Katy Perry’s new album is “143.” Credit: Jack Bridgland/Capitol Records via TNS
Pop icon Katy Perry is no stranger to success.
With seven major studio albums and 13 Grammy nominations under her belt, there is no doubt that Perry has enjoyed a prosperous career in a notoriously difficult industry.
Hit songs like “Teenage Dream,” “Firework,” “Last Friday Night” and “California Gurls” earned Perry considerable acclaim in the early 2000s. Simply put, the pop genre would not be the same without Perry.
Despite the wildly successful first half of her career, Perry’s last couple of albums — including her Friday “143” album release — have failed to garner the commercial and critical praise that she once received for almost every release.
Centering on themes of female empowerment and confidence, “143” opens with “Woman’s World,” a bubblegum pop-esque tune that conveys a message of comfort in one’s skin and divine femininity. The lyric, “It’s a woman’s world, and you’re lucky to be living in it,” though meant to empower female listeners, comes off as rather shallow.
This message of empowerment reappears again and again throughout the album, with lyrics like “All my girls look gorgeous. We comin’ out tonight” from “GORGEOUS (feat. Kim Petras)” and “Feminine divine. She was born to shine” sung over synthy backtracks in “Woman’s World.”
The pushing of this theme becomes repetitive to the point of boredom. The message ends up becoming diluted — a shame, considering the importance of Perry’s efforts to empower young women.
Along with its messages of empowerment, “143” also contains recurring themes of love and lust.
The album’s fifth track, titled “Crush,” concentrates on Perry’s feelings while falling in love and how she is “feelin’ all the butterflies, livin’ in a candy daydream.” These light and airy lyrics may have been intended to be refreshing, but instead read as repetitive and vapid.
In addition to redundant lyrics and tired themes, “143” contains multiple unnecessary features from artists including 21 Savage, Doechii, Kim Petras and JID, who do nothing except add to the record’s overall lack of cohesiveness.
Perry attempts to pull at her listeners’ heartstrings by concluding the album with “Wonder,” a track about maintaining childlike innocence. Urging people to stay “wild” and “free,” the lyrics ultimately pose the following question: “When we’re older, will we still look up in wonder?”
The song’s Disney-like lyrics and upbeat synth sound feel almost nauseatingly sappy and only muddle the album’s clarity even more.
Behind the playful lyrics, frilly choruses and constant feminist themes of “143”, a darker reality lies beneath — Perry’s collaboration with celebrity producer and alleged rapist Dr. Luke.
Dr. Luke — whose given name is Lukasz Gottwald — is the owner of Kemosabe Records and the producer behind countless pop classics from artists including Pink, Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus and, most frequently, Perry herself.
Despite enjoying a successful career in the music industry, Gottwald’s reputation will forever be stained by the incredibly serious sexual assault allegations brought against him by singer-songwriter and former collaborator Kesha.
Amid the empowering themes “143” attempts to convey, it is hard to ignore the moral implications of Perry’s continued decision to collaborate with Gottwald.
During a guest appearance on media personality Alexandra Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast, Perry spoke about this controversy.
“I understand that [working with him] started a lot of conversations, and he was one of many collaborators that I collaborated with, Perry said. “But the reality is, it comes from me.”
The evasive nature of Perry’s response has caused many people to speculate about what her true motivations were in the creation of “143.”
Empowering feminist lyrics lose their meaning when it becomes clear that Perry does not respect feminism as much as she claims, considering she willingly chooses to work with people who go against the ideology’s very foundation.
Though “143” desperately strives to achieve the playful vibe that pop fans crave, bland production quality, overused themes, a lack of continuity and a questionable producer partnership seem to take center stage.
Despite Perry’s previous and undeniably important contributions to the pop genre, “143” fails to meet the standard of pop perfection that Perry herself set. The album fails to provide anything of substance, leaving listeners feeling unsatisfied and potentially distrustful of Perry, both as an artist and feminist.
Rating: 2/5
