Album Review: Katy Perry’s New Album is Only Good for a 'Smile'
While undeniably catchy, Katy Perry’s fifth album relies on overused clichés and all too familiar production techniques.
Written by Delaney Davis
Photo courtesy of Press
It’s hard to believe Katy Perry’s record-breaking sophomore album Teenage Dream was released 10 years ago. The album’s five number one singles established Perry as pop’s new powerhouse, complete with a swirling peppermint dress and whipped cream bra.
Such a career-defining album puts any following release under even more scrutiny. Would the stars align again, allowing Perry to create another record that would change the landscape of pop music? Her follow-up records proved that the answer is a resounding no, and Smile is no exception.
To be fair, it would be unreasonable to expect Perry to constantly churn out hit album after hit album. And despite its flaws, Smile still showcases the singer in her element — creating breezy, sugary-sweet pop hooks that are always good for a rendezvous on the dance floor, if nothing else. Especially when compared to her experimental pop blunder Witness, her latest release is a step in the right direction, even if she doesn’t make it all the way to her destination. Written after the bout of depression, the breakup, and the career disappointments that marked her 2017, Smile aims to capture the feeling of finally getting out of a dark place. In that respect, the album is undeniably a success, almost to a fault.
The album’s opener, “Never Really Over,” is both a sentimental ode to her fiance Orlando Bloom and an appropriate introduction to the rest of the record. In typical Perry fashion, the song’s lyrics are cheery and optimistic, but the sweetness of the lyrics can’t offset the track’s generic sound. Sampling “Love You Like That” by Norwegian pop singer Dagny, the track is undeniably catchy but lacks nuance and sophistication, sounding like a cut track from 2013’s Prism. These pitfalls are a constant theme throughout the project — the end result isn’t bad per se, but often leaves much to be desired.
Next track “Cry About it Later” is equally as bland, and for a song about getting over someone by getting under someone else, the track is oddly melancholy. The closest the song comes to triumphant is the guitar lick performed in the bridge. The song would have benefitted by extending that instrumentation throughout, emulating the grittiness and edge in Perry’s debut One of the Boys. Instead, the track uncomfortably straddles the line between electropop and disco.
Smile’s other crying-themed song, “Teary Eyes” is much better than the first and is actually one of the highlights on the album. We finally see the star take a risk, experimenting with house beats that mesh perfectly with the pop songwriting formula she often uses in her work. Perry is at a lyrical high point, encapsulating the universal feeling of trying to move on while burdened with emotional trauma (“Wanna run like your mascara / Wine-stained lips talking to the mirror / If the sun comes up, don’t even care at all”). The lyricism and production found on the track are unfortunately matched by only a few of the album’s songs, however.
After this bright spot, the album continues on its typical trajectory with three back-to-back misses. The next songs, “Daisies,” “Resilient,” and “Not the End of the World,” are virtually indistinguishable from one another, because of both uninspired instrumentals and redundant messaging. As with opener “Never Really Over,” all three tracks are catchy, but nothing about the composition particularly stands out or compels the listener to press the replay button. Even worse, the message in each song becomes almost nauseating, especially consecutively. It’s almost as if Perry jam packed this album with all the rough drafts that ultimately led up to “Firework.”
The occasional “Firework” or “Roar” is fine — but an album filled with empowerment ballads becomes tiring, fast. Here lies Smile’s biggest irony — for a feel-good album, the tracks that aren’t feel-good songs are the best on the record. It’s refreshing to see Perry deviate from the overwhelming glee and joyfulness that has defined most of her career.
The only spot where empowerment doesn’t become too empowering is the album’s titular track. While she does indeed sing about finally getting her smile back, she lets us in on the darkness she battled for the past few years. Over a brassy groove, she sings about how she “had a piece of humble pie” and how this “ego trip saved her life.” Compared to the empty clichés in the prior song “Resilient,” “Smile” comes off as more personal, and thus more palatable.
Image courtesy of Capitol Records
The second portion of the album is clearly the strong half, with songs like “Tucked,” “Harleys in Hawaii,” and “Only Love” almost making up for the record’s unexciting beginning. “Tucked” is a cute, tropical rock tribute to a forbidden fantasy — and again, a welcome break from the forced cheeriness of previous songs. (Plus, the track’s accompanying video is adorable.) “Harleys in Hawaii” is a laid-back, trap-infused reflection on a trip Perry took to the archipelago with Bloom. In “Only Love,” Perry offers an olive branch to her parents, Pentecostal pastors who have often questioned her lifestyle and career choices:
Oh, I'd call my mother and tell her I'm sorry
I never call her back
I'd pour my heart and soul out into a letter
And send it to my dad
Like, oh my God, the time I've wasted
Lost in my head
Let me leave this world with the hate behind me
And take the love instead
The album’s closer, a cheesy girl-power ballad, “What Makes a Woman” could have been left off the project. With lyrics like, “Is it the way we keep / The whole world turning a pair of heels? / Yeah that makes a woman,” the entire song lends itself to triteness and unoriginality. “Only Love” would have been a much more fitting ending to the album, rounding out prior dedications to Bloom with a rare look into familial love.
Overall, Smile doesn’t come close to the blend of witty lyricism and dynamic production found in Perry’s past work, but maybe it doesn’t have to. Perhaps the star is entering a new stage in her career, one where she makes art free from the pressure to crank out another record-breaking project. With her previous struggles behind her, maybe Perry is just creating for creation’s sake.