After beginning 2013 underneath a dark cloud ultimately resulting in the cancellation of several tour dates followed by surgery and intensive physical therapy, Lady Gaga has finally arisen looking like she’s vowed to make up for lost time. New details are beginning to emerge on a weekly basis about her forthcoming album ARTPOP, interactive app, new single and music video.

Lady Gaga is set to release new music for the first time in over two years on August 19^th. “Applause” will be Mother Monster’s first single from her highly anticipated upcoming multimedia epic, scheduled to drop in November. She recently unveiled the cover art of her soon to be released new single (above) showing the performance artist with mime-like multicolored makeup smeared across whiteface. The lead single is reportedly an upbeat track “full of happiness” and judging from the lyrics teased so far (“I stand here waiting for you to bang the gong/To crash the critic saying is it right or is it wrong/Give me that thing that I love/Put your hands up make ’em touch”), that description sounds accurate.

During a recent interview with Women’s Wear Daily, Gaga confessed “I had broken my hip. Nobody knew, but when we got all the MRIs finished before I went to surgery there were giant craters, a hole in my hip the size of a quarter, and the cartilage was just hanging out the other side. I had a tear on the inside of my joint and a huge breakage. The surgeon told me that if I had done another show I might have needed a full hip replacement. I would have been out at least a year, maybe longer.”

“Applause” will be released simultaneously with an accompanying music video (directed by Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin), followed by its debut live performance at MTV’s Video Music Awards on August 25^th.

ARTPOP promises to be an immersive multimedia release, which Gaga describes as “a musical and visual engineering system that combines music, art, fashion and technology.” Co-produced by Gaga with Zedd, DJ White Shadow, Dallas Austin, RedOne, and Fernando Garibay, ARTPOP is scheduled to be released worldwide on November 11th.