It seems that Katy Perry hasn’t been off our airwaves at all, with consistently timed album releases and perfectly polished pop gems that have made her a mainstay on radio and music video channels. Prism is Perry’s fourth official release and it manages to retain her pop-dance sensibilities whilst feeling somewhat more mature, edgier and texturally more complex.
First single and opening track off the record ‘Roar’ is very much the Perry we’re familiar with, sugar-sweet melodies and a catchy sing-a-long chorus that you will not be able to resist, and I defy you to not fist pump to this song whilst it’s playing. This vibe follows through on tracks ‘Birthday’ and ‘Walking On Air’ which continue the upbeat thread of pop-dance that is Perry’s forte.
The former is a sassy little tongue-in-cheek nod to getting some noogie, with lots of synth brass and switching between her wispy falsetto and her belting mid-range. The latter also utilises Perry’s vocal range to create layers of sound on top of a pumping house dance beat. Tracks ‘Dark Horse’ and ‘This Is How We Do’ show Perry dipping into a hip-hop vibe, even dropping some rap-like verses and surprisingly she manages to carry it off with style. It doesn’t come across as too silly or pretentious, just an opportunity to dabble in something a little different.
As we reach the back half of the record this is when we get to see Perry really open up her artistic sensibilities. ‘This Moment’ is one of the few songs where Perry’s vocals get the complete spotlight, with a minimal synth beat production behind it and some beautiful lyrics at the forefront “all we have is this moment, tomorrow’s unspoken, yesterday is history, so why don’t you be here with me?” – it’s a blissfully poignant piece of pop that urges us to live in the moment.
The brutally honest and aurally gorgeous ‘By The Grace Of God’ is the heart aching ballad Perry penned with Greg Wellsabout her divorce and every bit of it is her wearing her heart on her sleeve. On the deluxe edition of Prism we’re treated to three extra tracks, ‘Spiritual’, ‘It Takes Two’ and ‘Choose Your Battles’. The first of which was co-written by Perry’s current flame John Mayer, and coincidentally feels opposite to the track prior. It’s wispy and light and about feeling ecstatic in a new relationship.
The interesting thing about this record is the very distinct halves, the first of which is the Perry we are all familiar with. But the second half is the more evolved and established artist who is prepared to push her song writing to the next level. The duties are shared alongside Lukasz Gottwald, Max Martin and Bonnie McKee for the lion’s share of the songs. With the production driven by Martin, Dr Luke and Cirkut on the majority of the album, they manage to deliver varying shades of tone and texture. There’s quite a few different styles thrown in on this record but all of them are held together by Perry’s tour-de-force vocals.
With ‘Roar’ and now ‘Unconditionally’ released as singles, it will be interesting to see whether the record label wants to try a more risqué song as a single release as the album has a slew of choices to pick from.
Review Score: 8.2 out of 10
Prism: Deluxe Edition is out now through Capitol Records
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