143, by Katy Perry | A succession of missteps

The months leading up to the release of Katy Perry’s seventh album, 143have been a series of missteps, flops and harsh criticism, even before the album was released. A look back at the events that may deprive Katy Perry of her membership card to the club of pop darlings.

A first extract mocked by critics

It all started with Woman’s World. A song that was supposed to relaunch Katy Perry, one of the biggest pop stars of the 2010s. Her career had been floundering for some time already. The album Witness (2017) had been coldly received — Pitchfork notably gave it a dismal score of 4.8/10. In 2020, Smile hadn’t done much better. After a four-year break, the time for a big comeback has come.

The song Woman’s World was released in mid-July, accompanied by a somewhat chaotic and cliché-filled music video, including a hypersexualized version of the character Rosie the Riveter. The critical reception was… catastrophic.

The excerpt of the song published on TikTok was so mocked, particularly for its simplistic lyrics, dated production, and supposedly feminist message, that the video was eventually removed (and then reposted a few days later). Finally, quite contrary to what irony demands, Katy Perry wanted to explain that the music video for Woman’s World was a satire. The eye-rolling was unfortunately even more numerous in the face of his attempt to justify what had been called bad taste.

Collaboration with an alleged attacker

When the release of Woman’s Worldrumors began to circulate that a name reviled by the public was on the song’s credits. It was Dr. Luke, a longtime Perry collaborator and producer. The man was accused in 2014 by American singer Kesha of sexually assaulting her. The two parties reached a confidential settlement in 2023, but pop fans have not forgotten the allegations and criticize Katy Perry for teaming up with him, especially for an album that was supposed to promote feminist messages.

“The fact is I wrote these songs from my life experience of going through this metamorphosis and he was one of the people who facilitated it, one of the writers, one of the producers. I speak from my own experience,” Katy Perry said on the podcast. Call Her Daddyto justify his decision.

An unauthorized music video

“I think people, when they think of me, they think of Roarthey think about Fireworksometimes they think about I Kissed a Girlbut I think they’re mostly thinking about those kinds of inspirational songs,” Katy Perry said in an interview with Apple Music. For the artist, 143 is a luminous album of dance music that highlights the empowerment of women. Lifetimesthe second single released at the beginning of August, addresses his relationship with his daughter, his mother’s love.

Si elle a été un peu mieux reçue que Woman’s World, la chanson a tout de même fini par porter préjudice à Katy Perry : le vidéoclip a été tourné aux îles Baléares, archipel autonome espagnol… sans autorisation. Les autorités provinciales ont ouvert une enquête après son passage, car la présence de la chanteuse et de son équipe aurait pu causer de lourds dommages environnementaux aux dunes de S’Espalmador, territoire protégé.

Une performance salvatrice aux prix VMA

La critique et de nombreux fans ont déjà décrété que le retour de Katy Perry était un échec. « [Elle] missed its mark and underestimated its audience. No one wants a song that sounds forced, a sanitized attempt at emancipation with lazy lyrics,” wrote the pop culture magazine in July. The TabThen, in early September, Katy Perry was honored with the Video Vanguard Award (honoring artists who have made a mark on pop culture) at the VMAs and had the opportunity to perform a performance of her greatest hits and a few new songs.

With a confidence that gave no hint of the difficulties of the previous months, she delivered a long, entirely convincing number, recalling in passing that she gave music some of the most popular songs of the 2010s. She then took the floor, assured and in control, to once again evoke the strength of women (and her own, by the way).

What we think of the famous album, 143

What if 143 was actually a flawed, but still successful album? What if all the critics who didn’t even wait for the album to come out before attacking Katy Perry were wrong? It would have been satisfying to see that there were treasures hidden behind the singles released so far, but we can sadly say that this is far from being the case.

The album 143 has a very bad taste of rancidity, it has just been released and already gives the impression of being expired. The lyrics are empty of meaning while seeming to want to convey an important message. The whole thing falls flat. We grant this Katy Perry album a few catchy moments and some convincing singing moments… Nothing, unfortunately, that can persuade us that this is a good album.

Excerpt from I’m his, he’s mine (with Doechii)

Pop

143

Katy Perry

Capitol Records

5.5/10