Mother Monster is Mother-ing again. Lady Gaga’s seventh solo studio album “Mayhem” — which was released to the delight of Little Monsters everywhere on Friday — returns the 38-year-old diva to the dance-in-the-dark moves of her early career.

Her new album is a work of self-citation, rummaging around in Gaga’s own past for inspiration. It’s also, somehow, the freshest collection of songs she has released in years.