With almost 100 million Twitter followers and millions of records sold, Katy Perry’s new album “Witness” was definitely shaping up to be a hit. Her single, “Chained to the Rhythm,” was being blasted on radio stations throughout the country as an anthem for individuality and independence.
Perry has returned to music, but listeners aren’t impressed.
“Witness” was scheduled to release worldwide June 9 at midnight when, after a boycott from all streaming platforms, Taylor Swift’s team suddenly announced that her full musical catalog would also be available June 9 at midnight.
Although they claimed the return was to celebrate her album “1989” hitting 10 million sales worldwide and the singer selling 100 million singles in the U.S., we all knew it was more than that.
However, Swift’s abrupt return to streaming services was not the only thing that caused Perry’s album to flop. Even though Perry is known for breaking barriers in the music world with her daring song subjects, avant-garde outfits and vibrant personality, “Witness” is just a mess.
We’ve seen a lot of failed attempts at reinventing one’s musical persona in 2017, and Perry has added herself to this list.
The best way to describe this album’s overall sound is a fork-in-the-garbage-disposal techno-pop. Perry is known for light, danceable pop tracks like “I Kissed a Girl” that resonated with listeners. This new artistic misadventure sounds like a cry for help.
The single “Swish Swish,” which is rumored to be about the long-standing rivalry between Swift and Perry, is chaotic — both lyrically and instrumentally. Despite the fact that everyone loves a good diss track, it seems like Swift has won this round.
Lyrics like “Red lipstick but still so raw, yeah / Marilyn Monroe in a monster truck,” make no sense and are basically pointless to the dilapidated moral of the song “Hey Hey Hey.”
While listeners were hoping for upbeat jams like “Firework” and “Roar,” they were met with sloppy techno-pop. Although I embrace Perry’s message — breaking free from the chaos of the establishment to empower yourself and return to the root of your individuality — the album just falls flat.
