![]() ![]() What does Perry have to say? That we’re all 'trapped in our white picket fence/ Like ornaments.' Never mind that white picket fences are rarely seen today and went out of style long before Perry was born." – Consequence of Soundĥ. It’s a trick Beyoncé has perfected, but Beyoncé’s targets are hyper-specific. ![]() 'Chained to the Rhythm' is an attempt to sneak some social satire into a club thumper. "Perry has replaced the eye of the tiger with the heart of a contemporary night owl, making an album of mostly moody, dreamy, reserved music – and one double-entendre-filled, AC/DC-ready food fight in 'Bon Appetit.' In turn, a pop icon blends into the rest of the radio… A brassy voice that once held long notes and sang lines like 'I am a champion' is now devoured in effects and reverb, rarely reaching the excited joy of punkier electronic-poppers like Robyn, Charli XCX or even recent singles from Lorde." – Rolling StoneĤ. Play icon The triangle icon that indicates to playģ. "But Witness, whose singles keep stalling out like Trump’s travel ban, diagnoses only Perry’s desperation for a hit… 'Hey Hey Hey' plays like a weak attempt to duplicate the success of her uplifting 2013 smash 'Roar,' this time with a paper-thin tune and clunky words about being 'Marilyn Monroe in a monster truck.'" – The Los Angeles Times Every track sounds vaguely similar (aphoristic lyrics, sultry synths, the occasional musical instrument, an even more affirmative chorus) but is totally self-contained… Hearing Perry croon about how open and real she is after listening to more than an hour of highly impersonal pop is an insult to the intelligence of anyone who bothers to buy this albu m." – The Daily BeastĢ. ![]() In fact, listening to this entire album at once-which is clearly not the way it was designed to be consumed-will make you feel like you are going insane. "In the age of the pop single, Witness isn’t singular in the fact that it should not be listened to in one sitting. Not all critics have been kind to the effort, which has been plagued with plenty of distractions since Katy announced she was entering an era of “ purposeful pop.” I’ll let the experts take it from here:ġ. Shoe scandal notwithstanding, this year marks the least gaffe-iest Katy Perry news cycle in a long time.Katy Perry’s fifth studio album Witness is now a reality, officially arriving in stores and online on Friday. The only thing holding it back is the production, which lands too close to the plodding 16th notes of middle-decade hits like Taylor Swift’s “Style” and “Out of the Woods.” (Remember when Taylor Swift delivered 1989 to streaming services on the exact night of Witness’s release!?) That’s par for the course when you pillage a two-year-old single for melodies. The post-breakup reckoning of the new single goes for the same. Her most successful singles - “Roar,” “Firework,” “Teenage Dream,” and the like - all go for broke with soaring vocals and endearing messages about how to find happiness. ![]() “Never Really Over” is a slight return to the motivational fare Katy Perry’s best at. She keeps the staccato phrasings of the original song but delivers a more confident and challenging vocal, skipping across high notes where Dagny seemed to strain on them. The song uses Norwegian pop singer Dagny’s 2017 single “Love You Like That” as a launchpad, giving Perry a good platform over which to work her magic. The follow-up collaboration between Katy and Zedd, her new solo single “Never Really Over,” keeps the streak. The Zedd team-up “365” sold its quirky robot-wife video premise alongside some of the singer’s most infectious melodies in years. Her hook for the Calvin Harris and Pharrell single “Feels” was understated and effortless. The SoCal singer has been dialing it back ever since then. The great Witness records - see: “Hey Hey Hey,” “Pendulum,” and “Tsunami” - deserved better than being packaged in the middle of that spectacle. It’s a shame that the lasting images from that period are the clip of Perry dancing painfully awkwardly with the Migos on a buffet table, playing “Bon Appétit” on SNL, and snapshots of her looking spent on the stream that have since been memed. Katy Perry’s Witness era was an extended exercise in a pop star doing the absolute most, from the hammy woke messaging of the lead single “Chained to the Rhythm” to the 72-hour YouTube livestream, where the singer staged public advice and therapy sessions, right on down to the televised performances. ![]()
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