Ryan Ulrich
Circulation Editor
Pop artist Katy Perry’s fifth studio album, “Witness” was released on June 9. The album, which was supposed to address social consciousness and the 2016 election results seemed to focus more on boasting. Overall, the album was a complete failure in comparison to Perry’s previous albums.
Photos of Katy Perry regarding her knew album can be seen here.
In the album “Witness,” Perry seems to abandon her upbeat pop music style and catchy choruses to focus on songs that were more electronic and did not appear to fit Perry’s singing style. Perry strays from her image as an innocent and fun-loving girl and becomes a woman who is sick and tired of not being considered a highly talented artist.
Video of Perry regarding the album can be seen here.
Katy Perry, whose real name is Katheryn Hudson is a pop music singer and songwriter from Santa Barbara California. Perry originally tried to become a gospel singer however she was unsuccessful. Perry decided to move into pop music, and in 2008 she created fame for herself by releasing the single, “I Kissed a Girl.”
The album can be purchased by clicking here.
Although “I Kissed a Girl” is what gave Perry her fame the “Witness” album differs dramatically, and features artists such as the rap group Migos, as well as many different electronic artists like, Twin Peaks.
Perry has had previous success, with nine number one hit singles on the Billboard chart. However, songs from her other albums such as “Teenage Dream” were much more upbeat and easy to listen to. On the “Witness” album songs like “Into Me You See” try to evoke emotions out of the listener, but in actuality have little meaning at all.
Katy Perry’s previous albums can be purchased by clicking here.
Perry’s previous albums were almost entirely co-written and produced by the duo Max Martin and Dr. Luke. However, Perry claims to have written all of the songs on “Witness.” Perhaps this is why the album has such a different tone which seems to be more braggadocious.
The first song on the album, “Witness” is a rather slow paced song which appears to have little to no real message other than “look at me”. The album goes even further downhill with the fourth song on the album, “Swish Swish” which features rapper Nicki Minaj. This song is a diss track to artist Taylor Swift and contains many braggadocious lines.
The album is not a complete disaster with the song, “Bigger Than Me” which addresses social consciousness slightly as Perry had promised, although the electronic beat doesn’t seem to fit well with Perry’s powerful vocals. Finally, on the second to last song on the album, “Pendulum” which was produced by Jeff Bhasker, listeners hear choruses and a real bass playing, which seems to be much more fitting to Perry’s unique style.
Despite several songs which try to address topics of substance, Perry’s “Witness” seems to overuse electronic beats, which seem unfitting to her style and make the songs seem forced.
The album was released with a disastrous marketing stunt which consisted of having Perry perform the album Live on Youtube the day it was released. However, her performance was yet again a desperate attempt to be edgy. Although Perry was considered a popular artist at one time, the “Witness” album is not something anyone should spend their money on unless they like subpar music.
The “Witness” is available on iTunes, Apple music for $12.99. The album is also available at retail stores such as Target and will one again cost $12.99.
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