![]() These are big-production tracks primed for maximum drama-shrieking electro violins, skittering beats, flecks of dubstep and disco-but the clumsy lyrics hamper any emotional payoff.Ĭlichés are practically baked into Perry’s brand, but when she deploys them as cutesy callbacks to her past songs, they present more evidence that she hasn’t really grown. “It’s no funeral we’re attending,” she scoffs on “Not the End of the World.” There’s a song about postponing crying to go out and dance there’s a separate track about dancing while crying. The relentless spangle on Smile can seem jarring as Perry attempts to both nod to and avoid the pandemic-shaped elephant in the room. “They tell me that I’m crazy, but I’ll never let them change me!” she sing-shouts on “Daisies,” as limp EDM beats fill the background. The confessions on this album feel like calculated dodges, every tepid disclosure immediately followed by triumph. ![]() We were meant to connect the dots between parceled honesty and political stances, between an oddball “diss track” against Taylor Swift and a broad stance on female empowerment. “I’ll never understand, because of who I am,” she murmured. The camera panned to a flickering display of the album cover. In one clip, she sat cross-legged on an immaculate white couch and apologized for her history of cultural appropriation. She jammed the album with whomping bass and assertions that a woman could be both “feminine and soft,” “a babydoll with a briefcase,” and promoted it with a 72-hour livestream, therapy session and all, staking her activism on the idea that all vulnerability is radical. She performed the lead single at the Grammys wearing a pink rhinestone PERSIST armband as an image of the Constitution rose behind her. “Put your rose-colored glasses on, and party on,” she cooed on 2017’s Witness, an album of what she called “ purposeful pop,” designed to yank the listener into a newfound social consciousness. Pop music, and Katy Perry in particular, have used this tactic before. ![]() These songs wink at global devastation the same way commercials for online car dealerships and door-delivered Chick-fil-A do-in these challenging times, convenience and the power of positivity will get us through.
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