (she's headed into the studio with him tonight to finish a few tracks), said LG5 is very close to release. She's particularly proud of collaborations with Father John Misty, Beck and Florence Welch.

Moreover, Gaga officially revealed her collaboration with Welch is called "Hey Girl," and shared a good chunk of its let's-lift-each-other-up lyrics. She first teased her collaboration with Welch during a September 9 BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show interview, noting Welch is "one of the best singers in the world."

"The lyrics of it in the beginning, I say 'Hey girl, can you hear me? / Are you holding out your heart?'" Gaga told Duran. "And then she sings to me 'Hey girl, do you feel me? / Sometimes I go too far.' And I say 'Hey girl, it ain't easy / I know it's pulling me apart / Hey girl, don't you leave me / Hey girl, don't you leave me / Hey girl, hey girl, we can make it easy if we lift each other / We don't need to keep on one-upping one another.'"

Gaga, who couldn't say enough good things about the song, insisted its beauty came from organic music making that could have only been produced with face-to-face interaction. She said her biggest pet peeve is when artists try to contrive collaborations through email, or arrange co-authored work without ever actually being in a room together.

"If you don't meet in the room and look each other in the eye..." she said. "Florence and I, when we were working together, we cried, we laughed, we hugged each other...I don't feel you can write a song with lyrics that you really capture the relationship between two people unless you have a real human connection."

And though "Perfect Illusion" is no doubt a departure from Gaga's 2013 Artpopshe insisted it's the result of her commitment to her own vision. It's important as an artist to adapt, she said, but only on your own terms, and only when you feel it's sincere.

"You've gotta be the artist of your own life," she said. "I've definitely learned that lesson because I put things out into the world all the time...What I think an artist needs essentially more than discipline or even talent is a perspective. If you are always changing what you do based on what people say, you completely lose yourself.

"Do be a chameleon, don't let other people's opinions of you throughout every day of your life change your actions," she added.

Listen to the full interview and share your thoughts in the comments.

See all of Lady Gaga's Single and Album Covers Side by Side:

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