Katy Perry performs live. PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Michael Keehan
Staff Writer
It’s hard to remember fifteen years ago when Katy Perry was one of various pop stars who ruled the radio. Her three-album run of “One of the Boys,” “Teenage Dream,” and “Prism” brought campy and fun pop music that were the best of their craft.
But while contemporaries like Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift evolved their crafts and continued to stay relevant, Perry faltered. Her albums “Witness” and “Smile” had some enjoyable songs, but nothing managed to recreate her success from the late 2000s and early 2010s. So after Perry concluded a successful residency in Las Vegas and announced she was recording new music, many anticipated a comeback that could bring her to her early heights.
Those hopes came crashing down at the announcement of the album “143” and its executive producer, her old collaborator Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald. Once a renowned pop producer, Dr. Luke’s career came to a halt when he was sued by his client and collaborator Kesha, accusing him of “sexually, physically, verbally and emotionally” abusing her. It led to a nearly ten-year legal battle and Dr. Luke disappearing from the music industry, ending in an out-of-court settlement and Kesha’s exit from his “Kemosabe” record label.
Later in this legal battle, Dr. Luke made a comeback building artists like Kim Petras and Latto and producing number-one hits for Nicki Minaj and Doja Cat, the latter a Kemosabe artist. These hits helped Dr. Luke regain prominence, but they drew a lot of criticism given his past with Kesha and other artists, and brought a lot of controversy towards Perry with the song “Woman’s World.”
The release of the lead single “Woman’s World” was a disaster, as the song made little airplay and was lambasted by critics and pop fans for its shallow lyrics, grating production, and the cruel irony of an accused abuser producing a feminist anthem. The later singles and tracks of the eventual album received similar responses, and my first listen to the album was a mess. The first three tracks, “Woman’s World,” “Gimme Gimme” with 21 Savage; and “Gorgeous” with Kim Petras are some of the worst pop songs I’ve ever heard, with little to no redeeming qualities. Later songs, such as the Crystal Waters-sampling Doechii collab “I’m His, He’s Mine” and house-inspired tracks “Crush” and “Lifetimes,” ranged from excruciating generic to feeling like they would’ve been much stronger ten to fifteen years ago.
However, there are some positive aspects to the album, such as the smooth transitions between tracks and Perry’s vocals on tracks like “All the Love” and “Nirvana.” I also found the JID collab “Artificial” and “Wonder,” the sole track produced by Stargate and not Dr. Luke, to be very enjoyable. Those tracks reminded me of the Teenage Dream tracks “E.T.” and “Firework” respectively, but like the rest of the album, they still feel outdated.
That feels like an issue with the whole album, as Perry seems to regress from the more mature albeit still wonky songwriting of “Witness” and “Smile” to a cheap imitation of her earlier work. I still love Perry’s discography, but this album is far from the comeback she needed. In fact, the album, especially due to Dr. Luke’s heavy involvement, heavily damaged Perry’s reputation and disappointed many of her fans.
Hopefully she learns from this and her future music can get her back on track.