Albums : Katy Perry : Prism
Albums : Katy Perry : Prism
Listen To Katy Perry : Prism
Singer Katy Perry has shed her cotton-candy pop image and reveals a vulnerability and maturity on her new album "Prism," which she said reflects changes in both her personal life and her music.
"Prism," released on Tuesday, is Perry's fourth studio album and the follow-up to 2010's phenomenally successful "Teenage Dream." It is also the first album since the 28-year-old singer split with her husband, British comedian Russell Brand, in December 2011.
"I went through a lot of experiences in my life that I think built more character. I had to find own self identity the hard way. But I did. I came out alive and stronger, a little bit stronger," Perry said in an interview.
From "By the Grace of God," the first and darkest song on the album, to the empowering lead single "Roar," or "Birthday," a rousing, catchy dance tune, Perry said each song tells a story.
"I think what 'Prism' is, is an evolution and a maturity," she said. "I think you can hear growth as a songwriter. I hope you can hear the growth as a person."
"Teenage Dream" produced five No. 1 singles, making it only the second album after Michael Jackson's "Bad" to achieve that milestone, and the first by a female artist. It also sold 5.7 million copies worldwide.
But Perry made it clear she was in a new place with "Prism," with early teasers showing her burning the blue wig she wore in the music video for her hit single "California Girls" and holding a mock funeral for her peppermint swirl outfit.
"I'm into different things," she said. "It is my most present album so far. I think I am living very consciously right now. I think I am very aware, more aware than I have ever been."
HAVING FUN, TAKING CHANCES
Perry reunited with music producers and songwriters Max Martin, Dr. Luke and Cirkut for "Prism." Most of the 13 tracks, all co-written by Perry, were recorded in San Diego, or with Martin and record producer and songwriter Klas Ahlund in Stockholm, where club anthem "Walking on Air" and the hip-hop tinged "This is How We Do" were both made.
The personal ballad "By the Grace of God," co-written with Greg Wells, reflects where Perry was emotionally late last year, the "stuff" she was working through and the blow to her self confidence.
"It had really gotten to me and I wrote this song out of a very sad place. I was hearing these negative thoughts and battling these negative thoughts," she said.
Since splitting with Brand, Perry has moved on in her personal life and is dating singer-songwriter John Mayer.
Although she had initially expected to make a darker, more acoustic record, Perry said the opposite happened and she became much more upbeat, which is reflected in the album's title.
"I let a lot of light in my life during the spring of this year, which is when I made most of the record and it influenced my songs in a very positive way," she said. "All these beautiful colors of light and love came out and hope and joy and even just fun party songs."
"Unconditionally," the second single and Perry's favorite song on the album, is a big, soaring ballad with a heavy drum tribal influence. Its lyrics speak about an all-accepting love.
Perry wrote "Roar," a thumping pop tune and her 10th No.1 Top 40 track, after becoming complacent in a relationship and not speaking up for herself.
"Double Rainbow," a collaboration with producer Greg Kurstin and songwriter Sia, is about finding someone and a rare, magical moment.
"You can tell I am having fun and taking chances, musically with the different textures that I am showing in the songs," said Perry. "I'm painting with more colors this time. I think people can adopt certain anthems for the messages or they can make them their own."
Prism Review
There are a lot of cynical things you could say about Katy Perry that wouldn’t be entirely inaccurate: that her biggest and best songs often succeed because of a steadfast refusal to cater to anyone other than the lowest common denominator; that she’s shown a bandwagoner’s approach to her musical career, chasing trends instead of establishing them; that her greatest successes have come from shouting what are essentially emotional platitudes from the highest of mountaintops. But, what that cynicism ignores is the most basic of things: Katy Perry singles are really, really good pop songs.
Perry’s last album was Teenage Dream, which featured six tracks that charted in the Billboard Top 10, including five (five!) number ones: “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)”, “Teenage Dream”, “California Gurls”, “Firework”, and “E.T.”, all of which are songs you’ve cranked in your car and have sung along with at the top of your lungs. It was the kind of pop album that often defines a career and becomes a filter through which to view the rest of the artist’s work, like *NSYNC’s No Strings Attached or Britney Spears’ Blackout. It was enormous, with 3D IMAX-sized choruses that succeeded even when they failed (the hilariously awkward remix of “E.T.” still hit #1 on the charts).
Three years later, with the six-single success of Teenage Dream finally petering out, Perry returns with Prism, a record that translates the triumphant widescreen songwriting of Teenage Dream to the trends and sounds dominating pop radio at the moment, with results that are sometimes spectacular and sometimes, well, not.
The hits are, of course, major hits. Lead single “Roar” is streamlined Kiwi pop, with a bridge that sounds weirdly like Good News-era Modest Mouse, and a chorus that’s easy to shout joyfully in just about any available situation. Later, the irrepressible disco jam “Birthday” beats Carly Rae Jepsen’s Kiss at its own game. Pre-release non-single “Dark Horse”, despite the inclusion of southern rap legend Juicy J in a verse as token as Kanye’s on “E.T.”, still feels vital and forward-moving thanks to an aerated pencil sketch of a trap beat.
It’s not a coincidence that those songs show up on the record’s first half, which is uniformly more upbeat and likely to be the pool from which future singles are drawn. The record’s second half is filled with more mid-tempo tracks, ballads and pseudo-ballads, and the dramatic production speaks to the personal trials Perry has endured since Teenage Dream (notably, her failed marriage to comedian Russell Brand), even if the lyrics only speak to a general sense of overcoming something. In true Perry form, she is steadfast in her avoidance of specificity in her lyrics.
That back half messes up the pacing of the record, though, as many of the tracks don’t differentiate themselves from each other. “Ghost” and “Love Me” stand back-to-back with almost identical tones and tempos, turning into seven-plus minutes of listenable, but un-noteworthy ’80s synth pop muck. Closing tracks “Double Rainbow” — decent despite its cringe-worthy, meme-dropping title — and “By the Grace of God” would stand out more if they hadn’t been forced to rub elbows, thus stealing momentum and impact from each other.
Sometimes, Perry and her A-list producers (pop icons like Max Martin, Dr. Luke, Benny Blanco), in an attempt at making palatable many disparate characteristics in service of Perry’s everywoman charm, end up borrowing too liberally. While the groove on “Dark Horse” is strong, it’s still not wrong to call it a trap for soccer moms. “International Smile” is almost a straight rip of Daft Punk’s “Digital Love”, right down to the wild, pitch-shifted keytar solo. “This Is How We Do” features a lot of sing-talking, including a “This goes out to the [blank]” coda that only hammers home how much better Ke$ha is at this stuff. “Double Rainbow” and “Walking On Air” actually sound like vanilla re-interpretations of Valusia-era Zola Jesus (!) and Hercules And Love Affair (!!), respectively.
But, while those criticisms are valid, almost any criticism for a pop song can be annihilated via the hook, and Perry is a champion of choruses. Slower tracks “Ghost” and “Unconditionally” explode the moment Perry lets loose; “Roar” has already become the teenage anthem of choice, thanks to its almost unparalleled possible applications for affirmational YouTube videos; “This Moment” rides U2 guitars to a climax that aims to soundtrack every prom night for the next few years.
Moving the goalposts of pop music is not Katy Perry’s aim. She leaves that to artists like Lady Gaga or (though less often, lately) Britney Spears. Instead, Perry makes her name by crushing the established sounds of pop radio. Prism lacks the pop smash depth of Teenage Dream; it’s unlikely we’ll get six radio staples out of Prism. But, a solid three or four stereo-rattlers is not out of the question. While neither Perry nor Prism push any boundaries for pop music, they certainly raise bars.
Contact Katy Perry
Website | MySpace | Facebook | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest | iTunes | Spotify
Contact Reuters
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Contact Consequence of Sound (COS)
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Sources : Katy Perry Photo | Listen To Prism | Katy Perry Article | Prism Review
Purchase : iTunes (Deluxe) | iTunes | Amazon (Deluxe) | Amazon | Walmart (Deluxe Edition) | Walmart | Target
Listen To Katy Perry : Prism
Singer Katy Perry has shed her cotton-candy pop image and reveals a vulnerability and maturity on her new album "Prism," which she said reflects changes in both her personal life and her music.
"Prism," released on Tuesday, is Perry's fourth studio album and the follow-up to 2010's phenomenally successful "Teenage Dream." It is also the first album since the 28-year-old singer split with her husband, British comedian Russell Brand, in December 2011.
"I went through a lot of experiences in my life that I think built more character. I had to find own self identity the hard way. But I did. I came out alive and stronger, a little bit stronger," Perry said in an interview.
From "By the Grace of God," the first and darkest song on the album, to the empowering lead single "Roar," or "Birthday," a rousing, catchy dance tune, Perry said each song tells a story.
"I think what 'Prism' is, is an evolution and a maturity," she said. "I think you can hear growth as a songwriter. I hope you can hear the growth as a person."
"Teenage Dream" produced five No. 1 singles, making it only the second album after Michael Jackson's "Bad" to achieve that milestone, and the first by a female artist. It also sold 5.7 million copies worldwide.
But Perry made it clear she was in a new place with "Prism," with early teasers showing her burning the blue wig she wore in the music video for her hit single "California Girls" and holding a mock funeral for her peppermint swirl outfit.
"I'm into different things," she said. "It is my most present album so far. I think I am living very consciously right now. I think I am very aware, more aware than I have ever been."
HAVING FUN, TAKING CHANCES
Perry reunited with music producers and songwriters Max Martin, Dr. Luke and Cirkut for "Prism." Most of the 13 tracks, all co-written by Perry, were recorded in San Diego, or with Martin and record producer and songwriter Klas Ahlund in Stockholm, where club anthem "Walking on Air" and the hip-hop tinged "This is How We Do" were both made.
The personal ballad "By the Grace of God," co-written with Greg Wells, reflects where Perry was emotionally late last year, the "stuff" she was working through and the blow to her self confidence.
"It had really gotten to me and I wrote this song out of a very sad place. I was hearing these negative thoughts and battling these negative thoughts," she said.
Since splitting with Brand, Perry has moved on in her personal life and is dating singer-songwriter John Mayer.
Although she had initially expected to make a darker, more acoustic record, Perry said the opposite happened and she became much more upbeat, which is reflected in the album's title.
"I let a lot of light in my life during the spring of this year, which is when I made most of the record and it influenced my songs in a very positive way," she said. "All these beautiful colors of light and love came out and hope and joy and even just fun party songs."
"Unconditionally," the second single and Perry's favorite song on the album, is a big, soaring ballad with a heavy drum tribal influence. Its lyrics speak about an all-accepting love.
Perry wrote "Roar," a thumping pop tune and her 10th No.1 Top 40 track, after becoming complacent in a relationship and not speaking up for herself.
"Double Rainbow," a collaboration with producer Greg Kurstin and songwriter Sia, is about finding someone and a rare, magical moment.
"You can tell I am having fun and taking chances, musically with the different textures that I am showing in the songs," said Perry. "I'm painting with more colors this time. I think people can adopt certain anthems for the messages or they can make them their own."
Prism Review
There are a lot of cynical things you could say about Katy Perry that wouldn’t be entirely inaccurate: that her biggest and best songs often succeed because of a steadfast refusal to cater to anyone other than the lowest common denominator; that she’s shown a bandwagoner’s approach to her musical career, chasing trends instead of establishing them; that her greatest successes have come from shouting what are essentially emotional platitudes from the highest of mountaintops. But, what that cynicism ignores is the most basic of things: Katy Perry singles are really, really good pop songs.
Perry’s last album was Teenage Dream, which featured six tracks that charted in the Billboard Top 10, including five (five!) number ones: “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)”, “Teenage Dream”, “California Gurls”, “Firework”, and “E.T.”, all of which are songs you’ve cranked in your car and have sung along with at the top of your lungs. It was the kind of pop album that often defines a career and becomes a filter through which to view the rest of the artist’s work, like *NSYNC’s No Strings Attached or Britney Spears’ Blackout. It was enormous, with 3D IMAX-sized choruses that succeeded even when they failed (the hilariously awkward remix of “E.T.” still hit #1 on the charts).
Three years later, with the six-single success of Teenage Dream finally petering out, Perry returns with Prism, a record that translates the triumphant widescreen songwriting of Teenage Dream to the trends and sounds dominating pop radio at the moment, with results that are sometimes spectacular and sometimes, well, not.
The hits are, of course, major hits. Lead single “Roar” is streamlined Kiwi pop, with a bridge that sounds weirdly like Good News-era Modest Mouse, and a chorus that’s easy to shout joyfully in just about any available situation. Later, the irrepressible disco jam “Birthday” beats Carly Rae Jepsen’s Kiss at its own game. Pre-release non-single “Dark Horse”, despite the inclusion of southern rap legend Juicy J in a verse as token as Kanye’s on “E.T.”, still feels vital and forward-moving thanks to an aerated pencil sketch of a trap beat.
It’s not a coincidence that those songs show up on the record’s first half, which is uniformly more upbeat and likely to be the pool from which future singles are drawn. The record’s second half is filled with more mid-tempo tracks, ballads and pseudo-ballads, and the dramatic production speaks to the personal trials Perry has endured since Teenage Dream (notably, her failed marriage to comedian Russell Brand), even if the lyrics only speak to a general sense of overcoming something. In true Perry form, she is steadfast in her avoidance of specificity in her lyrics.
That back half messes up the pacing of the record, though, as many of the tracks don’t differentiate themselves from each other. “Ghost” and “Love Me” stand back-to-back with almost identical tones and tempos, turning into seven-plus minutes of listenable, but un-noteworthy ’80s synth pop muck. Closing tracks “Double Rainbow” — decent despite its cringe-worthy, meme-dropping title — and “By the Grace of God” would stand out more if they hadn’t been forced to rub elbows, thus stealing momentum and impact from each other.
Sometimes, Perry and her A-list producers (pop icons like Max Martin, Dr. Luke, Benny Blanco), in an attempt at making palatable many disparate characteristics in service of Perry’s everywoman charm, end up borrowing too liberally. While the groove on “Dark Horse” is strong, it’s still not wrong to call it a trap for soccer moms. “International Smile” is almost a straight rip of Daft Punk’s “Digital Love”, right down to the wild, pitch-shifted keytar solo. “This Is How We Do” features a lot of sing-talking, including a “This goes out to the [blank]” coda that only hammers home how much better Ke$ha is at this stuff. “Double Rainbow” and “Walking On Air” actually sound like vanilla re-interpretations of Valusia-era Zola Jesus (!) and Hercules And Love Affair (!!), respectively.
But, while those criticisms are valid, almost any criticism for a pop song can be annihilated via the hook, and Perry is a champion of choruses. Slower tracks “Ghost” and “Unconditionally” explode the moment Perry lets loose; “Roar” has already become the teenage anthem of choice, thanks to its almost unparalleled possible applications for affirmational YouTube videos; “This Moment” rides U2 guitars to a climax that aims to soundtrack every prom night for the next few years.
Moving the goalposts of pop music is not Katy Perry’s aim. She leaves that to artists like Lady Gaga or (though less often, lately) Britney Spears. Instead, Perry makes her name by crushing the established sounds of pop radio. Prism lacks the pop smash depth of Teenage Dream; it’s unlikely we’ll get six radio staples out of Prism. But, a solid three or four stereo-rattlers is not out of the question. While neither Perry nor Prism push any boundaries for pop music, they certainly raise bars.
Contact Katy Perry
Website | MySpace | Facebook | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest | iTunes | Spotify
Contact Reuters
Website | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube
Contact Consequence of Sound (COS)
Website | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
Sources : Katy Perry Photo | Listen To Prism | Katy Perry Article | Prism Review
Purchase : iTunes (Deluxe) | iTunes | Amazon (Deluxe) | Amazon | Walmart (Deluxe Edition) | Walmart | Target
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