Katy Perry Clings To Her By in 'Grinning'

The "Teenage Dream" artist knows how to craft a perfectly encouraging pop hit, even if information technology's getting one-time.

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Li-Chun Pan

Pop icon Katy Perry released her sixth studio album last week. "Grin" is a lyrical and stylistic render to the classic sound that shot her to stardom ten years ago. (Staff Analogy by Li-Chun Pan)


September 1, 2020

Being America's "Teenage Dream" is hard. Katy Perry'south sixth studio album, "Smile," is proof that it is difficult to continue to thrive in the music earth when popular artists rely on the audio of their past, restraining their growth and progress. Perry's music played a big part in defining the pop scene of the early 2000s, just times have changed and and then has the music on the radio. Withal in "Smile," Perry returns to her party anthem by, nearly to a fault.

Perry has fallen victim to every successful artist's worst nightmare: non living up to their best received album in the fourth dimension subsequently. Ten years ago, Perry's "Teenage Dream" debuted at number i on the US Billboard Hot 200 and later was certified eight times platinum . The album was nominated for seven Grammy awards , betwixt the album and its singles. The album dazzled with her virtually iconic tracks — "California Gurls," "Firework" and "The One That Got Away" to name a few — all made addictive by her quirky lyricism and perfected production methods. Unbeknownst to anyone at the time, the singer had reached her elevation.

Fast-forrard to 2017: the second album released later on "Teenage Dream," "Witness," plant itself lost in the midst of a superstar unsure of herself, attempting to become deeper than the zany storytelling and vague positive messages that served as her most political references. Her lyrics are caught in an bad-mannered attempt to stay relevant and to appear "woke."

In the present day, "Smiling" could virtually be taken equally an acknowledgement of defeat. The album sheds the attempts at relevancy from "Witness" and returns to Perry'due south roots of empowering pop chants. She gives into the 2010s party anthem indulgence, just plenty to satisfy any nostalgic cravings.

The championship track, "Grin" is a glossy, studio-polished track set up to the classic Perry narrative of overcoming obstacles and celebration. The song "Smile" might be the most like what fans would ordinarily expect of Perry, holding onto the vague only feel-good motivational messages and production techniques that she used in her prime. "Resilient," following the same theme, is only notable for abandoning its electronic-heavy flair for overnice synths, creating an audio-visual-like audio. It is a track fabricated to showcase her lyrics, as she gives a heartfelt pep talk: "I am resilient. Born to be vivid."

It is pleasing to encounter Perry recover from "Witness" and embrace her own fashion once again, even if her perceived optimism is as bold, and sometimes obnoxious, as her neon wigs and cartoon-similar costumes. On this album, her method of activism is full general positivity and it seems similar her agenda is no deeper than that.

Perry'due south derisive storytelling is still equally ripe as information technology was on "Teenage Dream," equally can be seen in the song "Harleys In Hawaii," her collaboration with Charlie Puth. Information technology is a fresh sound for Perry, ane that gives her room to exhale, and proves information technology's possible to invent something new out of the old cocky. "Harleys In Hawaii" achieves what "Witness" attempted to practice: create a sound that is distinct from Perry'southward classic work, but is still unmistakably her ain.

It seems that her struggle to remain trendy on "Witness" was a wake upwards call. "Grin" feels much more confident, but information technology also can't aid merely experience similar retreating to what is familiar and near highly regarded, achieving little more than the expectations set for her.  There are glimpses of a new Perry, a more open Perry, that are easily lost in highly saturated tracks that occupy about of the anthology. "Never Really Over" contains a more than experimental electronic manner for Perry and "Champagne Problems" is a very intimate song for the pop vocalizer, stripping her of her usual sugarcoated emotions. These rarities, though, are lost in an effort to recreate her "Teenage Dream"-era pop and party culture. Katy Perry includes not ane, simply two songs most crying on the dance flooring ("Teary Eyes" and "Weep Near Information technology Later"). Maybe those catchy hooks and club-worthy songs were enough to satisfy listeners in 2013, only pop music has inverse a lot since and so.

Perry still might not have the same dazzle she possessed with "Teenage Dream," but on "Smile," she's in the process of accepting that and learning to embrace what she does best, even if it is rather dated. "Smile" shows an comeback from her last album. She becomes authentic again and her album shows spots of maturity beneath its sugary veneer. She is not the same person she was in 2010, but she tin can even so celebrate what got her to "Grinning" with the same zeal she had before — even if it'southward holding her back.

E-mail Ana Cubas at [e-mail protected]